Research Projects

The study investigates reward-seeking behavior using operant conditioning to understand neural circuits involved in motivational components of reward. The nose-poke operant design, which favors food-driven cues, is the most suitable paradigm to decipher the neural substrates of natural reward. The reward produced naturally is free from external interventions, making it a precise tool to discern molecular underpinnings in neural substrates of natural reward and reinforcement. The researchers designed and fabricated an automated and computerized nose-poke operant chamber for rats to seek sweet food pellets. The lateral hypothalamus (LH) serves as the motivational epicentre of the brain to seek reward. The researchers found that cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript peptide (CARTp) and orexin are expressed in distinct populations of neurons in the LH. The molecular cross-talk between CARTp and orexin during reward was supported by preliminary data. Nose-poke conditioning increased both CART and orexin expression, and CART siRNA infusion in the LH decreased nose-poke activity and lowered not only CART but also orexin levels. The study also found that optogenetic inhibition of GABA neurons impaired learning of food-associated cues. The study aims to investigate the role of CARTp in GABAergic neurotransmission and the significance of this mechanism in epigenetic regulation of orexin via histone methylation in the LH during reward and reinforcement.