Research Overview:

Our goal is to understand the neuro-biological mechanisms that contribute to over-eating, obesity and drug addiction. We focus on identifying and understanding alterations in excitatory transmission and plasticity within the brain's "reward pathway" that contribute to these conditions. To accomplish this, we use a variety of approaches including behavioral pharmacology, biochemistry, and slice electrophysiology.

Visit our student resources page to learn more about graduate and undergraduate research opportunities.

The Ferrario lab is part of:

The Department of Pharmacology: https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/pharmacology

The Neuroscience Graduate Program: http://neuroscience.med.umich.edu/

The Michigan Diabetes Research Center: http://diabetesresearch.med.umich.edu/

Current Funding:

Striatal glutamatergic plasticity and junk-food induced enhancements in cue-triggered food-craving  NIH-NIDDK; 2022-2026

R01DA044204: Animal models of Addiction awarded by NIH-NIDA; 2018-2023 PI: Carrie Ferrario, Co-I: Terry Robinson

T32DA07268: Biology of Drug Addiction from NIH-NIDA; Co-I: Carrie Ferrario, PI: John Traynor

Past Funding: 

R01DK115526: Effects of insulin on NAc excitatory transmission and motivation for food awarded by NIH-NIDDK; 2018-2022

R01DK106188: Alterations in Motivated Behavior in Rodent Models of Obesity awarded by NIH-NIDDK; 2015-2022

R21DA045277: Exploring the link between reactive oxygen species and CP-AMPAR up-regulation in addiction awarded by NIH-NIDA; 2018-2020; Co-I: Carrie Ferrario, Co-I: Travis Brown

Lab Publications:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/carrie.newman.1/bibliography/47563196/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending 

1. Fetterly TL, Catalfio AM, Ferrario CR; Behavioral and neural consequences of “junk-food” consumption and deprivation; novel insights into CP-AMPAR up-regulation.  Accpeted Neuropharmacology, Preprint: BioRxiv 10.1101/2023.05.16.540977 https://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2023.05.16.540977v1

2. Catalfio AM, Fetterly TL, Nieto AM, Robinson TE and Ferrario CR (2023) Cocaine-induced sensitization and glutamate plasticity in the nucleus accumbens core: effects of sex. Biology of Sex Differences Jun 24;14(1):41, PMID: 37355656 PMCID: PMC10290362 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-023-00525-8

3. Finnell JE and Ferrario CR (2023) Applying behavioral economics-based approaches to examine the effects of liquid sucrose consumption on motivation Appetite Epub 2023 April 10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2023.106556

4. Saraswat AA and Ferrario CR (2023) Motivation to take cocaine after intermittent access self-administration is increased in obesity-prone but not resistant male rats; Psychopharmacology Apr;240(4):853-870. doi: 10.1007/s00213-023-06327-5.

5. Nieto AM, Catalfio AM, Papacostas Quintanilla H, Alonso-Caraballo Y, Ferrario CR (2023) Transient effects of junk-food on NAc core medium spiny neuron excitability and glutamatergic transmission in obesity-prone female rats. Obesity 31(2):434-445 NIHMSID:1840172 doi: 10.1002/oby.23613. Epub 2022 Dec 27.

6. Vollbrecht PJ, Nesbitt KM, Addis VM, Boulnemour KM, Micheli DA, Smith KB, Sandoval DA, Kennedy RT, Ferrario CR. (2023) Differential Regulation of Nucleus Accumbens Glutamate and GABA in Obesity-Prone and Obesity-Resistant Rats. J. Neurochem. 164(4):499-511 doi: 10.1111/jnc.15720. Online ahead of print Nov 6 2022.

7. Finnell JE and Ferrario CR (2022) Dissociable effects of intra-NAc insulin on incentive-motivation and feeding. Physiol and Beh Jun 23;113892.  doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113892.

8. Hu Y, Ferrario CR, Ghimire A, Watson B, Iwasaki K, White H, Xi Y, Zhou J, Ye B (2023) LabGym: automatically and accurately categorize and quantify user-defined animal behaviors through holistic assessments. Cell Reports Methods 3(3): 100415 BioRxiv Preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.17.480911v3

9.  Sung H, Vesela I, Dricks H, Ferrario CR, Mistretta CM, Bradley RM, Dus M. (2022) High-sucrose diet exposure is associated with selective and reversible alterations in the rat peripheral taste system, Current Biology, Oct 10;32(19):4103-4113.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.063. Epub 2022 Aug 16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.063

10.  Ferrario CR and Finnell JE (2022) Beyond the hypothalamus: roles for insulin as a regulator of neurotransmission, motivation, and feeding. Neuropsychopharmacology Hot Topics, Jan;48(1):232-233.doi: 10.1038/s41386-022-01398-y.  Invited Article

