Amy MacDonald Naleid Ph.D. 2005 Thesis Title: The role of mesolimbic opioids in food intake reward E-mail: analeid@u.washington.edu

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Alumni Information:

Current Department: Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Current Position:Senior Fellow
Current Institution: University of Washington

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Research Description:

My research focuses on the mesolimbic reward pathway, between the ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens. I study, in rats, the effects of opioids and dopamine in these sites on intake of normal meals and of palatable meals high in fat and sucrose.

Using microinjection techniques, I temporarily manipulate opioid and dopamine signaling in these sites and then observe the effects on quantity of food consumed and nutrient chosen. I also use immunohistochemistry to determine the effects on cells in these brain sites after consumption of highly palatable meals, either acutely or in a chronic, binge-like pattern. The general hypothesis is that excessive intake of palatable foods activates the same reward mechanisms as do drugs of abuse.

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Presentations:

"Investigation of a Distributed Food Intake Network" Invited Talk on Panel: Non-homeostatic central mechanisms involved in feeding regulation and dietary obesity, with S. Liebowitz, B. Hoebel, and E. Pothos, Winter Conference on Brain Research, Breckenridge, CO, January 28, 2005.

"The Dessert Studies-An Examination of the Role of Opioids in Surplus Food Choice" Invited Talk, University of Washington, Seattle, November 8, 2004

"A Neuroscientific Examination of How the Sensations of 'Wanting' and 'Liking' Manifest Themselves in the Brain" Chemical Health Forum V, Intermediate School District 287, January 22, 2004

Thesis Publications:

A.M. Naleid, M.K. Grace, D.E. Cummings, A.S. Levine, 2005. Ghrelin induces feeding in the mesolimbic reward pathway between the ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens. Peptides , in press.

A.F. MacDonald, C.J. Billington, A.S. Levine, 2004. Alterations in food intake by opioid and dopamine signaling pathways between the ventral tegmental area and the shell of the nucleus accumbens. Brain Research 1018: 78-85.

A.F. MacDonald, C.J. Billington, A.S. Levine, 2003. Effects of the opioid antagonist naltrexone on feeding induced by DAMGO in the ventral tegmental area and in the nucleus accumbens shell in the rat. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 285: R999-R1004.

Other Publications:

A.M. Naleid, C.J. Billington, A.S. Levine, 2005. Differential effects of opioids on diet selection: intra-PVN and Acb injections. In preparation as of 3/20/05.

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