Ryan N. Hughes

This study identifies distinct VTA GABA neurons that regulate force vectors during motivated behavior through precise force tuning and optogenetic manipulation.

This study shows that phasic dopamine signaling in VTA neurons regulates force exertion during learning, not reward prediction error.

The paper identifies a locus coeruleus-hippocampal dopamine pathway involved in operant reinforcement by showing D1+ dentate gyrus neurons mediate self-stimulation through optogenetic activation.

The paper introduces a new system for simultaneous calcium imaging and optogenetic stimulation in freely moving mice, demonstrating its ability to image and activate specific neurons and recreate behavior.

This study shows that training-induced excitatory synaptogenesis in the ACC->DMS circuit is required for effort control, not learning, and is mediated by the 2{delta}-1 protein.

This study shows that VTA dopamine neurons bidirectionally control impulse vector and anticipatory behavior during motivated actions.

This paper introduces a head-fixation system with load cells to continuously monitor force generated by mice during behavior, revealing previously neglected movement dynamics and correlating them with neural activity.

This study identifies three distinct populations of VTA GABAergic neurons that encode rotational head movements during target pursuit, with their activity disrupted during reward consumption.

This study identifies a thalamo-subthalamic pathway involved in movement initiation and shows that stimulating this pathway can rescue Parkinsonian symptoms in mice.

This study identifies a striatal interneuron circuit where parvalbumin-positive fast-spiking interneurons represent target distance and regulate striatal projection neuron activity to modulate movement velocity during pursuit behavior.