Gül Dölen
Gül Dölen | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neuroscience |
| Institutions | |
| Website | https://neuroscience.jhu.edu/research/faculty/23 |
Gül Dölen is a Turkish-American neuroscientist known for studying social behavior, psychedelic drugs and critical periods. As an MD–PhD student at Brown University and later at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dölen studied fragile X syndrome and identified a possible treatment target.[1] As a postdoctoral fellow under Robert Malenka, Dölen found that the hormones oxytocin and serotonin interact with the brain's nucleus accumbens to produce good feelings from social interactions ("social rewards") in mice.[2] In 2018, Dölen co-authored a paper that found that octopuses, which are normally anti-social, became more social after exposure to the psychoactive drug MDMA, which acts on a serotonin pathway The research suggests that there is a common genetic basis of social behavior across much of the animal kingdom.[2][3] Dölen's recent research, published 2019–2023 in the journal Nature, examines the power of psychedelic drugs like MDMA in re-opening the critical period in social reward learning.[4][2]
Selected publications
See also
References
- ↑ "In deep water with Gül Dölen". Spectrum | Autism Research News. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nuwer, Rachel (15 June 2023). "The Psychedelic Scientist Who Sends Brains Back to Childhood". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ↑ Leventhal, Jamie (20 September 2018). "Scientists gave octopuses some molly. Here's what happened". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ↑ "Psychedelic Drug MDMA May Reawaken 'Critical Period' in Brain to Help Treat PTSD". Johns Hopkins Medicine Newsroom. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2023.