mGluR5 is a metabotropic glutamate receptor that plays important roles in synaptic plasticity. The receptor has been involved in the processes of learing and memory and also has been implicated many neurological and psychitric diseases including anxiety, depression, Parkinson's disease, and fragile-X mental retardation syndrome. My laboratory is focusing on the molecular mechanisms in the regulation of mGluR5 activity in the neurons and in the pathogenesis of mGluR5-related diseases. We are using molecular, imaging, and behavioral techniques to understand the functions of mGluR5 in the brain.