Publications

A new study published in PNAS by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers describes how two personality traits, callousness and exploitativeness, are related to the way humans learn to cooperate in interpersonal relationships, and how this learning unfolds in the brain. The study represents an important step toward understanding whether differences in the way we learn from others impact the types of...

Despite established sex differences in the prevalence and presentation of psychiatric disorders, little is known about the cellular and synaptic mechanisms that guide these differences under basal conditions. Proper function of the prefrontal cortex is essential for the top-down regulation of motivated behaviors. The activity of the prefrontal cortex is tightly controlled by parvalbumin-expressing interneurons, a...

Identifying biomarkers that can predict future drug use may open new avenues for individualized medicine in preventing and treating substance use disorders. Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neuron activity is an integral component of rapid eye movement sleep, and rapid eye movement sleep powerfully regulates the formation and modification of emotional memories. Following cocaine self-administration and...

Daniel Buysse, MD (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, and Clinical and Translational Science, and UPMC Endowed Chair in Sleep Medicine), is an internationally recognized expert in sleep medicine research, specializing in the diagnosis, assessment, pathophysiology, and treatment of insomnia. In a recent Clinical Practice article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Buysse reviewed the...

Compulsive behaviors are a hallmark symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Striatal hyperactivity has been linked to compulsive behavior generation in humans and rodents. However, the contribution of the two distinct striatal output populations to the generation and treatment of compulsive behavior is unknown. These populations of direct and indirect pathway-projecting spiny projection neurons have...