Welcome to the research laboratory of 

Dr. Maria M. Diehl

The research program of the Diehl Lab investigates why some individuals can overcome trauma and develop lasting resilience, while others go on to develop anxiety- and trauma-related disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Using platform-mediated avoidance, a rodent model of active avoidance learning, the Diehl Lab studies the behavioral and neural mechanisms that shape how rodents decide when to avoid a threat versus approach a reward.

A central question in the lab is how female and male rats select among different behavioral strategies when facing threat and reward simultaneously, and how factors like social context and biological sex shape that selection process. Specifically, we are interested in how rats use social cues to balance safety and reward and how prefrontal circuits support this decision making.

To answer these questions, we use c-Fos immunohistochemistry and single unit recordings to map activity in these circuits, and we use optogenetics and chemogenetics to test the causal role of these neural circuits during active avoidance under various social conditions. We also record ultrasonic vocalizations as another behavioral readout during our tasks.