1.) To better understand the circuit level mechanisms underlying how the mammalian brain contributes to our sense of spatial orientation, with particular emphasis on a class of limbic system and hippocampal neurons that behave much like a neural map and compass, called ‘place cells’, ‘grid cells’, and ‘head direction cells’.
2.) To understand the structural and functional loss in these spatial navigation systems in neurodegenerative and neurodevelopment disorders.
To address these aims, we use a combination of techniques to map the functional connectivity of neural circuits including electrophysiology recordings from hippocampal and limbic system structures in behaving rodents, neuroanatomical tracing, and immediate early gene expression to identify neural activity and plasticity within circuits during behaviorally relevant events. Learn more about whoweare and whatwedo.
The Clark Lab is Recruiting!
If you are interested in working in our laboratory as a graduate or undergraduate trainee, email Dr. Benjamin Clark.
For information about the UNM Psychology Graduate Program, clickhere.
Contact Us:
Email: Dr. Benjamin Clark (bnjclark [at] unm [dot] edu)
Main Office: Logan Hall (pictured below), Rm 174
Phone: 505-277-2081
Mailing Address: Department of Psychology, The University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
