The neurotransmitter dopamine is involved in a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders, including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Tourette's syndrome, schizophrenia, and tardive dyskinesia.
Dopamine also mediates the reinforcing effects of virtually all drugs of abuse.
Research of this laboratory focuses on deciphering how dopamine regulates specific neuronal populations within the motor and limbic circuits to ultimately facilitate movement and mediate the reward functions of dopamine, respectively. Dopamine D2 receptor-mediated modulation of the GABAergic inhibition of substantia nigra pars reticulata neurons.