Meaghan C. Creed

Biography

I obtained my HBSc ad PhD at the University of Toronto. During my graduate work with Dr. José Nobrega,I studied deep brain stimulation (DBS) applied to the basal ganglia in models of movement disorders. For post-doctoral training, I moved to the lab of Dr. Christian Lüscher at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Here, I used optogenetics and electrophysiology to understand how cocaine re-wires the brains' reward circuitry, and developed a novel protocol for DBS that reversed cocaine-evoked synaptic plasticity and abolished maladaptive behavior induced by drug exposure.In order to treat any condition, we must first understand its underlying pathology. To this end, research in the Creed lab applies a variety of approaches to understand how plasticity in the limbic system mediates behaviors such as reward-seeking, risk tolerance, impulsivity and anhedonia. Our ultimate goal is to develop neuromodulatory strategies that would regulate reward circuit function in models of mood- and substance-use disorders, and could be used to normalize behavioral symptoms of these disorders.

Research Interest

Deep brain stimulation Dopamine Opioids Reward Synaptic plasticity.