Neural underpinnings of plasticity in the context of cognition and motivation

Dr. Thiels’ research interests focus on how animals acquire information from the environment and use that information to guide behavior. Her laboratory studied bidirectional plasticity at hippocampal synapses involved in learning and memory.  In a second line of research, her laboratory studied experience-dependent alterations in brain circuits involved in reward learning and addiction.  At the National Science Foundation (NSF), Dr. Thiels leads the Neural Systems Cluster in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems of the Directorate for Biological Sciences and serves as program director for the Modulation program, which supports research focused on neural mechanisms that mediate organism-environment interactions.  She also serves as program director for NSF programs under the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, including Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience and Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience program, and for several other NSF-wide programs.