Control signals in the human brain: Direct measurements of dopamine and serotonin release during adaptive decision- making in humans
March 15, 2016
Date and time: March 15, from 3:00-4:00 PM
Location: 310 Kelly Hall
Speaker: Kenneth T. Kishida, Ph.D.
Affiliation: Human Neuroimaging Laboratory & Computational Psychiatry Unit Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute Roanoke, VA
Dopamine and serotonin are critical neurotransmitters whose actions underlie learning, decision-making, and behavioral control. Degeneration of dopamine neurons underlies the progression of Parkinson’s disease; and, disruptions in serotonin and dopamine signaling are believed to underlie many psychiatric conditions. We have recently published the world’s first sub-second measurements of dopamine release in humans. These measurements were made while participants (patients undergoing deep-brain stimulation implantation surgery for Parkinson’s disease) played a monetarily incentivized decision-making game. I will discuss our group’s recent technological achievements, which now (1) extend this technology to simultaneously measure dopamine and serotonin during active decision-making and (2) begin to provide real-time data about the roles these signals play during adaptive behavior in humans.
For more information, contact Anne Wailes at awailes@vt.edu