Dr Hans Crombag

Much of our daily behaviour is controlled by stimuli (cues) associated with rewards that promote survival – for instance, cues direct and attract us to nutrient sources or to potential mates. However, reward-associated cues may also promote maladaptive behaviour; for instance, food-cues may instigate overeating and cues associated with drugs of abuse can energise drug-seeking and precipitate relapse, thus contributing to addiction.

Combining behavioural neuroscience, cell-molecular and/or electrophysiological approaches, this (co-supervised by Crombag and Koya) PhD project would explore the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms mediating this type of incentive learning.  

Key references

• Crombag HS, Bossert JM, Koya E, Shaham Y. (2008). Context-induced relapse to drug seeking: a review. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 12;363(1507):3233-43
• Koya, E. et al. (2009). Targeted disruption of cocaine-activated nucleus accumbens neurons prevents context-specific sensitization. Nature Neuroscience, 12 (8): 1069-1073
• Crombag, Hans S, Sutton, Jeffrey M, Takamiya, Kogo, Holland, Peter C, Gallagher, Michela and Huganir, Richard L (2008). A role for alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid GluR1 phosphorylation in the modulatory effects of appetitive reward cues on goal-directed behavior. European Journal of Neuroscience, 27 (12): 3284-3291.