I am a neurobiologist with a main research interest in the neurobiology of social play behavior. Social play behavior is a natural reward and is essential for proper social development. Furthermore, social dysfunction is a key feature of psychiatric disorders such as autism, ADHD and schizophrenia. The aims of my research are to disentangle the neurocircuitry of social play behavior and highlight the importance of social play behaviour for social development. To these aims, I use pharmacological and chemogenetic tools in combination with behavioural set-ups. In addition, in our group we investigate individual differences in social play behaviour and how these differences affect adult social, impulsive and addictive behaviour.