Patricia Janak

Patricia Janak au Loyola

Patricia Janak is a prominent neuroscientist known for her research in the field of behavioral neuroscience. She is particularly recognized for her work on the neural mechanisms underlying addiction and reward.

Education and Career

Patricia Janak received her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed her postdoctoral training at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), where she began her research on the neural circuits involved in addiction.

Janak has held faculty positions at several prestigious institutions, including the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Johns Hopkins University. At Johns Hopkins, she is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Neuroscience.

Research

Janak's research focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms of reward learning and addiction. Her work has significantly contributed to the understanding of how dopamine and other neurotransmitters influence behavioral responses to rewards and addictive substances.

Addiction

One of Janak's major research areas is the study of addiction. She investigates how exposure to addictive substances alters brain function and behavior. Her research has shown that changes in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala play a crucial role in the development and persistence of addictive behaviors.

Reward Learning

Janak also studies the processes of reward learning, which involves understanding how animals and humans learn to associate certain stimuli with rewarding outcomes. Her work has identified key neural circuits and mechanisms that underlie this form of learning.

Awards and Honors

Throughout her career, Patricia Janak has received numerous awards and honors for her contributions to neuroscience. These include the Society for Neuroscience's Young Investigator Award and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's Pioneer Award.

Selected Publications

Janak has authored and co-authored numerous scientific papers in high-impact journals. Some of her notable publications include:

• "Neural mechanisms of addiction: The role of reward and learning" in Nature Neuroscience
• "Dopamine and reward learning: A critical review" in Annual Review of Neuroscience

See Also

• Neuroscience
• Addiction
• Reward system
• Dopamine
• Behavioral neuroscience