An inhibitory brainstem input to dopamine neurons encodes nicotine aversion

During my PhD in Stephan Lammel’s lab at UC Berkeley, I investigated how different doses of nicotine affect the brain’s dopamine system. High doses of nicotine are unpleasant and lead to aversion — a property that is unique to nicotine among addictive drugs. By using cutting-edge systems neuroscience techniques, I was able to uncover how two types of nicotine receptors expressed on different neuronal populations encoded these high, aversive doses.

Click here to access the article on the publisher’s website

Additional Coverage

Secret behind ‘nic-sickness’ could help break tobacco addiction - UC Berkeley News

Dips in dopamine say "no" to nicotine - Neuron Preview

Podcast with California’s Tobacco Control Library at UC Davis

Interactive Data Demo

To help guide readers in navigating the fiber photometry recordings performed in my research study, I created an interactive demo which you can explore below.