Research in the Baxter lab focuses on the neural mechanisms of learning, memory, executive function, and decision-making, and the ways in which these mechanisms fail in aging and neuropsychiatric disorders. Our research interests are broad and include the functional neuroanatomy of frontal and temporal cortex, regulation of higher cognitive functions by neuromodulators, the biological basis of cognitive impairments in neurodegenerative disease and neuropsychiatric conditions, as well as the neurobiological and cognitive effects of general anesthesia. Our approach to answering questions about the relationship between brain systems and cognition is to interfere with the function of defined neural systems in experimental animal models, and determine the consequences of this interference on behavior.