The Giovanniello Lab studies how previous aversive experiences, like chronic stress, drugs of abuse, and genetic alterations, affect our decision making.

We are particularly interested in how these genetic and environmental influences bias us toward reliance on inflexible habits over more flexible, goal-directed behaviors, and how this contributes to maladaptive repetitive behaviors of relevance to psychiatric conditions and substance use disorders.

To do this, we combine behavioral paradigms with systems neuroscience techniques such as chemogenetics, optogenetics, as well as cellular resolution and bulk neuronal calcium imaging.

Our work is supported by the A.P. Giannini Foundation, National Institute for Mental Health, and the National Institute for Drug Abuse and is currently funded by an NIMH K99/R00 Pathways to Independence Award.