Derek van der Kooy Laboratory
Welcome to the Neurobiolgy Research Group website. The NBRG is a is a collaboration of projects in the van der Kooy lab. These projects are divided into 3 main areas of interest:
Neural Development & Stem Cell Biology
We are interested in the lineage steps in the development of the mammalian brain from totipotent embryonic stem (blastocyst) cells to neural stem cells to more restricted neural progenitor cells that make neurons and glia ... click to read more ...
Neurobiology of Motivation
The neurobiology of motivation has been studied using opiates as tools because opiates are potent motivational stimuli to rodents and humans and they act through anatomically and molecularly defined receptors. ... click to read more ...
Learning and Memory Genes
A mutational analysis has begun to reveal the component processes of learning and memory. We have developed associative (classical conditioning) and non-associative (habituation) learning paradigms using olfactory and taste stimuli in the best understood multicellular organism, the worm C. elegans ... click to read more ...
Derek van der Kooy
**photo credit: Radha Chaddah**