research overview
- We utilize molecular, electrophysiological, imaging, and viral-based approaches to define, observe, and manipulate the specific neurons and pathways that govern seeking rewards, aversion avoidance, addiction, and depression.
- Contact Info
Root, David H
Positions
- Associate Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience
Research Areas
Research
keywords
- reward, aversion, addiction, self-administration, depression, learning, ventral tegmental area, dopamine, gaba, glutamate
Publications
selected publications
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chapter
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conference proceeding
- Sex differences in behavior and hippocampal mRNA expression following stress-enhanced fear learning (SEFL) model eliciting the incubation of generalized fear and anxiety-like endophenotypes. 2023
- Nighttime Red Light Sensitivity in Laboratory Rodents: Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Activation, Melatonin Suppression, and Phase Shifted Wheel Running 2022
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journal article
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Salience Signaling and Stimulus Scaling of Ventral Tegmental Area Glutamate Neuron Subtypes.
Journal of Neuroscience.
2025
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Indirect, but not direct, lateral habenula projections to ventral tegmental area regulate the long-term consequences of neuropathic pain.
Neuropsychopharmacology.
1025-1026.
2025
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Red Light Sensitivity of Non-image and Image Forming Visual Systems of Laboratory Rodents: Circadian Disruption and Behavioral Detection.
Journal of Neuroscience.
2025
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Assessing the role of BNST GABA neurons in backward conditioned suppression.
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory.
2025
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Monosynaptic Inputs to Ventral Tegmental Area Glutamate and GABA Co-transmitting Neurons.
Journal of Neuroscience.
2024
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Ventral tegmental area glutamate neurons mediate nonassociative consequences of stress.
Molecular Psychiatry.
2024
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Ventral tegmental area glutamate neurons establish a mu-opioid receptor gated circuit to mesolimbic dopamine neurons and regulate opioid-seeking behavior.
Neuropsychopharmacology.
2023
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Bed nucleus of the stria terminalis GABA neurons are necessary for changes in foraging behaviour following an innate threat.
European Journal of Neuroscience.
3630-3649.
2023
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Combining RNAscope and immunohistochemistry to visualize inflammatory gene products in neurons and microglia.
Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience.
2023
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Elevated prefrontal dopamine interferes with the stress-buffering properties of behavioral control in female rats.
Neuropsychopharmacology.
498-507.
2023
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Neuromedin U: a neuropeptide modulator of GABA transmission contributes to cocaine seeking.
Neuropsychopharmacology.
1873-1874.
2022
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A Semi-Automated Workflow for Brain Slice Histology Alignment, Registration, and Cell Quantification (SHARCQ).
eNeuro.
2022
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Neurochemical Signaling of Reward and Aversion to Ventral Tegmental Area Glutamate Neurons.
Journal of Neuroscience.
5471-5486.
2021
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Oral prescription opioid-seeking behavior in male and female mice.
Addiction Biology.
2020
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Distinct Signaling by Ventral Tegmental Area Glutamate, GABA, and Combinatorial Glutamate-GABA Neurons in Motivated Behavior.
Cell reports.
2020
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Neurochemical signaling of reward and aversion by ventral tegmental area glutamate neurons
2020
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Ventral pallidum: a promising target for addiction intervention.
Neuropsychopharmacology.
2151-2152.
2019
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Selective Brain Distribution and Distinctive Synaptic Architecture of Dual Glutamatergic-GABAergic Neurons.
Cell reports.
3465-3479.
2018
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Aversion or Salience Signaling by Ventral Tegmental Area Glutamate Neurons.
iScience.
51-+.
2018
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Lateral Preoptic Control of the Lateral Habenula through Convergent Glutamate and GABA Transmission.
Cell reports.
1757-1769.
2017
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Review of the cytology and connections of the lateral habenula, an avatar of adaptive behaving.
Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior.
3-21.
2017
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Glutamate neurons are intermixed with midbrain dopamine neurons in nonhuman primates and humans.
