Daniel Christoffel

Daniel Christoffel, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is affiliated with the Behavioral & Integrative Neuroscience Program and the UNC Neuroscience Center. His research focuses on understanding how adaptive changes in brain function occur and how these processes contribute to psychiatric disorders. Key techniques include optogenetics, calcium imaging, electrophysiology, and automated behavioral analysis. Current work examines neural circuits underlying hedonic feeding and allostasis.

• Education: PhD in Neuroscience
• Affiliations: Behavioral & Integrative Neuroscience Program, UNC Neuroscience Center

Research interests span neural circuits in psychiatric disorders, stress effects on brain function, and the neurobiology of allostasis. His lab uses advanced behavioral analysis and convergent approaches like chemo/optogenetics to study experience-dependent neural adaptations. Recent work includes studies on serotonin signaling in autism models and dopamine regulation in reward circuits.

Publications focus on neural mechanisms of prosocial behavior, stress resilience, and circuitry relevant to depression and addiction. Notable findings include serotonin’s role in reversing social deficits in ASD models and dopamine’s modulation of nucleus accumbens activity.