Research Overview
The SHINE Lab investigates how brain–body–social interactions regulate internal stability under stress. We focus on social homeostasis—mechanisms by which neural circuits integrate social context and peripheral physiological signals to maintain adaptive behavioral and affective states.
Rather than conceptualizing stress as a categorical condition, we approach it as a dynamic state variable emerging from distributed regulatory processes. Social competition, hierarchy, and environmental challenges continuously reshape neural circuit output and peripheral physiological feedback, generating variability across individuals.
Our work seeks to identify multi-level mechanisms that stabilize—or destabilize—these regulatory systems. By combining behavioral paradigms with circuit physiology and molecular state profiling, we aim to understand how adaptive regulation is maintained, when it fails, and how resilience can be mechanistically defined.
Research Questions
How does social hierarchy reshape neural circuit states?
When does adaptive regulation fail under stress?
How are brain and peripheral physiological signals integrated to stabilize behavior?
Can stress be defined as a continuous biological state variable?
What mechanisms determine individual variability in vulnerability and resilience?
Major Themes
Social homeostasis
Stress & interoception
Motivation / affect / reward
Approaches
Behavioral analysis
Circuit physiology
Systems & cellular neuroanatomy
Molecular and genetic state profiling
Lab Philosophy
We study regulation rather than dysfunction.
We view stress not as a categorical condition, but as a dynamic state emerging from distributed brain–body–social interactions.
Our goal is to define measurable regulatory mechanisms that stabilize behavior across levels—from neural circuits to molecular states.
Clear questions come before complex techniques.
Conceptual coherence matters across behavioral, physiological, and molecular levels.
We move step by step—precision before expansion.
Well-designed experiments are valued more than rapid output.
Scientific integrity and intellectual honesty are non-negotiable.
Open discussion and constructive criticism are encouraged.
Failure is part of discovery; carelessness is not.
Independence and ownership of ideas are cultivated early.
We aim not only to publish papers, but to train independent thinkers.
Trainees are encouraged to develop conceptual depth, technical rigor, and scientific responsibility.