Miguel Lujan Perez, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Contact
Building & Room:
7091 COMRB
Office Phone:
Lab
Building & Room:
7068 COMRB
Email:
Related Sites:
Interests
The Lujan lab is interested in the neuromodulatory and computational mechanisms by which neuronal circuits support learning, energize motivated behavior, and become disrupted after exposure to drugs of abuse.
About
The Luján Lab investigates how neuromodulatory systems shape motivation, learning, and behavioral control in both substance use disorders (SUD) and maternal states. Our goal is to identify mechanisms that promote resilience and to expose vulnerabilities that can be targeted for therapeutic intervention. We use a systems neuroscience framework that integrates in vivo imaging, high-density electrophysiology, and circuit-specific manipulations in behaving rodents to examine how psychoactive substances disrupt or rewire key neural processes.
One line of research focuses on drug use during pregnancy and the postpartum period, a developmental window marked by profound hormonal, structural, and motivational reorganization. Despite its clinical relevance, the maternal brain has remained largely neglected in pre-clinical neuroscience. Our work addresses this gap by studying how exposure to prescription opioids during gestation alters oxytocinergic signaling and its downstream modulation of the dopamine system. We aim to uncover how these disruptions reshape motivational states and contribute to postpartum substance use disorders.
A second major focus of the lab is the identification of neural signatures that confer resilience to compulsive drug use. While many individuals develop substance use disorders after repeated exposure, others show spontaneous disengagement from drug seeking. We investigate how corticostriatal circuits encode these adaptive behavioral transitions using advanced electrophysiological and optogenetic tools.
Lastly, we examine how the endocannabinoid system modulates attentional salience. Our work dissects how lipid-based signaling in prefrontal circuits shapes responses to reward- and punishment-predictive cues.