Eric Mitten

PhD 2024

PhD Thesis

Spirits in distress: Converging plasticity of ventral tegmental area gamma amino-butyric acid neurons evoked by chronic ethanol or stress controls anxiety symptomatology.

Current Position

Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Illinois Chicago

Undergraduate Institution and Major:

University of Colorado, Boulder, B.A. in Neuroscience and Psychology, 2019

Graduate Advisor:

Kevin Wickman, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology

Graduate Publications:

  • Mitten EH, Souders A, Fernandez de Velsaco EM, Aguado C, Luján R, Wickman K. Chronic ethanol exposure in mice evoked pre- and postsynaptic deficits in GABAergic transmission in ventral tegmental area GABA neurons, Br J Pharmacol. 2025 Jan;182(1):69-86.
  • Mitten EH, Souders A, Marron Fernandez de Velasco E, Wickman K. Stress-induced anxiety-related behavior in mice is driven by enhanced excitability of ventral tegmental area GABA neurons. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 2024;18:1425607.
  • Debaker MC, Mitten EH, Rose TR, de Velasco EMF, Gao R, Lee AM, Wickman K. RGS6 negatively regulates inhibitory G protein signaling in VTA dopamine neurons and positively regulates binge-like alcohol consumption in mice. Br J Pharmacol. 2023 Aug;180(16):2140-2155. 
  • Rose TR, Marron Fernandez de Velasco E, Mitten EH, Wickman K. GIRK channel activity in prelimbic pyramidal neurons regulates the extinction of cocaine conditioned place preference in male mice. Addict Biol. 2023 Jan;28(1):e13256.

Graduate Awards/Honors:

  • Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship awarded by the University of Minnesota (May 2023-May 2024)
Mitten