Alexxai V. Kravitz

Tumbly is an open-source, automated device for time-restricted feeding in mice, validated to maintain body weight and food intake with low error rates.

In 136 mice on FED3 tasks, males showed slightly higher win-stay in all three choice tasks, with higher accuracy in a deterministic bandit but not a probabilistic one.

This study examines how combining Δ9-THC and oxycodone affects pain relief, dependence, circadian activity, and reward in mice, finding enhanced antinociception without increased dependence but with increased reward.

This study shows that NMDARs in the dorsomedial striatum are essential for learning from rewarded actions and that blocking them disrupts striatal calcium dynamics involved in updating action policies.

This study identifies ventral pallidal GABAergic neurons as a key population controlling hedonic feeding and obesity in mice through optogenetic and ablation experiments.

This study identifies a preoptic neuronal population that regulates energy expenditure and balance through daily activity patterns and metabolic responses.

The paper identifies impaired SK channel function in mesolimbic dopamine neurons as a mechanism driving reward seeking adaptations in chronic neuropathic pain.

This paper introduces a homecage operant task to measure social motivation and circadian rhythms in mice, finding that social motivation peaks 2 hours after feeding and is influenced by dopamine D1 and D2 receptors.

This study shows that requiring mice to perform a simple action to access high-fat diet reduces intake and prevents obesity, suggesting that easy access promotes overeating.

This paper identifies a unique population of glutamatergic supramammillary nucleus neurons that are recruited by threatening stressors and promote active coping behaviors.

This study identifies six topographically and functionally distinct regions in the mouse central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) innervated by different dopaminergic pathways.

The paper identifies a stress-sensitive anorexigenic pathway from the medial prefrontal cortex to the lateral hypothalamus in mice and shows its role in regulating food intake during stress.

This study shows that striatal fiber photometry signals mainly reflect non-somatic calcium changes, not somatic ones.

This study shows that oral oxycodone self-administration in mice leads to features of opioid addiction, including escalation, dependence, and relapse behavior.

This study shows that obese mice exhibit increased activity in D1R-expressing spiny projection neurons in the nucleus accumbens during food seeking, which enhances food motivation and contributes to diet-induced obesity.

This study shows that impaired metabolic-sensing in AgRP neurons reduces dopamine release in the dorsal striatum and suppresses reward-seeking behavior, especially under hunger.

This paper introduces an oral oxycodone self-administration paradigm in mice to model prescription opioid use and its transition to abuse.

This study shows that locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) neurons modulate feeding by integrating external and internal cues, with their activity changing during food approach and consumption.

This study shows that psychostimulants enhance synapses in the orbitofrontal to dorsomedial striatum pathway and increase striatal output in awake mice, linking this plasticity to hyperactivity.