Carina Soares-Cunha

limbic circuits
sensory circuits
associative learning
motivation
PTSD
depression

I am a neuroscientist investigating the circuit and cellular mechanisms that regulate motivated behavior and vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders. My research integrates systems neuroscience, stress biology, and behavioral analysis to understand how environmental perturbations and neuromodulatory dynamics shape mesocorticolimbic function.

I employ a multidisciplinary approach combining in vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics, pharmacological manipulations, and projection-specific circuit dissection to establish causal relationships between neural activity and behavior. I use calcium imaging with miniscopes and two-photon microscopy to monitor population and single-cell dynamics in freely behaving and head-fixed preparations. In parallel, I apply single-cell phenotyping and molecular approaches to characterize cell-type–specific adaptations underlying motivational and affective processes.

Through collaborations in neurotechnology development, I also contribute to the validation and application of genetically encoded biosensors to monitor neuromodulatory signaling in vivo.

My overall goal is to define how circuit-level and cellular adaptations drive adaptive and maladaptive motivational states, providing mechanistic insight into the biological basis of psychiatric vulnerability.

Carina Soares-Cunha

limbic circuits
sensory circuits
associative learning
motivation
PTSD
depression

Through collaborations in neurotechnology development, I also contribute to the validation and application of genetically encoded biosensors to monitor neuromodulatory signaling in vivo.

Scientific Highlights

Individual Awards (recent):

1- ISN Young Scientist Lectureship Award (2025)

2- FEBS Excellence Award (2023)

3- Maria de Sousa Award

Publications in Scientific Journals (corresponding author):

1- Domingues AV et al. 2025. Dynamic representation of appetitive and aversive stimuli in nucleus accumbens shell D1- and D2-medium spiny neurons. Nature Communications.

2- Deseyve C et al. 2024. Nucleus accumbens neurons dynamically respond to appetitive and aversive associative learning. Journal of Neurochemistry.

3- Correia R et al. 2023. Involvement of nucleus accumbens D2-medium spiny neurons projecting to the ventral pallidum in anxiety-like behaviour. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience.

Add Your Heading Text Here

Projects

As Leader

Carina Soares-Cunha

Dynamic shift in Behavioral Adaptation: contribution of genetically distinctive nucleus accumbens’ neuronal sub-types for depression

Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects ~5% of the global population and is a leading cause of disability. It is characterized by symptoms…

Carina Soares-Cunha

Neural Circuit Mechanisms of Associative Learning and Adaptive Behavior

Through evolution, animals acquired the ability to respond with sub-second precision to environmental stimuli and to associate those stimuli with positive or negative outcomes. This capacity for associative learning is essential for …

As Member

Bárbara Coimbra

Brainstem orchestration of cue-reward associations

The brain constantly integrates new sensory information, and associates environmental cues to outcomes, adjusting behavior to maximize reward and minimize unpleasant consequences. This process is critical for survival, and its dysregulation is a hallmark of…

Ana João Rodrigues

Impact of prenatal stress in the brain: from rodents to humans

Early life adversity can have long lasting consequences for the individual, increasing the vulnerability to develop neuropsychiatric disorders later in life…

Ana João Rodrigues

Neuronal circuits of reward and aversion

Since the moment we wake up, we are continuously flooded with sensory information of variable relevance. Therefore, our brains evolved to filter information…

Nuno Dinis Alves

Prefrontal serotonin 1A receptor activation as a key determinant for cognitive flexibility

We aim to study a novel strategy to modulate and enhance cognitive flexibility through the selective activation of the postsynaptic 5-HT1AR in the PL…

Joana Margarida Silva

The role of cytotoxic granule-associated RNA binding protein TIA-1 in stress-driven synaptic dysfunction

This project aims to elucidate the role of the RNA-binding protein TIA1 in regulating synaptic RNA metabolism and neuronal plasticity under physiological and chronic stress conditions…