Scientific Reports.
2016
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Multiplexed neurochemical signaling by neurons of the ventral tegmental area.
Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy.
33-42.
2016
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The ventral pallidum: Subregion-specific functional anatomy and roles in motivated behaviors.
Progress in Neurobiology.
29-70.
2015
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Sensitivity to self-administered cocaine within the lateral preoptic–rostral lateral hypothalamic continuum.
Brain Structure and Function.
1841-1854.
2015
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Norepinephrine Activates Dopamine D4 Receptors in the Rat Lateral Habenula.
Journal of Neuroscience.
3460-3469.
2015
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GLUTAMATE NEURONS WITHIN THE MIDBRAIN DOPAMINE REGIONS.
Neuroscience.
60-68.
2014
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Single rodent mesohabenular axons release glutamate and GABA.
Nature Neuroscience.
1543-1551.
2014
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Role of Glutamatergic Projections from Ventral Tegmental Area to Lateral Habenula in Aversive Conditioning.
Journal of Neuroscience.
13906-13910.
2014
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Rat ultrasonic vocalizations demonstrate that the motivation to contextually reinstate cocaine-seeking behavior does not necessarily involve a hedonic response.
Addiction Biology.
781-790.
2014
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Olfactory Tubercle Neurons Exhibit Slow-Phasic Firing Patterns During Cocaine Self-Administration.
Synapse.
321-323.
2014
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Ultrasonic vocalizations: evidence for an affective opponent process during cocaine self-administration.
Psychopharmacology.
909-918.
2014
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A Procedure for Implanting Organized Arrays of Microwires for Single-unit Recordings in Awake, Behaving Animals.
Journal of Visualized Experiments.
2014
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The Ventromedial Ventral Pallidum Subregion Is Necessary for Outcome-Specific Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer.
Journal of Neuroscience.
18707-18709.
2013
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Amphetamine's dose-dependent effects on dorsolateral striatum sensorimotor neuron firing.
Behavioural Brain Research.
152-161.
2013
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Differential roles of ventral pallidum subregions during cocaine self-administration behaviors.
Journal of Comparative Neurology.
558-588.
2013
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Effects of varying reinforcement probability on pavlovian approach behavior and ultrasonic vocalizations in rats.
Behavioural Brain Research.
256-262.
2013
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Slow phasic and tonic activity of ventral pallidal neurons during cocaine self-administration.
Synapse.
106-127.
2012
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Emerging, reemerging, and forgotten brain areas of the reward circuit: Notes from the 2010 Motivational Neural Networks conference.
Behavioural Brain Research.
348-357.
2011
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Evidence for learned skill during cocaine self-administration in rats.
Psychopharmacology.
91-100.
2011
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Dose-dependent differences in short ultrasonic vocalizations emitted by rats during cocaine self-administration.
Psychopharmacology.
435-442.
2010
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Rapid Phasic Activity of Ventral Pallidal Neurons During Cocaine Self-Administration.
Synapse.
704-713.
2010
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Absence of cue-evoked firing in rat dorsolateral striatum neurons.
Behavioural Brain Research.
23-32.
2010
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Decreased Firing of Striatal Neurons Related to Licking during Acquisition and Overtraining of a Licking Task.
Journal of Neuroscience.
13952-13961.
2009
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Evidence for Habitual and Goal-Directed Behavior Following Devaluation of Cocaine: A Multifaceted Interpretation of Relapse.
PLoS ONE.
e7170-e7170.
2009
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Duality of salience in dopamine neurons.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
E84-E84.
2009
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Effects of REM deprivation and an NMDA agonist on the extinction of conditioned fear.
Physiology and Behavior.
274-281.
2008
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Salience Signaling and Stimulus Scaling of Ventral Tegmental Area Glutamate Neuron Subtypes.
Journal of Neuroscience.
2025
Background
education and training
- Ph.D., Rutgers University Camden Campus 2012
- M.S., Seton Hall University 2006
- B.S., Western New England College 2004