Adrine Kocharian

Entering Class - 2019

PhD Thesis  2023

Dopaminergic control of neuroeconomic decision-making.

Member of MSTP (MD/PhD) program

E-MAIL: [email protected]

Undergraduate Institution and Major:

University of California at Los Angeles, B.S. in Neuroscience, 2014

Graduate Advisors:

Patrick Rothwell, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience

David Redish, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience

Graduate Publications

  • Kocharian A, Redish AD, Rothwell PE. Individual differences in decision-making shape how mesolimbic dopamine regulates choice confidence and change-of-mind. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Sep 16:2024.09.16.613237. doi: 10.1101/2024.09.16.613237.
  • Trieu H, Remmers BC, Toddes C , Brandner DD, Lefevre EM, Kocharian A, Brandner DD, Dick RM, Mashal M, Gauthier E, Xie W, Zhang Y, More SS, Rothwell PE. Angiotensin-converting enzyme gates brain circuit-specific plasticity via an endogenous opioid. Science. 2022 Mar 11;375(6585):1177-1182.
  • Brandner DD, Retzlaff CL, Kocharian A, Stieve BJ, Mashal MA, Mermelstein PG, Rothwell PE. Neuroligin-3 in dopaminergic circuits promotes behavioural and neurobiological adaptations to chronic morphine exposure. Addict Biol. 2023; 28:e13247. 
  • Redish AD, Abram SV, Cunningham PJ, Duin AA, Durand-de Cuttoli R, Kazinka R, Kocharian A, MacDonald AW 3rd, Schmidt B, Schmitzer-Torbert N, Thomas MJ, Sweis BM. Sunk cost sensitivity during change-of-mind decisions is informed by both the spent and remaining costs. Commun Biol. 2022; 5:1337. 

Graduate Research

Broadly, my interests are in neuroeconomics. I will study how dopamine neurons generate prediction error signals during value-based decision-making.

Research Categories

  • Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience
  • Neuroimaging and Optogenetics
  • Neuropsychiatric Disease
  • Neuroscience of Drug Abuse and Addiction

Rotations

  • Mark Thomas
  • Patrick Rothwell
  • A. David Redish

Undergraduate Publications

  • Halladay LR, Kocharian A, Piantadosi PT, Authement ME, Lieberman AG, Spitz NA, Coden K, Glover LR, Costa VD, Alvarez VA, Holmes A. Prefrontal regulation of punished ethanol self-administration. Biol Psychiatry. 2020 Jun 1;87(11):967-978.
  • Radke AK, Kocharian A, Covey DP, Lovinger DM, Cheer JF, Mateo Y, Holmes A. Contributions of nucleus accumbens dopamine to cognitive flexibility. Eur J Neurosci. 2019;50(3):2023-2035.
  • Jury NJ, Radke AK, Pati D, Kocharian A, Mishina M, Kash TL, Holmes A. NMDA receptor GluN2A subunit deletion protects against dependence-like ethanol drinking. Behav Brain Res. 2018;353:124-128.
  • Halladay LR, Kocharian A, Holmes A. Mouse strain differences in punished ethanol self-administration. Alcohol. 2017;58:83-92.
  • Radke AK, Jury NJ, Kocharian A, Marcinkiewcz CA, Lowery-Gionta EG, Pleil KE, McElligott ZA, McKlveen JM, Kash TL, Holmes A. Chronic EtOH effects on putative measures of compulsive behavior in mice. Addict Biol. 2017;22(2):423-434.
  • Gamble-George JC, Baldi R, Halladay L, Kocharian A, Hartley N, Silva CG, Roberts H, Haymer A, Marnett LJ, Holmes A, Patel S. Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition reduces stress-induced affective pathology. Elife. 2016 May 10;5. pii: e14137.
  • Mineharu Y, Muhammad AK, Yagiz K, Candolfi M, Kroeger KM, Xiong W, Puntel M, Liu C, Levy E, Lugo C, Kocharian A, Allison JP, Curran MA, Lowenstein PR, Castro MG. Gene therapy-mediated reprogramming tumor infiltrating T cells using IL-2 and inhibiting NF-κB signaling improves the efficacy of immunotherapy in a brain cancer model. Neurotherapeutics. 2012;9(4):827-43.

Favorite Itasca Memory:

Lobos!

Kocharian