Faculty Research

J. Wayne Aldridge, PhD ( wayne.aldridge@umich.edu )
Research Associate Professor, Neurology
Adjunct Associate Professor, Psychology

Dr. Aldridge's laboratory studies neuronal activity in the basal ganglia region of the brain. The long-term goal our research is to understand computational mechanisms of individual neurons and neuronal circuits in the basal ganglia and how they contribute to processing information related to movement and rewards. Our two ongoing projects are: i) motor behavior and neuronal activity related to learned and instinctive movement sequences and ii) reward-related processing in the ventral pallidum. Our principal method is to record electrical activity of individual nerve cells while animals execute normal or learned movements or respond to learned sensory cues indicating reward presentation. In these experiments we also activate neural systems by the application of dopaminergic drugs that are known to affect motor behavior and motivational systems. This research is relevant to understanding neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Tourette syndrome, drug addiction and other disorders related to basal ganglia dysfunction.

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/AldridgeLab