11.  Samaha AN, Khoo SS-Y, Ferrario CR, Robinson TE; Dopamine ‘ups and downs’ in Addiction Revisited (2021) Trends in Neuroscience 44(7):516-526. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2021.03.003. PMID: 33892963 PMCID: PMC8222102

12.  Robinson TE, Khoo SS-Y, Ferrario CR, Samaha AN; Studying dopamine in addiction: the cart should follow the horse. (2021) Trends in Neuroscience 44(8):595-596. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2021.06.008; PMID: 34320335

13.  Alonso-Caraballo Y, Fetterly TL, Jorgensen ET, Brown TE, Ferrario CR (2021) Sex specific effects of “junk-food” diet on calcium permeable AMPA receptors and silent synapses in the nucleus accumbens core Neuropsychopharmacology Feb;46(3):569-578. PMID: 32731252 PMCID: PMC8027187 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-020-0781-1 Epub 2020

14. Fetterly TL, Oginsky MF, Nieto AM, Alonso-Caraballo Y, Santana-Rodriguez Z, and Ferrario CR (2021) Insulin enhances presynaptic glutamate release in the nucleus accumbens via opioid receptor-mediated disinhibition. Journal of Neuroscience; 41(11):2360-2372. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3216-18.2021. Epub 2021 Jan 29. PMID: 33514676 PMCID: PMC7984597  http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/517797v1

15. Ferrario, CR; Why did I eat that? Contributions of individual differences in incentive motivation and nucleus accumbens plasticity to obesity (2020) Physiol and Beh 227:113114. PMID:32777311; PMCID: PMC8668087; NIHMSID: NIHMS1760821 Invited  Review

16. Newman M and Ferrario CR (2020) An improved demand curve for analysis of food or drug consumption in animal experiments Psychopharmacology 237(4), 943-955. Preprint: bioRxiv 765461; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/765461

17. Carr CC, Ferrario CR, Robinson TE (2020) Intermittent access cocaine self-administration produces psychomotor sensitization: effects of withdrawal, sex and cross-sensitization Psychopharamcology 237(6), 1795-1812, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/859520; bioRxiv 859520

18. Derman RC, Bass CE, and Ferrario CR (2020) Effects of hM4Di activation in CamKII basolateral amygdala neurons and CNO treatment on Sensory-Specific vs. General-PIT; refining PIT circuits and considerations for using CNO. Psychopharmacology (Berl).May;237(5):1249-1266. doi: 10.1007/s00213-020-05453-8. Epub 2020 Jan 24. PubMed PMID: 31980843; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7196513.  

19. Derman RC and Ferrario CR (2020) Affective Pavlovian motivation is enhanced in obesity susceptible populations; implications for incentive motivation in obesity. Behav Brain Res. Nov 21;380:112318. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112318. Preprint: https://doi.org/10.1101/657833   http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/657833v1

20. Dingess PM, Zhang Z, Sorg BA, Ferrario CR, Brown TE (2020). Sex and region-specific effects of high fat diet on PNNs in obesity susceptible rats. Physiology and Behavior 222; 1112963

21. Alonso-Caraballo Y and Ferrario CR (2019) Effects of the estrous cycle and ovarian hormones on cue-triggered motivation and intrinsic excitability of medium spiny neurons in the Nucleus Accumbens core of female rats. Horm Behav. 116; 104583. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104583. [Epub ahead of print]; Preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/669804v1; https://doi.org/10.1101/669804 PMID: 31454509 PMCID: PMC7256930

22.  Oginsky MF and Ferrario CR (2019) Eating “junk-food” has opposite effects on intrinsic excitability of nucleus accumbens core neurons in obesity-susceptible vs. -resistant rats. J. Neurophysiol 122(3):1264-1273. Preprint: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/658971v1 PMID:31365322  PMCID:PMC6766731

23. Pettibone JR, Yu JY, Derman RC, Faust TW, Hughes ED, Filipiak WE, Saunders TL, Ferrario CR and Berke JD (2019) Knock-in rat lines with Cre recombinase at the dopamine D1 and adenosine 2a receptor loci. eNeuro. 6(5) doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0163-19.2019. [Epub ahead of print]; Preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/11/13/455337 PMID:31451604 PMCID:PMC6776791

24. Alonso-Caraballo Y, Hodgson KJ, Morgan SA, Ferrario, CR, Vollbrecht PJ (2019) Enhanced anxiety-like behavior emerges with weight gain in male and female obesity-susceptible rats. Beh Brain Res 360:81-93.  PMID:30521928 PMCID:PMC6462400

25. Alonso-Caraballo Y, Jorgensen ET, Brown TE, and Ferrario CR (2018) Functional and structural plasticity contributing to obesity: roles for sex, diet, and individual susceptibility. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. 23: 160-170. PMID:31058203  PMCID:PMC6497077 Invited Review

