Sam Scudder was awarded a 2019 NARSAD Young Investigator Award for her project "Effects of alcohol consumption on circuitry of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis". This project will probe the underlying circuitry supporting alcohol-seeking behaviors. The focus will be the molecular determinants of alcohol-evoked changes on plasticity at specific inputs to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a region deep in the brain which integrates widespread input from across the brain and sends projections to multiple downstream areas that control behavior and emotional states. As this region is also known to be a key regulator of stress responses and anxiety-related behavior, knowledge of the baseline wiring of inputs and outputs of the BNST will additionally inform understanding of how this region promotes or reduces anxious states.

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