Plenary Address
鈥淣eural Mechanisms of Social Homeostasis鈥�
We are pleased to welcome Dr. Kay Tye of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies as the plenary speaker for the 50th Annual West Coast Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Conference.
国产剧麻豆剧 Dr. Tye
Dr. Kay Tye holds the position of Wylie Vale Chair at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, CA.
She was born to immigrant parents, both of whom taught at Cornell University, her father as a physicist specializing in 鈥渟tring theory鈥�, and her mother as a molecular biologist who made significant contributions to the understanding of DNA replication.
After earning her bachelor鈥檚 degree from MIT, she spent a gap year traveling around Australia on her own, then returned to the US to pursue doctoral studies in the laboratory of Patricia Janak at UC San Francisco. There, she studied how neurons in the amygdala behaviors and to environmental cues. Her post-doctoral work with at Stanford University helped untangle how amygdala circuitry contributes to , and addiction.
In 2012, Tye joined the faculty in the Picower Institute at MIT, where her work focused on understanding the neurobiology of , and , often asking how these insights can be translated to better understand .
In 2019 Dr. Tye accepted her current position as professor in the at the Salk Institute.
Research
Understanding the Brain, Behavior, and Social Homeostasis
How does our brain rapidly determine if something is good or bad? How do we know our place within a social group? How do we know how to behave appropriately in dynamic environments with ever-changing conditions?
The Tye Lab is interested in understanding how neural circuits important for driving positive and negative motivational valence 鈥� seeking pleasure or avoiding punishment鈥攁re anatomically, genetically, and functionally arranged.
The lab studies the neural mechanisms that underlie a wide range of behaviors, ranging from learned to innate, including social, feeding, reward-seeking, and anxiety-related behaviors.
The lab has also become interested in 鈥渟ocial homeostasis鈥� 鈥� how our brains establish a preferred set-point for social contact, and how this maintains stability within a social group. Their research also examines how these circuits are interconnected with one another and how competing mechanisms are orchestrated on a neural population level.
To probe these circuits during behavior, the Tye Lab employs optogenetic, electrophysiological, electrochemical, pharmacological, and imaging approaches.
Honors and Recognition
Dr. Tye has received numerous honors, including the (2021), a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) appointment (2021), Technology Review鈥檚 Top 35 Innovators under 35 Award, a Fellow of the Whitehall, Klingenstein and Sloan Foundation, recipient of the NIH Director's Pioneer Award (2017), and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2016).
Learn More
For interesting insights into the life journey and current thinking of a scientist whose goal is to better understand how the human mind functions, see her recent interview with Dylan Neel.
For more information about Dr. Tye鈥檚 research and her team, .