SUSAN SESACK

Summary

Affiliation: University of Pittsburgh
Country: USA

Publications

  1. ncbi Cholinergic axons in the rat ventral tegmental area synapse preferentially onto mesoaccumbens dopamine neurons
    Natalia Omelchenko
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    J Comp Neurol 494:863-75. 2006
  2. ncbi Cortico-Basal Ganglia reward network: microcircuitry
    Susan R Sesack
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
    Neuropsychopharmacology 35:27-47. 2010
  3. ncbi Periaqueductal gray afferents synapse onto dopamine and GABA neurons in the rat ventral tegmental area
    Natalia Omelchenko
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    J Neurosci Res 88:981-91. 2010
  4. ncbi Lateral habenula projections to dopamine and GABA neurons in the rat ventral tegmental area
    Natalia Omelchenko
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
    Eur J Neurosci 30:1239-50. 2009
  5. ncbi Ultrastructural analysis of local collaterals of rat ventral tegmental area neurons: GABA phenotype and synapses onto dopamine and GABA cells
    Natalia Omelchenko
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    Synapse 63:895-906. 2009
  6. ncbi Selective prefrontal cortex inputs to dopamine cells: implications for schizophrenia
    Susan R Sesack
    Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, 446 Crawford Hall, University of Pittsburgh, 15260, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
    Physiol Behav 77:513-7. 2002
  7. ncbi Anatomical substrates for glutamate-dopamine interactions: evidence for specificity of connections and extrasynaptic actions
    Susan R Sesack
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    Ann N Y Acad Sci 1003:36-52. 2003
  8. ncbi Laterodorsal tegmental projections to identified cell populations in the rat ventral tegmental area
    Natalia Omelchenko
    Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
    J Comp Neurol 483:217-35. 2005
  9. ncbi Orexin axons in the rat ventral tegmental area synapse infrequently onto dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid neurons
    Judith Joyce Balcita-Pedicino
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    J Comp Neurol 503:668-84. 2007
  10. ncbi Ultrastructural analysis of prefrontal cortical inputs to the rat amygdala: spatial relationships to presumed dopamine axons and D1 and D2 receptors
    Aline Pinto
    Department of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 210 Langley Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
    Brain Struct Funct 213:159-75. 2008

Research Grants

  1. Factors Regulating NE Transporter Localization in PFC
    Susan R Sesack; Fiscal Year: 2010
  2. Afferent Regulation of VTA Dopamine Neuron Populations
    SUSAN SESACK; Fiscal Year: 2007
  3. CELLULAR BASIS FOR DOPAMINE ACTIONS IN PREFRONTAL CORTEX
    SUSAN SESACK; Fiscal Year: 2002
  4. Factors Regulating NE Transporter Localization in PFC
    Susan R Sesack; Fiscal Year: 2011

Collaborators

  • A A Grace
  • David A Lewis
  • G Barrionuevo
  • ADRIAN MICHAEL
  • Hank P Jedema
  • Natalia Omelchenko
  • LeeAnn H Miner
  • Randy D Blakely
  • Aline Pinto
  • Ericka C Holmstrand
  • Judith Joyce Balcita-Pedicino
  • Diana C Rotaru
  • Lindsay A Liprando
  • Michael P Jankowski
  • Jennifer L Peters
  • Allan R Sampson
  • Josephine Asafu-Adjei
  • Roland Bell
  • Forrest W Moore
  • Michael Jankowski
  • Sally Schroeter

