University of California-Los Angeles · PsychologyAdhikari Lab
Avishek Adhikari · Los Angeles, California
Research Focus
Dr. Avishek Adhikari's lab at UCLA studies how specific brain cells regulate feeding behaviors. They focus on understanding the neural circuits that control food-seeking and consumption, especially in the context of disorders like obesity and anorexia. By investigating the role of GABAergic cells in the midbrain, the lab aims to uncover new insights that could lead to innovative treatments for eating disorders.
GABAergic cellsfeeding behaviorfood-seekingneural circuitsobesityanorexiamidbrainsubthalamic zona incertabehavioral neuroscienceoptogenetics
Research Aims
3AIM 01Characterize how l/vlPAG VGAT cells encode food sources and behaviors.
AIM 02Determine if activity in l/vlPAG circuit promotes foraging and consumption.
AIM 03Dissect how the l/vlPAG input affects the ZI using neural activity recordings.
Skills the Lab Values
neural activity recordingminiaturized microscopyoptogeneticsin vivo experimentscomputational methodsmolecular circuit dissectiondata analysisanimal handlingbehavioral assaysex vivo recordings
Output against the department
Publications46bottom 7% of dept.273rd of 296
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations8.3ktop 36% of dept.108th of 296
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.