Striatal mechanisms guiding reward, aversion, and decision-making

Join our New Horizons webinar with Assistant Professor, Dr. Tom MacPherson, PhD from Osaka University. 

THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2024

2024年6月20日

4:00 - 5:00 PM (JMT) | 16時

Dr. MacPherson, a Neuroscience Ph.D. from Sussex University, has been an Assistant Professor at Osaka University since 2017. His research focuses on Basal Ganglia neurocircuits and psychiatric conditions, using cutting-edge techniques to understand learning, decision-making, and clinical dysfunction.

For our NEW HORIZONS Webinar, we have invited Dr. Tom Macpherson, PhD, an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University. Dr. Macpherson will talk about the striatum playing a pivotal role in the signaling of rewarding and aversive stimuli, as well as in decision-making guided by such stimuli. While earlier studies have predominantly explored the function of striatal regions at the level of whole populations of cells, particularly focusing on dopamine D1 or D2 receptor-expressing medium spiny neurons (D1-/D2-MSNs), recent advancements in spatially resolved transcriptomics have unveiled substantial cellular and molecular diversity within these MSN populations. This talk will focus on recent work from our group using single-cell-resolution in-vivo imaging methods in mice to elucidate the complex and complementary roles of subpopulations of D1- and D2-MSNs in valence signaling and decision-making.

Reference publication:

Nishioka T, Suthinee A, Hamaguchi K, Lazarus M, de Kerchove d’Exaerde A, Macpherson T*, Hikida T*. (2023). Error-related signalling in nucleus accumbens D2 receptor-expressing neurons guides inhibition-based choice behavior in mice. Nature Communications (IF= 17.694), 14:2284.

REGISTER TODAY!

Learn about the latest innovative solutions in calcium imaging for freely behaving animals using our flagship nVue^TM, nVoke^TM, and nVista^TM, and nVision^TM platforms!