Just Published:
A bidirectional corticoamygdala circuit for the encoding and retrieval of detailed reward memories
Sias AC, Morse AK, Wang S, Greenfield VY, Goodpaster CM, Wrenn TM, Wikenheiser AM, Holley SM, Cepeda C, Levine MS, Wassum KM.
eLife (2021) TweetPrint BioRxiv

Just Published:
Distinct cortical-amygdala projections drive reward value encoding and retrieval
Malvaez M, Shieh C, Murphy, MD, Greenfield VY, Wassum KM.
Nature Neuroscience (2019) Free Full PDF

Just Published:
Nucleus accumbens cholinergic interneurons oppose cue-motivated behavior
Collins AL, Aitken TJ, Huang I, Shieh C, Greenfield VY, Monbouquette HG, Ostlund SB, Wassum KM.
Biological Psychiatry (2019)

2/25/19
Congratulations to Nina Lichtenberg for receiving the BRI Eva Kavan award and the APA Dissertaiton award!!!

7/2018
Congratulations to Ana Sias on receiving the Translational neuroscience of drug abuse training grant and joining the lab!

Just Published:
Habits are negatively regulated by histone deacetylase 3 in the dorsal striatum
Malvaez M, Greenfield VY, Matheos DP, Angelillis NA, Murphy MD, Kennedy PJ, Wood MA , Wassum KM
Biological Psychiatry (2019) In Press

Regulation of habit formation in the dorsal striatum
Malvaez M, Wassum KM.
Current Opinion in Behavioral Science (2018) 20:67-74.

SfN posters:
November 15, 2017, 8:00 AM
697.18. Cortical-amygdala circuits for value-based decision making
*M. MALVAEZ1, C. SHIEH1, M. MURPHY1, V. Y. GREENFIELD1, H. G. MONBOUQUETTE2, K. M. WASSUM1;
1Psychology, 2Chem. & Biomolecular Engin., UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Session: Poster: 697 – Motivation: Subcortical Neurocircuitry

November 15, 2017, 8:00 AM
697.19. The role of basolateral amygdala output pathways in reward expectation-guided behavior
*N. T. LICHTENBERG1, Z. T. PENNINGTON1, V. Y. GREENFIELD1, K. M. WASSUM1,2;
1Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; 2Brain Res. Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Session: Poster: 697 – Motivation: Subcortical Neurocircuitry

November 15, 2017, 1:00 PM
788.13. Impact of chemogenetic inhibition of mesocorticolimbic dopamine signaling on cue-motivated behavior
*S. B. OSTLUND1, *S. B. OSTLUND1, B. HALBOUT2, K. M. WASSUM3, A. AZIZ2;
1Dept. of Anesthesiol. and Perioperative Care, UCI Sch. of Med., Irvine, CA; 2Anesthesiol., Univ. of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA; 3Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Session: Poster: 788 – Reward: Dopamine, Pharmacology, and Pathophysiology

Just Published:
Basolateral amygdala to orbitofrontal cortex projections enable cue-triggered reward expectations
Lichtenberg NT, Pennington ZT, Holley SM, Greenfield VY, Cepeda C, Levine MS, Wassum KM
Journal of Neuroscience (2017)

5/28/17-
Congratulations to Annie Collins on being awarded the Dissertation Year Fellowship Award & Nina Lichtenberg for receiving the Translational neuroscience of drug abuse training grant!

5/25/17-
Congratulations to Tara Aitken on being award the Dean’s Prize for Research Excellence!

3/3/17-
We’re very excited to welcome Dr. Ashleigh Morse to the lab!

2/1/17-
Congratulations to Annie Collins on being awarded UCLA’s Kavan prize!

2/1/17-
Congratulations to Annie Collins on being awarded the Mautner Fellowship & Nina Lichtenberg for receiving the Translational neuroscience of drug abuse training grant!

12/7/16-
Just Published:
Amygdala mu-opioid receptors mediate the motivating influence of cue-triggered reward expectations
Lichtenberg NT and Wassum KM
European Journal of Neuroscience (2016).

8/18/16-
Wassum Lab SfN Posters:
Saturday 11/12 1-5PM
80.06 / CCC26 – Identification of an amygdala-cortical circuit for cue-directed action.
*N. T. LICHTENBERG, V. Y. GREENFIELD, Z. T. PENNINGTON, K. M. WASSUM

80.07 / DDD1 – Glutamate released into the basolateral amygdala tracks reward value encoding and the use of this information to guide reward seeking
*M. MALVAEZ, H. G. MONBOUQUETTE, K. M. WASSUM

Tuesday 11/15 8AM-12PM
542.17 / III6 – Contribution of nucleus accumbens core cholinergic interneuron tonic activity to cue-motivated behavior
*T. AITKEN, A. L. COLLINS, S. B. OSTLUND, K. M. WASSUM

542.16 / III5 – Contribution of nucleus accumbens core cholinergic interneurons to cue-motivated behavior
*A. L. COLLINS, T. J. AITKEN S. B. OSTLUND, K. WASSUM

8/18/16-
Just Published:
Nucleus accumbens acetylcholine receptors modulate dopamine and motivation
Collins AL, Aitken TJ, Greenfield VY, Ostlund SB and Wassum KM
Neuropsychopharmacology (2016).

