Photo by Stuart Bebb
Contact information
Research groups
Colleges
Collaborators
-
Stephanie Cragg
Professor of Neuroscience
Lauren Burgeno
BS PhD
National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology
- Dan Norman Early Career Research Fellow in Addiction, Balliol College
I earned my PhD in Pharmacology in 2017 from the University of Washington where I worked under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Phillips, investigating the roles that drug-cue elicited phasic dopamine release plays in controlling drug-taking vs. drug-seeking behaviors.
As a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford, I work in the laboratories of Prof. Stephanie Cragg (DPAG) and Dr. Mark Walton (Experimental Psychology). My main interest lies in understanding the mechanisms by which striatal acetylcholine gates cue-elicited dopamine release in real-time during behavior. Ultimately I hope to determine how this interaction contributes to addiction related behavior.
My studies utilize a combination of approaches, including in vivo fast-scan cyclic voltammetry, optogenetics and photometry, to measure and manipulate dopaminergic and cholinergic activity during reward guided behavioral paradigms.
Key publications
Excessive cocaine use results from decreased phasic dopamine signaling in the striatum.
Journal article
Willuhn I. et al, (2014), Nat Neurosci, 17, 704 - 709
Hierarchical recruitment of phasic dopamine signaling in the striatum during the progression of cocaine use.
Journal article
Willuhn I. et al, (2012), Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 109, 20703 - 20708
Recent publications
Cocaine seeking and consumption are oppositely regulated by mesolimbic dopamine in male rats.
Journal article
Burgeno LM. et al, (2025), Nat Commun, 16
Gabapentinoids promote striatal dopamine release and rescue multiple deficits of a mouse model of early Parkinson’s
Preprint
Brimblecombe KR. et al, (2025)
Lights, fiber, action! A primer on in vivo fiber photometry.
Journal article
Simpson EH. et al, (2024), Neuron, 112, 718 - 739
Time-dependent assessment of stimulus-evoked regional dopamine release.
Journal article
Lippert RN. et al, (2019), Nat Commun, 10
Peroxiredoxin 6 mediates Gαi protein-coupled receptor inactivation by cJun kinase.
Journal article
Schattauer SS. et al, (2017), Nat Commun, 8
Pramipexole enhances disadvantageous decision-making: Lack of relation to changes in phasic dopamine release.
Journal article
Pes R. et al, (2017), Neuropharmacology, 114, 77 - 87
Genetic Isolation of Hypothalamic Neurons that Regulate Context-Specific Male Social Behavior.
Journal article
Soden ME. et al, (2016), Cell Rep, 16, 304 - 313