Detail Information

Publications18

  1. ncbi Cholinergic axons in the rat ventral tegmental area synapse preferentially onto mesoaccumbens dopamine neurons
    Natalia Omelchenko
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    J Comp Neurol 494:863-75. 2006
    ..As such, the results suggest that natural and drug rewards operating through cholinergic afferents to the VTA have a direct synaptic link to the mesoaccumbens DA neurons that modulate approach behaviors...
  2. ncbi Cortico-Basal Ganglia reward network: microcircuitry
    Susan R Sesack
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
    Neuropsychopharmacology 35:27-47. 2010
    ..A fuller appreciation of the circuitry interconnecting the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area should serve to advance discovery of new treatment options for these conditions...
  3. ncbi Periaqueductal gray afferents synapse onto dopamine and GABA neurons in the rat ventral tegmental area
    Natalia Omelchenko
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    J Neurosci Res 88:981-91. 2010
    ..Moreover, as both the VTA and PAG are implicated in the reinforcing actions of opiates, our findings provide a potential substrate for some of the rewarding effects of these drugs...
  4. ncbi Lateral habenula projections to dopamine and GABA neurons in the rat ventral tegmental area
    Natalia Omelchenko
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
    Eur J Neurosci 30:1239-50. 2009
    ..Moreover, the LHb may mediate a direct excitation of DA cells that is over-ridden by indirect inhibition originating from an extrinsic source...
  5. ncbi Ultrastructural analysis of local collaterals of rat ventral tegmental area neurons: GABA phenotype and synapses onto dopamine and GABA cells
    Natalia Omelchenko
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    Synapse 63:895-906. 2009
    ..The findings also suggest the presence of disinhibitory and possibly excitatory circuitry intrinsic to the VTA...
  6. ncbi Selective prefrontal cortex inputs to dopamine cells: implications for schizophrenia
    Susan R Sesack
    Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, 446 Crawford Hall, University of Pittsburgh, 15260, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
    Physiol Behav 77:513-7. 2002
    ..These findings may explain some of the unique functional properties of mesoprefrontal DA neurons. Moreover, the results are important for understanding the pathophysiology of mental disorders such as schizophrenia...
  7. ncbi Anatomical substrates for glutamate-dopamine interactions: evidence for specificity of connections and extrasynaptic actions
    Susan R Sesack
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    Ann N Y Acad Sci 1003:36-52. 2003
    ....
  8. ncbi Laterodorsal tegmental projections to identified cell populations in the rat ventral tegmental area
    Natalia Omelchenko
    Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
    J Comp Neurol 483:217-35. 2005
    ....
  9. ncbi Orexin axons in the rat ventral tegmental area synapse infrequently onto dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid neurons
    Judith Joyce Balcita-Pedicino
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    J Comp Neurol 503:668-84. 2007
    ..These studies have important implications for understanding the mechanisms whereby Orx can alter behavior through regulating VTA DA and GABA cell activity...
  10. ncbi Ultrastructural analysis of prefrontal cortical inputs to the rat amygdala: spatial relationships to presumed dopamine axons and D1 and D2 receptors
    Aline Pinto
    Department of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 210 Langley Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
    Brain Struct Funct 213:159-75. 2008
    ....
  11. ncbi Prefrontal cortical projections to the rat dorsal raphe nucleus: ultrastructural features and associations with serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid neurons
    Michael P Jankowski
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    J Comp Neurol 468:518-29. 2004
    ..These results provide potential anatomical substrates whereby the PFC can both directly and indirectly regulate the activity of serotonin neurons in the DRN and possibly contribute to the pathophysiology of depression...
  12. ncbi Ultrastructural interactions between terminals expressing the norepinephrine transporter and dopamine neurons in the rat and monkey ventral tegmental area
    Lindsay A Liprando
    Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    Synapse 52:233-44. 2004
    ..The latter finding agrees with observations in cortical regions and represents the first report of its type in a subcortical structure...
  13. ncbi Ultrastructural localization of the norepinephrine transporter in superficial and deep layers of the rat prelimbic prefrontal cortex and its spatial relationship to probable dopamine terminals
    LeeAnn H Miner
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    J Comp Neurol 466:478-94. 2003
    ..These results suggest that, in the rat PFC, NE axons (1) contain predominantly cytoplasmic NET, (2) infrequently contain TH immunolabeling, and (3) may interact with probable DA afferents by means of extrasynaptic mechanisms...
  14. ncbi Projections from the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus to the rat prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens shell: ultrastructural characteristics and spatial relationships with dopamine afferents
    Aline Pinto
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    J Comp Neurol 459:142-55. 2003
    ..These findings represent the first demonstration of postsynaptic convergence between DA and thalamic afferents to a striatal region and are consistent with direct synaptic modulation of PVT transmission by DA in the NAc but not the PFC...
  15. ncbi Mediodorsal thalamic afferents to layer III of the rat prefrontal cortex: synaptic relationships to subclasses of interneurons
    Diana C Rotaru
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
    J Comp Neurol 490:220-38. 2005
    ..The apparent preferential input to ParV cells endows MD afferents with a strong indirect inhibitory influence on pyramidal neuron activity by virtue of ParV cell synapses onto soma, proximal dendrites, and axon initial segments...
  16. ncbi Chronic stress increases the plasmalemmal distribution of the norepinephrine transporter and the coexpression of tyrosine hydroxylase in norepinephrine axons in the prefrontal cortex
    LeeAnn H Miner
    Department of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    J Neurosci 26:1571-8. 2006
    ....
  17. ncbi Ultrastructure at carbon fiber microelectrode implantation sites after acute voltammetric measurements in the striatum of anesthetized rats
    Jennifer L Peters
    Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
    J Neurosci Methods 137:9-23. 2004
    ..Beyond this annular region, i.e. beyond 6.5 microm from the center of the spot of maximal damage, signs of microelectrode-associated damage were rare and consisted primarily of neurons with darkened cytoplasm...
  18. ncbi Ultrastructural localization of high-affinity choline transporter in the rat anteroventral thalamus and ventral tegmental area: differences in axon morphology and transporter distribution
    Ericka C Holmstrand
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    J Comp Neurol 518:1908-24. 2010
    ..These novel findings have important implications for elucidating regional differences in cholinergic signaling within the thalamic and brainstem targets of the mesopontine cholinergic system...

Research Grants15

  1. Factors Regulating NE Transporter Localization in PFC
    Susan R Sesack; Fiscal Year: 2010
    ..The findings from these studies will provide valuable information regarding the normal functions of the central NE system and its role in the pathophysiology and treatment of mental disorders. ..
  2. Afferent Regulation of VTA Dopamine Neuron Populations
    SUSAN SESACK; Fiscal Year: 2007
    ..Evidence for selectivity in these afferents also has important implications for the development of specific pharmacological treatments for mental health disorders that involve these populations. ..
  3. CELLULAR BASIS FOR DOPAMINE ACTIONS IN PREFRONTAL CORTEX
    SUSAN SESACK; Fiscal Year: 2002
    ..Elucidating the synaptic organization of the mesocortical DA system will improve knowledge of the cellular mechanisms of DA modulation in cognition and the pathophysiology and treatment of major psychiatric disorders. ..
  4. Factors Regulating NE Transporter Localization in PFC
    Susan R Sesack; Fiscal Year: 2011
    ..The findings from these studies will provide valuable information regarding the normal functions of the central NE system and its role in the pathophysiology and treatment of mental disorders. ..