6/28/16
Congratulations to Melissa Malvaez on being awarded the Scheibel Postdoctoral Lecture Award!

3/29/16
Congratulations to Kenny Amaya on being awarded the NSF GRFP!

2/12/16-
Just Published:
Dynamic mesolimbic dopamine signaling during action sequence learning and expectation violation
Collins AL, Greenfield VY, Bye JK, Linker KE, Wang AS and Wassum KM
Scientific Reports (2016) 6, 20231.

2/10/16-
We currently hiring for a NIH-funded post-doc position. Click here for more information.

1/25/16-
Just Published:
Nucleus accumbens core dopamine signaling tracks the need-based motivational value of food-paired cues.
Aitken TJ*, Greenfield VY* and Wassum KM
Journal of Neurochemistry (2016).

11/16/15-

Just Published:
The Origins and Organization of Vertebrate Pavlovian Conditioning
Fanselow MS and Wassum KM
Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology (2015)

11/10/15-
Congratulations to Tara Aiken on becoming a HHURP scholar!

9/23/15-
SfN Posters:

S. J. HERSMAN, J. CUSHMAN, K. WASSUM, M. S. FANSELOW, S. LOTFIPOUR
Sun, Oct 18, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
126.05/C2 – Optogenetic activation of medial septum cholinergic neurons improves contextual fear learning and alters choline levels in hippocampus

A. L. COLLINS, V. GREENFIELD, I. XU, S. OSTLUND, K. WASSUM
180. Reward: Dopamine Sun, Oct 18, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
180.01/BB19 – Nucleus accumbens core muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors differentially modulate phasic dopamine release and mediate cue-induced incentive motivation

S. B. OSTLUND, A. T. LIU, B. HALBOUT, K. M. WASSUM, N. T. MAIDMENT
255. Appetitive and Incentive Learning and Memory I Sun, Oct 18, 1:00 – 5:00 PM
255.21/X3 – Modulation of cue-triggered reward seeking by cholinergic signaling in the dorsomedial striatum

N. T. LICHTENBERG, V. Y. GREENFIELD, A. S. WANG, K. M. WASSUM
258. Reward: Motivational Mechanisms I Sun, Oct 18, 1:00 – 5:00 PM
258.05/Y16 – Basolateral amygdala mu opioid receptor activation and connections to the orbitofrontal cortex mediate outcome-specific Pavlovian-instrumental transfer

A. G. HOWE, K. M. WASSUM, H. T. BLAIR
267. Electrode Arrays I Sun, Oct 18, 1:00 – 5:00 PM
267.16/BB59 – Simultaneous in-vivo single-unit recording and fast-scan cyclic voltammetry in the behaving rat

M. MALVAEZ, S. STOLL, A. M. YORITA, L. FENG, H. G. MONBOUQUETTE, K. M. WASSUM
636. Motivation and Emotion: Reward II Tue, Oct 20, 1:00 – 5:00 PM
636.19/DD25 – Glutamate released into the basolateral amygdala tracks the encoding of reward value and the use of this information to guide reward seeking

9/10/15-
Just published:
The basolateral amygdala in reward learning and addiction
Wassum KM, Izquierdo A.
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (2015).

9/8/15-
We’re excited to welcome new grad student Kenny Amaya to the lab!

7/27/15-
Just published:
Basolateral amygdala rapid glutamate release encodes an outcome-specific representation vital for reward-predictive cues to selectively invigorate reward-seeking actions
Malvaez M, Greenfield VY, Wang AS, Yorita AM, Feng L, Linker KE, Monbouquette HG, Wassum KM.
Scientific Reports (2015).

12/23/14-
Just published:
Probing the Neurochemical Correlates of Motivation and Decision Making
Wassum KM, Phillips PEM.
ACS Chemical Neuroscience (2015) 6(1) 11-13.

8/1/2014– Just Published:
Inflated Reward Value in Early Opiate Withdrawal.
Wassum KM, Greenfield, VY, Linker KE, Maidment NT, Ostlund SB.
Addiction Biology (2014) DOI: 10.1111/adb.12172