Annual Christopher Comer Undergraduate Neuroscience Seminar: “The neural basis of sex differences in value-based decision making” by Erin Calipari, Vanderbilt Brain Institute

Erin Calipari will be presenting her research titled "The neural basis of sex differences in value-based decision making" at 1pm on October 14, 2020.

Abstract: For many psychiatric disorders, such substance use disorder, sex is a critical biological variable and women represent a particularly vulnerable population. While sex differences in the pervasiveness and prognosis of these disorders have long been known to exist, we still lack a complete understanding of why these sex differences emerge. The mesolimbic dopamine system - which originates in the ventral tegmental area and projects to the striatum - has been shown to be involved in the expression of sex-specific behavior and is thought to be a critical mediator of many psychiatric diseases – including substance use disorder. While substantial work has focused on sex differences in the anatomy of dopamine neurons and relative dopamine levels between males and females, an important characteristic of dopamine release from axon terminals in the striatum is that it is rapidly modulated by local regulatory mechanisms. This talk will describe how sex-differences in dopamine regulatory mechanisms can alter dopamine dynamics between males and females and the role that hormones play in this process. We identified an estrous-cycle dependent mechanism that enhances dopamine release and alters the ability of cocaine to increase dopamine levels. This enhancement of dopaminergic circuitry leads to potent and long-lasting associations between the rewarding effects of cocaine and the environmental cues that predict its availability. These associations are long lasting and drive drug seeking long into the future. Together we define a basic mechanism by which estrous-cycle dependent changes in the dopamine terminal in the striatum underlies susceptibility to cocaine addiction by promoting cue-reward associations following cocaine exposure.

Zoom Details:

Topic: Annual Christopher Comer Undergraduate Neuroscience Seminar
Time: Oct 14, 2020 01:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

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https://uic.zoom.us/j/93528459513?pwd=dGtvbzdWRXFaYWNyYm9Ua2Q1azRPQT09

Meeting ID: 935 2845 9513
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