Animals adapt their behaviors in response to different environments and stimuli. Our lab studies how these adaptive behaviors are encoded in the brain. Our current focus is on a fundamental understanding of the neural basis of adaptive behaviors such as motivation, decision-making, and control. The dysfunction of these behaviors can result in craving, bingeing, and compulsivity that underlie addiction. Significant neurobehavioral similarities between food and drug addiction have been reported. For instance, the conditioned environment cues can promote food and drug seeking behaviors in animal models. We aim to identify key brain circuits responsible for maladaptive behaviors in both food addiction-like behavior and drug addiction. We use advanced approaches such as chemogenetics, optogenetics, viral tracing, in-vivo calcium imaging of neurons, transcriptomics, and computational modeling to understand how the brain drives adaptive behaviors in normal and addictive state.