Dr. Annegret Falkner

“Protecting mood and decision-making during hormonal shifts—paving the way for next-generation, targeted hormone treatments without the side effects.”

Dr. Annegret Falkner’s research maps how social experiences and hormonal states reshape brain circuits to influence perception, motivation, and decision-making, revealing neural mechanisms that drive complex social behaviors.

Annegret Falkner, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, where she studies how social experiences and hormonal changes shape brain circuits and behavior. Her lab investigates the neural basis of social decision-making, focusing on how internal states like dominance, defeat, and hormonal fluctuations influence perception, motivation, and behavioral choice. Using genetic tools, in vivo physiology, and optical recording in mice, her work maps how brain regions such as the hypothalamus, amygdala, and midbrain process social and sensory information. Dr. Falkner earned her B.A. in biology and biochemistry from Oberlin College, her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Columbia University, and completed postdoctoral training at New York University.