Bernardo Sabatini is interested in the mechanisms of synapse and circuit plasticity that permit new behaviors to be learned and refined. Sabatini and his team conduct integrative studies of how neuronal circuits connected by synapses develop and function. In addition, they apply biophysical studies to investigate how an individual synapse operates. They are particularly interested in how the intrinsic properties of synapses, the action of neuromodulatory molecules, and the topography of the neural network interact to determine the function, or dysfunction, of a circuit.
Ten HHMI investigators are elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In the region of the brain that controls motor planning, a self-reinforcing loop of neuronal signaling helps establish connectivity during early development.