Scott Wilke
University of California-Los Angeles, CA·Neuroscience
Deciding whether a reward is worth the effort is something we do constantly. When conditions change, the brain must judge whether to keep a strategy or switch.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Psychology
- Topics
decision making
anterior cingulate cortex
nucleus accumbens
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2028
What they work on
- Record how anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) neurons and ACC-to-nucleus accumbens projection neurons represent effort-related costs and benefits during choices, using miniature head-mounted microscopes in freely behaving animals.
- Test whether ACC-to-nucleus accumbens projection neurons are needed to update choices when effort-related value changes, using optogenetics to control these neurons with light.
- Record and inhibit ACC terminals in the nucleus accumbens and compare them with orbitofrontal cortex inputs during effort- and delay-based decisions, to learn how the accumbens combines prefrontal signals.
More about the research
In depression, schizophrenia, and substance use disorders, effort-based decisions are disrupted. These conditions are linked to problems in two brain regions: the prefrontal cortex, which supports planning, and the striatum, which helps select actions. Yet scientists still lack the detailed circuit-level understanding needed to design targeted treatments.
Why it matters
Many people with depression, schizophrenia, or substance use disorders struggle to weigh effort against reward. Identifying the specific brain circuits that perform this calculation could reveal where things go wrong in these conditions. This knowledge could guide drug, psychotherapy, and brain stimulation treatments aimed at those circuits.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Puja Parekh
University of Texas at Dallas, TX·Neuroscience·Early-career
Determine how two anterior cingulate cortex neuron groups, those projecting to the nucleus accumbens and those projecting to the insula, encode reward- and effort-predicting cues, using in vivo two-photon calcium imaging during an effort valuation task.
Christian Bravo-Rivera
University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences, PR·Neuroscience
Characterize how nucleus accumbens neurons and astrocytes encode the learning and expression of approach/avoidance conflict, using calcium fiber photometry in mice performing the platform-mediated avoidance task.
Joni D Wallis
University of California-Berkeley, CA·Neuroscience
Test whether the orbitofrontal cortex suppresses habitual responses in the caudate nucleus when deliberate choice is needed, using a task with conflicting reward rules that changes decision time and eye movements.
The school
University of California-Los Angeles: 84 labs on PI Pages, $1.9B a year on research, 803 research doctorates a year.
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