Expertise
Neurobiology, Feeding Behavior, Eating Disorders, Neural Circuits, Hypothalamus, Motivation, Neuroscience
Biography
The neurobiological mechanisms underlying diseases associated with dysregulated feeding, including eating disorders, are far less understood compared to other psychiatric illnesses. From what we do know, there are large overlaps in the neural circuits affected by both under- and overconsumption across species, allowing for the investigation of seemingly opposing disease states using similar experimental approaches. Dr. Ames Sutton Hickey's lab (The ASH Lab) seeks to understand the basic neurobiology of feeding behavior, with an emphasis on identifying the neural circuit pathways underlying susceptibility to under- or over-nutrition. To this end, the ASH lab uses a variety of genetic and behavioral rodent models in combination with systems neuroscience techniques.
Dr. Ames Sutton Hickey received her PhD in Molecular and Integrative Physiology from the University of Michigan, under the co-mentorship of Dr. David Olson and Dr. Martin Myers Jr. Her postdoctoral training was under Dr. Kay Tye (MIT) and Dr. Michael Krashes (NIH/NIDDK), where she used systems neuroscience approaches to primarily determine how food deprivation alters neural circuits and behavior. Her lab is opening in January 2023.
Selected Publications
- AgRP neurons coordinate the mitigation of activity-based anorexia. Sutton AK*, Duane SC, Shamma AM, Skillings A, Krashes MJ*. (2021) BioRxiv, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.10.459764
- An open-source device for measuring food intake and operant behavior in rodent home-cages. Matikainen-Ankney BA, Earnest T, Ali M, Casey E, Wang JG, Sutton AK, Legaria AA, Barclay KM, Murdaugh LB, Norris MR, Chang Y-H, Nguyen KP, Lin E, Reichenbach A, Clarke RE, Stark R, Conway SM, Carvalho F, Al-Hasani R, McCall JG, Creed MC, Cazares VA, Buczynski MW, Krashes MJ, Andrews ZB, Kravitz AV. (2021) Elife, doi: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66173
- Melanocortin 3-receptor neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus promote glucose disposal. Sutton AK, Goforth PG*, Gonzalez IE, Dell’Orco J, Pei H, Myers MG Jr., Olson DP (2021) PNAS, doi: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2103090118
- Integrating Hunger with Rival Motivations. Sutton AK, Krashes MJ. (2020) Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2020.04.006
- Acute food deprivation modifies valence-coding microcircuits in the amygdala. Calhoon GG*, Sutton AK*, Chang C-J*, Libster AM, Glober GF, Leveque CL, Murphy G, Namburi P, Leppla CA, Siciliano CA, Wildes EY, Beyeler A, Tye KM. (2018) BioRxiv., doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/285189
- Control of food intake and energy expenditure by Nos1 neurons of the paraventricular hypothalamus. Sutton AK, Pei H, Burnett KH, Myers MG Jr., Rhodes CJ, Olson DP. (2014) J. Neurosci., doi: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0226-14.2014