Michael D. Scofield

This study shows that activating astrocyte Gq signaling in the ventral tegmental area affects cocaine-associated behaviors differently in drug-naive and cocaine-experienced rats.

This study shows prefrontal astrocytes encode reward contingencies and adapt to changes in reward associations, influencing conditioned behavior.

This study shows that HDAC5 in the prelimbic prefrontal cortex reduces context-associated cocaine seeking but not sucrose seeking, altering synaptic gene expression and excitatory/inhibitory balance.

This study shows that adolescent alcohol exposure causes mechanical allodynia and changes synaptic function in a prefrontal nociceptive circuit in rats.

This study investigates how chronic ethanol exposure affects astrocyte plasticity and GABAergic signaling in the central amygdala, finding that while GAT3 levels and synaptic proximity increase, they are not essential for ethanol dependence-related behaviors.

This study validates a CX3CR1::Cre transgenic rat line for investigating microglial roles in nicotine self-administration by demonstrating DREADD transduction and nicotine SA behavior.

This study shows that adolescent alcohol exposure alters perineuronal net (PNN) expression in the infralimbic cortex, reducing the effectiveness of PNN digestion to enhance fear extinction.

This study uses two-photon calcium imaging to analyze corticostriatal neuron activity in mice during heroin self-administration and relapse, identifying distinct neuronal ensembles and their role in drug-seeking behaviors.

This paper identifies nitrergic interneurons as key mediators of cue-induced synaptic plasticity in D1 MSNs required for cocaine seeking, showing that targeting nNOS or mGluR5 blocks relapse.

This study shows that NPAS4 in the medial prefrontal cortex is required for chronic social defeat stress-induced anhedonia and dendritic spine loss, but not social avoidance or anxiety-like behavior.

This study shows NPAS4 regulates drug-cue associations and relapse-like behavior by controlling the activation balance between D1- and D2-MSNs in the nucleus accumbens.

The paper identifies a specific subset of nucleus accumbens neurons targeted by prelimbic cortical input that mediate cue-induced cocaine relapse but not sucrose seeking.

This study inhibits corticostriatal circuits in rats to show both PL-NAcore and IL-NAshell inhibition reduce cued methamphetamine seeking.

This study shows that cholinergic interneurons in the nucleus accumbens core mediate cue-induced nicotine seeking and associated glutamatergic plasticity through specific receptor mechanisms.

This study shows heroin self-administration and extinction alter astrocyte structure and dendritic spine morphology in the prelimbic cortex, effects reversed by N-acetylcysteine.

This study examines how chronic ethanol and LPS exposure alter microglial morphology in specific brain regions, revealing distinct morphometric changes.

The paper measures glutamate and nitric oxide release in the nucleus accumbens core during cocaine cue and novel context exposure in rats, finding differences in magnitude but similar temporal dynamics.

This study shows that MEF2C hypofunction in neuronal and neuroimmune populations causes MCHS-like behaviors in mice, highlighting its role in brain development and function.

The paper uses chemogenetic manipulation to explore the role of VTA dopamine neuron G-protein signaling in cocaine-related behaviors, revealing distinct effects based on signaling pathways and behavioral context.