Aida Mohammadkhani

Aug 2, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Aida Mohammadkhani |Min Qiao |Stephanie L. Borgland

AbstractDopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) respond to motivationally relevant cues and circuit-specific signaling drives different aspects of motivated behavior. Orexins (ox; also known as hypocretin) and dynorphin (dyn) are co-expressed lateral hypothalamic (LH) neuropeptides that project to the VTA. These peptides have opposing effects on the firing activity of VTADA neurons via orexin 1 (Ox1R) or kappa opioid (KOR) receptors, respectively.

Mar 3, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Caitlin Mitchell |Aida Mohammadkhani |Elizabeth Manning |Erin Campbell

AbstractReward-seeking involves the engagement and computation of multiple physiological and motivational parameters. The lateral hypothalamus (LH) is a necessary node in the circuits that control food-seeking and motivation. One group of cells that plays an important yet incompletely understood role in these processes are the orexin/hypocretin (OX/HT) neurons. OX/HT cells are located exclusively within the LH and are implicated in feeding, arousal, and reward-seeking behavior.

Dec 28, 2023 | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Duncan Noble |Aida Mohammadkhani |Min Qiao |Stephanie L. Borgland

AAV adeno-associated virus ANOVA analysis of variance AUC area under the curve BNST bed nucleus of the stria terminalis ChR2 channelrhodopsin 2 CTB cholera toxin B DAT dopamine transporter DRN dorsal raphe nucleus eYFP enhanced yellow fluorescent protein FSCV fast-scan cyclic voltammetry HDCV high-definition cyclic voltammetry mPFC medial prefrontal cortex NAc nucleus accumbens NAcc nucleus accumbens core NAcsh nucleus accumbens shell OFC orbitofrontal cortex ROI region of interest VTA...