Suelynn Ren
Education:
BSc. Pharmacology, McGill University (2014)
Current Position:
4th Year MSTP
2nd Year Grad Student
Advisor:
Adam Kepecs
Graduate Program:
Neurobiology and Behavior
Broadly, I am interested in understanding the neural circuitry underlying maladaptive cognitive processes that contribute to psychiatric disease, and specifically addiction. Decision-making deficits contribute to core features in addiction, notably persistent drug-use despite knowledge of long-term negative consequences. In the Kepecs Lab, the overarching goal of my thesis research is to dissect and precisely define the neural circuit components relevant to decision-making. The orbitofrontal cortex is broadly implicated in value-based decision-making and sends a distinct, non-overlapping projection to the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a critical structure in reward processing and the hub of dopamine neurons in the brain. However, precisely what information is encoded and transferred in this projection, and how the fidelity of this projection impacts decision-making is unknown.
My previous research has focused on the pharmacological mechanisms underlying the nicotine reinforcement enhancement effect and the effect of amphetamine-like drugs on brain temperature as well as the relationship between brain temperature and neural activation.
PUBLICATIONS
Wright JM, Ren S, Constantin A, Clarke PB (2018). Enhancement of a visual reinforcer by d-amphetamine and nicotine in adult rats: relation to habituation and food restriction. Psychopharmacology, 235(3), 803-814.
Kiyatkin EA and Ren SE (2016). MDMA, Methylone, and MDPV: drug-induced brain hyperthermia and its modulation by activity state and environment. In Neuropharmacology of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) (pp. 183-207). Springer, Cham. [Textbook]
Wakabayashi KT, Ren SE, Kiyatkin EA (2015). Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) mimics cocaine in its physiological and behavioral effects but induces distinct changes in NAc glucose. Frontiers in neuroscience, 9, 324.
Kiyatkin EA, Ren S, Wakabayashi KT, Baumann M, Shaham Y (2015). Clinically-relevant pharmacological strategies that reverse MDMA-induced brain hyperthermia potentiated by social interaction. Neuropsychopharmacology.
Kiyatkin EA and Ren S (2014). "Clubbing with ecstasy." Temperature 1.3 160-161. [editorial commentary]
Zhelev DV, Dupuis C, Ren S, Le A, Hunt M, Gibbons H (2012). Effect of the Bacillus atrophaeus subsp. globigii Spo0F H101R Mutation on Strain Fitness. Applied and environmental microbiology 78.24 (2012): 8601-8610.
Zhelev DV, Dupuis C, Ren S, Le A., Hunt M, Gibbons H. (2012).Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP)-specific Quantitative Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Assay for Analyzing Competition and Emergence of the Military Hypersporulating Strains of Bacillus Atrophaeous var. Globigii (No. ARL-TR-6205). Army Research Lab-Adelphi Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate
