The primary goal of my research is to better understand how stress affects the brain, and how this may lead to behavioral phenotypes relevant to mental health (such as cognitive impairment and sleep deficits). I am also interested in individual differences in stress susceptibility.

My research is primarily conducted in rats, as they closely resemble humans in many aspects of physiology, neural function, and behavior. I am able to perform mechanistic studies in rats to determine how stress affects the brain. For example, I can modulate a particular neurotransmitter in a specific brain region and observe how it affects cognitive function in my rodent model; studies of this specificity are often not possible in humans. While uncovering mechanistic evidence about how stress affects the brain in animals is crucial, this alone is not enough to yield better treatment for stress-related diseases in humans. Thus, I am using my findings in rodents to inform my research on similar stress-induced phenotypes in humans. Ultimately, my research may have both prognostic and therapeutic application to stress-associated neuropsychiatric disorders.

If you are interested in doing research in the lab, please email me: Lgrafe@brynmawr.edu