Stanford University · BiologyO'Connell Lab
Lauren A O'Connell · Stanford, California
Research Focus
Dr. Lauren O'Connell's lab studies how young animals learn to communicate and interact with others through movement, a process known as perceptual motor development. Using social tadpoles, her research explores how dopamine signaling and a specific protein related to Fragile X syndrome affect this development. By understanding these brain mechanisms, the lab aims to uncover insights that could help in addressing communication and developmental issues, particularly in conditions like autism.
perceptual motor developmentcommunicationDopamineFragile X syndromeneural mechanismssocial recognitioninfant behaviortadpole modelbehavioral neuroscience
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate how dopamine regulates social behaviors in infant tadpoles.
AIM 02Examine the role of the Fragile X protein in sensory processing.
AIM 03Explore the effects of olfactory cues on caregiver recognition.
AIM 04Determine how striatal neurons are involved in motor displays.
AIM 05Assess behavioral outputs related to infant communication.
Skills the Lab Values
animal behavior analysisin vivo imagingcell ablation techniquesgenetic manipulationmolecular biologyPCRRNA analysisneurogeneticsbehavioral paradigmsdata collection and analysis
Output against the department
Publications215top 30% of dept.306th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations5.5kbottom 41% of dept.614th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.