Kyle S. Smith
Associate Professor
Appointments
Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Area of Expertise
Neuroscience,
Learning and Memory,
Reward and Motivation,
Emotion,
Addiction,
Habits
Biography
I conduct research on how the brain works to generate reward, motivation, actions, and habits. My work incorporates techniques to record neural activity, modulate neuronal activity at sub-second timescales, study brain chemistry, and map brain connections. The research is relevant to understanding disorders of reward and action, like addiction, Parkinson's disease, and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders.
Education
B.A., Indiana University
M.S., University of Michigan
Ph.D., University of Michigan
Post-doc, M.I.T.
Publications
Graybiel AM, Smith KS (2014). How the brain makes and breaks habits. Scientific American, June issue (cover article). Link to site.
Bien EA, Smith KS (2023). The role of sex on sign-tracking acquisition and outcome devaluation sensitivity in Long Evans rats. Behavioural Brain Research, 455:114656.
Townsend ES, Smedley EB, Amaya KA, Smith KS (2023). Nucleus accumbens core acetylcholine receptors modulate the balance of flexible and inflexible cue-directed motivation. Scientific Reports, 13, 13375
Amaya KA, Smith KS (2021). Spatially restricted inhibition of cholinergic interneurons in the dosrolateral striatum promotes behavioral exploration. European Journal of Neuroscience, 53(8):2567-2579.
Amaya KA, Stott JJ, Smith KS (2020). Sign-tracking behavior is sensitive to outcome devaluation in a devaluation context-dependent manner: Implications for analyzing habitual behavior. Learning and Memory.
Crego ACG, Štoček F, Marchuk AG, JCarmichael JE, van der Meer MAA, Smith KS (2020). Complementary control over habits and behavioral vigor by phasic activity in the dorsolateral striatum. The Journal of Neuroscience.
Contact
Departments