Giorgia Targa

Starting from my MSc thesis and during my Ph.D. experience, my interests have always been focused on investigating the behavioral and neurobiological alterations that underlie the onset of neuropsychiatric disorders that involve alterations in the reward neurocircuitry and that might be associated with impairment in several neurotransmitter systems (e.g., glutamate, dopamine). 

To this purpose, during my MSc thesis, I investigated the contribution of glutamatergic excitatory neurotransmission from a structural and a molecular point of view to unveiling drug-induced neuroplastic mechanisms that might contribute to the transition from recreational to compulsive use of the psychostimulant amphetamine. Afterward, during my Ph.D. experience, my interest in the behavioral and neuroplastic mechanisms underlying addictive behavior was mainly focused on evaluating cognitive dysfunctions and impairments in short- and long-term neuronal plasticity in an animal model of anorexia nervosa.

In addition, I managed to spend seven months at the University of Mons, Belgium, under the supervision of Dr. Damiana Leo, where I had the chance to work on the characterization of the glutamate system homeostasis in the striatum and prefrontal cortex of a dopamine transporter knockout rat model. 

To date, after earning my Ph.D. in January 2024, I joined the Behavioral NeuroPhysiology Lab of Dr. Marco Cambiaghi at the University of Verona, where I am currently working on investigating the neural circuits that underpin behavioral changes in various murine models of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. In particular, I'm focusing on two main projects: exploring the role of the LHb-VTA circuit in a model of autism and the effects of the neuromodulatory technique tDCS in two transgenic mouse models of Down syndrome.