Kristen Kim
Research
Publications
2022
Activity of a direct VTA to ventral pallidum GABA pathway encodes unconditioned reward value and sustains motivation for reward
Zhou WL, Kim K, Ali F, Pittenger ST, Calarco CA, Mineur YS, Ramakrishnan C, Deisseroth K, Kwan AC, Picciotto MR. Activity of a direct VTA to ventral pallidum GABA pathway encodes unconditioned reward value and sustains motivation for reward. Science Advances 2022, 8: eabm5217. PMID: 36260661, PMCID: PMC9581470, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm5217.Peer-Reviewed Original Research
2020
Acetylcholine is released in the basolateral amygdala in response to predictors of reward and enhances learning of cue-reward contingency
Crouse RB, Kim K, Batchelor HM, Girardi EM, Kamaletdinova R, Chan J, Rajebhosale P, Pittenger ST, Role LW, Talmage DA, Jing M, Li Y, Gao XB, Mineur YS, Picciotto MR. Acetylcholine is released in the basolateral amygdala in response to predictors of reward and enhances learning of cue-reward contingency. ELife 2020, 9: e57335. PMID: 32945260, PMCID: PMC7529459, DOI: 10.7554/elife.57335.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsBasolateral amygdalaCue-reward learningActivity of neuronsReward-related eventsNucleus basalisBLA responsesACh levelsPredictors of rewardTerminal fibersNeuron activityReward-predictive cuesCalcium indicatorsAChNeutral cuesEmotional stimuliAversive stimuliReward retrievalTask acquisitionAmygdalaSalient eventsMiceACh sensorTerminal activityQuick acquisitionCues
2018
Adolescent Nicotine Exposure Alters GABAA Receptor Signaling in the Ventral Tegmental Area and Increases Adult Ethanol Self-Administration
Thomas A, Ostroumov A, Kimmey B, Taormina M, Holden W, Kim K, Brown-Mangum T, Dani J. Adolescent Nicotine Exposure Alters GABAA Receptor Signaling in the Ventral Tegmental Area and Increases Adult Ethanol Self-Administration. Cell Reports 2018, 23: 68-77. PMID: 29617674, PMCID: PMC5983379, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.03.030.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsVentral tegmental areaAdolescent nicotine exposureNicotine exposureTegmental areaChloride extrusionLateral ventral tegmental areaSubsequent ethanol intakeVTA GABA neuronsNicotine-treated animalsGlucocorticoid receptor activationGABAA Receptor SignalingEthanol Self‐AdministrationGABA neuronsPathological drinkingVTA GABAAlcohol drinkingEthanol intakeReceptor activationSelf-AdministrationRisk profileGABANeuron responsesAdolescent smokingReceptor signalingReversal potential