research overview
- We utilize molecular, electrophysiological, imaging, and viral-based approaches to define, observe, and manipulate the specific neurons and pathways that govern seeking rewards, aversion avoidance, addiction, and depression.
- Contact Info
Root, David H Assistant Professor
Positions
- Assistant Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience
Research Areas
Research
keywords
- reward, aversion, addiction, self-administration, depression, learning, ventral tegmental area, dopamine, gaba, glutamate
Publications
selected publications
-
chapter
-
journal article
-
Selective Brain Distribution and Distinctive Synaptic Architecture of Dual Glutamatergic-GABAergic Neurons.
Cell Reports.
3465-3479.
2018
-
Aversion or Salience Signaling by Ventral Tegmental Area Glutamate Neurons.
iScience.
51-+.
2018
-
Lateral Preoptic Control of the Lateral Habenula through Convergent Glutamate and GABA Transmission.
Cell Reports.
1757-1769.
2017
-
Review of the cytology and connections of the lateral habenula, an avatar of adaptive behaving.
Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior.
3-21.
2017
-
Glutamate neurons are intermixed with midbrain dopamine neurons in nonhuman primates and humans.
Scientific Reports.
2016
-
Multiplexed neurochemical signaling by neurons of the ventral tegmental area.
Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy.
33-42.
2016
-
The ventral pallidum: Subregion-specific functional anatomy and roles in motivated behaviors.
Progress in Neurobiology.
29-70.
2015
-
Sensitivity to self-administered cocaine within the lateral preoptic–rostral lateral hypothalamic continuum.
Brain Structure and Function.
1841-1854.
2015
-
Norepinephrine Activates Dopamine D4 Receptors in the Rat Lateral Habenula.
The Journal of Neuroscience.
3460-3469.
2015
-
Glutamate neurons within the midbrain dopamine regions.
Neuroscience.
60-68.
2014
-
Single rodent mesohabenular axons release glutamate and GABA.
Nature Neuroscience.
1543-1551.
2014
-
Role of Glutamatergic Projections from Ventral Tegmental Area to Lateral Habenula in Aversive Conditioning.
The Journal of Neuroscience.
13906-13910.
2014
-
Rat ultrasonic vocalizations demonstrate that the motivation to contextually reinstate cocaine-seeking behavior does not necessarily involve a hedonic response.
Addiction Biology.
781-790.
2014
-
Olfactory tubercle neurons exhibit slow-phasic firing patterns during cocaine self-administration.
Synapse (New York).
n/a-n/a.
2014
-
Ultrasonic vocalizations: evidence for an affective opponent process during cocaine self-administration.
Psychopharmacology.
909-918.
2014
-
A Procedure for Implanting Organized Arrays of Microwires for Single-unit Recordings in Awake, Behaving Animals.
Journal of Visualized Experiments.
2014
-
The Ventromedial Ventral Pallidum Subregion Is Necessary for Outcome-Specific Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer.
The Journal of Neuroscience.
18707-18709.
2013
-
Amphetamine's dose-dependent effects on dorsolateral striatum sensorimotor neuron firing.
Behavioural Brain Research.
152-161.
2013
-
Differential roles of ventral pallidum subregions during cocaine self-administration behaviors.
Journal of Comparative Neurology.
558-588.
2013
-
Effects of varying reinforcement probability on pavlovian approach behavior and ultrasonic vocalizations in rats.
Behavioural Brain Research.
256-262.
2013
-
Slow phasic and tonic activity of ventral pallidal neurons during cocaine self-administration.
Synapse (New York).
106-127.
2012
-
Emerging, reemerging, and forgotten brain areas of the reward circuit: Notes from the 2010 Motivational Neural Networks conference.
Behavioural Brain Research.
348-357.
2011
-
Evidence for learned skill during cocaine self-administration in rats.
Psychopharmacology.
91-100.
2011
-
Absence of cue-evoked firing in rat dorsolateral striatum neurons.
Behavioural Brain Research.
23-32.
2010
-
Rapid phasic activity of ventral pallidal neurons during cocaine self-administration.
Synapse (New York).
n/a-n/a.
2010
-
Decreased Firing of Striatal Neurons Related to Licking during Acquisition and Overtraining of a Licking Task.
The Journal of Neuroscience.
13952-13961.
2009
-
Evidence for Habitual and Goal-Directed Behavior Following Devaluation of Cocaine: A Multifaceted Interpretation of Relapse.
PLoS One.
e7170-e7170.
2009
-
Duality of salience in dopamine neurons.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA.
E84-E84.
2009
-
Effects of REM deprivation and an NMDA agonist on the extinction of conditioned fear.
Physiology and Behavior.
274-281.
2008
-
Selective Brain Distribution and Distinctive Synaptic Architecture of Dual Glutamatergic-GABAergic Neurons.
Cell Reports.
3465-3479.
2018
Teaching
courses taught
-
NRSC 4011 - Senior Thesis
Primary Instructor - Fall 2019
Critically reviews topics in neuroscience research, scholarly analysis of a major neuroscience issue, and/or empirical research project. See the neuroscience director for further information. -
NRSC 4032 - Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
Primary Instructor - Spring 2019 / Spring 2020
Provides a comprehensive treatment of how the brain acquires, stores, and retrieves memories. To do this we will consider (a) the methods used to address these issues, (b) what we know about how brain systems are organized to support memories of different types,and (c) the synaptic mechanisms that are involved. Same as NRSC 5032. -
NRSC 7102 - Topics in Neuroscience
Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Fall 2019
Advanced seminar dealing with different specialized topics in neuroscience. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours.
Background
education and training
- Ph.D., Rutgers University Camden Campus 2012
- M.S., Seton Hall University 2006
- B.S., Western New England College 2004