26. Derman RC and Ferrario CR (2018) Junk-food enhances conditioned approach to a previously established food cue, but does not alter cue potentiated feeding; implications for the effects of palatable diets on incentive motivation Physiol & Beh. 192:145-157. PMID:29555195 PMCID:PMC6028181

27.  Derman RC and Ferrario CR (2018) Enhanced incentive motivation in obesity-prone rats is mediated by NAc CP-AMPARs. Neuropharmacology 131:326-336. PMID:29291424 PMCID:PMC6010194 F1000 Prime Recommendation: https://f1000.com/prime/732389019#

28. Senese N, Oginsky M, Neubig RR, Ferrario CR, Jutkiewicz EM (2018) Role of hippocampal 5-HT1A receptors in the antidepressant-like phenotype of mice expressing RGS-insensitive Gai2 protein. Neuropharmacology. 141: 296-304.

29. Ferrario CR and Regan LP (2018). Insulin-mediated synaptic plasticity in the CNS: anatomical, functional and temporal contexts; Invited Review; Neuropharmacology 136: 182-191 PMID:29217283 PMCID:PMC5988909

30. Vollbrecht PJ, Nesbitt KM, Mabrouk OS, Chadderdon AM, Jutkiewicz EM, Kennedy RT, and Ferrario CR (2018) Cocaine and desipramine elicit distinct striatal noradrenergic and behavioral responses in selectively bred obesity-resistant and obesity-prone rats Beh Brain Research. 346:137-143. [Epub ahead of print, 2017]  PMID:29129597 PMCID:PMC5860948

31. Ferrario CR (2017) Food Addiction and Obesity. Invited Commentary; Neuropsychopharm 42:361 PMID:27909324 PMCID: PMC5143510

32. Bosse KE, Oginsky MF, Susick LL, Ramalingam S, Ferrario CR, Conti AC (2017) Adenylyl Cyclase 1 Is Required for Ethanol-Induced Locomotor Sensitization and Associated Increases in NMDA Receptor Phosphorylation and Function in the Dorsal Medial Striatum. The J. of Pharmacol and Exp. Ther. 363:148-155.

33. Dingess PM, Darling RA, Derman RC, Wulff SS Hunter ML Ferrario CR, and Brown TE (2017) Structural and Functional Plasticity within the Nucleus Accumbens and Prefrontal Cortex Associated with Time-Dependent Increases in Food Cue-Seeking Behavior. Neuropsychopharm 42:2354-2364. PMID:28294131 PMCID:PMC5645745

34. Oginsky MF, Goforth PB, Nobile CW, Lopez-Santiago LF, and Ferrario CR (2016) Eating “junk-food” produces rapid and long-lasting increases in NAc CP-AMPA receptors; implications for enhanced cue-induced motivation and food addiction. Featured Article Neuropsychopharm 41(13):2977-2986. PMID: 27383008 PMCID:PMC5101548

35. Ferrario CR, Labouèbe G, Liu S, Nieh EH, Routh VH, Xu S, O’Connor EC. Homeostasis Meets Motivation in the Battle to Control Food Intake (2016). Invited Review; J Neurosci  36:111469-11481.

36. Oginsky MF, Maust J, Corthell JT, Ferrario CR (2016) Enhanced cocaine-induced locomotor sensitization and intrinsic excitability of NAc medium spiny neurons in rats susceptible to diet-induced obesity. Psychopharm 233(5):773-84. PMID: 26612617 PMCID:PMC4752900

37.  Vollbrecht PJ, Mabrouk OS, Nelson AD, Kennedy, RT, Ferrario, CR (2016) Pre-existing differences and diet-induced alterations in striatal dopamine systems of obesity-prone rats. Obesity 24(3):670-7. MID: 26847484 PMCID:PMC4855850

38. Meyer PJ, King CP, Ferrario CR (2016) Motivational processes underlying substance abuse disorder. Book Chapter; Curr Top Behav Neurosci 27:473-506. Epub ahead of print Oct 17, 2015. NIHMSID: 780389

39. Vollbrecht PJ, Nobile CW, Chadderdon AM, Jutkiewicz EM, Ferrario CR (2015) Pre-existing differences in motivation for food and sensitivity to cocaine-induced locomotion in obesity-prone rats. Physiol and Beh 152(Pt A):151-60. PMID:26423787 PMCID:PMC4633384

40. Robinson MJF, Burghardt PR, Patterson CM, Nobile CW, Akil H, Watson SJ, Berridge KC, Ferrario CR (2015) Individual Differences in Cue-Induced Motivation and Striatal Systems in Rats Susceptible to Diet-Induced Obesity. Neuropsychopharmacology 40(9):2113-23. PMCID: PMC4613617. See also: F1000 Prime Recommendation: http://f1000.com/prime/725387667