Dr. Megan Creed obtained her HBSc ad PhD at the University of Toronto.  During her graduate work with Dr. José Nobrega, she studied deep brain stimulation (DBS) applied to the basal ganglia in models of movement disorders.  For post-doctoral training, Dr. Creed moved to the lab of Dr. Christian Lüscher at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.  Here, she used optogenetics and electrophysiology to understand how cocaine re-wires the brains’ reward circuitry, and developed a novel protocol for DBS that reversed cocaine-evoked synaptic plasticity and abolished maladaptive behavior induced by drug exposure.

In order to treat any condition, we must first understand its underlying pathology. To this end, research in the Creed lab applies a variety of approaches to understand how plasticity in the limbic system mediates behaviors such as reward-seeking, risk tolerance, impulsivity and anhedonia. Our ultimate goal is to develop neuromodulatory strategies that would regulate reward circuit function in models of mood- and substance-use disorders, and could be used to normalize behavioral symptoms of these disorders.

 

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Author

  • Lee, D*, Creed M*, Jung K, Stefanelli T, Wendler D, Oh WC, Mignocchi NL, Lüscher C, Kwon HB.  Temporally precise labeling and control of neuromodulatory circuits in the mammalian brain. Nature Methods.  2017.  Published online April 3, 2017.   *Co-first author.
  • Creed M, Ntamati NR, Chandra R, Lobo MK, Lüscher C.  Convergence of reinforcing and anhedonic cocaine effects in the ventral pallidum.  Neuron.  2016.  92(1):214-226.
  • Creed M, Kaufling J, Fois GR, Yuan T, Lüscher C, Georges F, Bellone C.  Cocaine exposure enhances the activity of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons via calcium-impermeable NMDARs.  Journal of Neuroscience.  2016.  36(42):10759-10768.
  • Creed M, Pascoli VP, Lüscher C.  Refining deep brain stimulation to emulate optogenetic treatment of synaptic pathology.  Science. 2015.  347(6222):659-64.
  • Creed MC, Hamani C, Bridgeman A, Fletcher PJ, Nobrega JN.  Contribution of decreased serotonin release to the antidyskinetic effects of deep brain stimulation in a rodent model of tardive dyskinesia: comparison of the subthalamic and entopeduncular nuclei. Journal of Neuroscience.  2012. 32(28)9874-81.