Dillon McGovern

Biography:
Dillon is a 3rd year PhD candidate in the Behavioral Neuroscience program at CU Boulder. Dillon’s research focuses on how stress and/or drug experiences dysregulate neuronal circuitry and cellular signaling. Techniques such as optogenetics, chemogenetics, and fiber photometry are used to monitor and manipulate cell types within the mouse brain while the animal engages in motivated behaviors. The objective is to determine how prior stress events influence neuronal signaling and contribute to aberrant behaviors. His research focuses primarily on the roles of the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) and Lateral Habenula (LHb) within the domains of stress, motivation, and drug behavior.