Wayne Aldridge Ph.D.
| 3317 Medical Science Building I (0607) |
| Ann Arbor, MI 48109 |
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We study the neuronal mechanisms of behavior with a particular focus on the region of the brain called the basal ganglia. Our long-term goal is to understand how individual neurons and neuronal circuits might be contributing to and processing information related to movement and rewards. We examine the neural correlates of motor behavior during learned and instinctive movements and during the presentation of stimuli associated with rewards. Our principal method is to record electrical activity of individual nerve cells while animals execute natural movements, respond to predictive sensory cues or react to rewards. In these experiments we also activate neural systems by the application of dopaminergic drugs that are known to affect motor behavior and motivational systems. This research is relevant to understanding neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Tourette Syndrome, drug addiction, etc. Both graduate and undergraduate students participate in ongoing projects or independent studies for advanced students.
Aldridge, J.W., Berridge, K.C.: Coding of serial order by neostriatal neurons: a 'natural action' approach to movement sequence. J. Neurosci. 18:2777-2787, 1998.
Berridge, K.C., Aldridge, J.W.: Super-stereotypy I: Enhancement of a complex movement sequence by systemic dopamine D1 agonists. Synapse 37: 194-204, 2000.
Berridge, K.C., Aldridge, J.W.: Super-stereotypy II: Enhancement of a complex movement sequence by intraventricular dopamine D1 agonists. Synapse 37: 205-215, 2000.
Meyer-Luehmann M, Berridge KC, Thompson JF, Aldridge JW: Substantia nigra pars reticulata neurons code initiation of a serial pattern: Implications for natural action sequences and sequential disorders, European J. Neurosci. 2002; 16:1599-1608.
Tindell AJ, Berridge KC, Aldridge JW. Ventral pallidal representation of Pavlovian cues and reward: population and rate codes. J. Neurosci. 2004; 24: 1058-1069.
Aldridge JW, Berridge KC. Basal ganglia neural mechanisms of natural movement sequences. Can. J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 2004; 82: 732-739.
Berridge KC, Aldridge JW, Houchard KR, Zhuang X. Sequential super-stereotypy of an instinctive fixed action pattern in hyper-dopaminergic mutant mice: a model of obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette's. BMC Biology 2005; 3:4.
Snellings, A, Anderson DJ, Aldridge JW. Improved signal and reduced noise in neural recordings from close-spaced electrode arrays using independent component analysis as a preprocessor. J. Neuroscience Methods 2005 (In press)
Matell MS, Berridge KC, Aldridge, JW. Dopamine D1 activation shortens the duration of phases in stereotyped grooming sequences. Behavioural Processes. 2005 (In Press).
Aldridge,J.W. (2004) Syntactic grooming in the rat and its neural mechanisms. In Whishaw, I.Q. & Kolb,B. (eds) The Behaviour of the Laboratory Rat: A Handbook with Tests. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. Pp. 141-149.
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