Dan McCloskey

Dr. McCloskey’s research is focused on understanding the brain systems involved in social behavior.  This is accomplished by studying the African naked mole-rat, a unique and highly social fossorial rodent.  Laboratory housed colonies of naked mole-rats are examined for individual differences in day-to-day social behaviors and the anatomical and electrophysiological differences in the brain that are related to them.  Using behaviorally-defined criteria to identify differences in 3-D reconstructed quantitative neuroanatomy and in-vivo and in-vitro electrophysiology allows for the ability to understand the role of social behavior brain systems in health, and in diseases such as epilepsy and autism.