Dopamine sensor recording · NAc lateral shell
Dopamine as a teaching signal
Recording dopamine during behavior allows us to visualize how this signal supports phenotypes like associative learning
NIDDK K99 Fellow · University of Pennsylvania
Nick Smith Neuroscientist
I study how the brain builds assocations — I am currently investigating how dopaminergic circuits link food reward to the cues that predict them, mapped from single neurons to whole-brain networks.
- NIDDK Pathway to Independence
- K99
- first-author papers
- 6
- SSIB Kissileff Award, best talk
- 2026
Research
From every active cell to the network that drives behavior.
Model
The circuit
My postdoctoral work centers on the input from the pedunculopontine nucleus to the ventral tegmental area, a central driver for dopamine transients
Whole-cell electrophysiology
Learning, one synapse at a time
Directly measuring how synaptic weights change across learning.
Miniscope calcium imaging · PPN→VTA neurons
Single neurons, in behaving animals
Recording individual neurons in anatomically defined circuits reveals functional roles
Pose estimation · SLEAP + Keypoint-MoSeq
Behavior, decomposed
Keypoint tracking with SLEAP and Keypoint-MoSeq syllables characterize spontaneous open-field behavior
3d neural activity
Whole-brain activity mapping, end to end
From viral tracing and activity labeling to graph-theoretic network analysis, built and run in-house
- Rabies tracing/cFos mapping →
- Whole-brain clearing →
- Light-sheet imaging →
- Atlas registration →
- Cell detection →
- Network analysis
Vision
Where my future lab goes next
How does the brain build associations – identify the synaptic locus, circuit level requirements, and transcriptional support for this plasticity
Read the vision →
Meet the scientist
Hi, I'm Nick.
I came to neuroscience through chemistry, with an undergraduate degree in biochemistry. For my PhD I used whole-cell electrophysiology to study nucleus accumbens circuits, and how states like hunger reshape the synapses that guide motivated behavior.
As a postdoc I've widened the lens, from single synapses to dopamine dynamics, single-neuron imaging, machine-learning pose estimation and whole-brain mapping, to understand how the brain learns what predicts food.
- 2022 – now Postdoc & NIDDK K99 Fellow University of Pennsylvania · Betley Lab
- 2015 – 2022 PhD, Neuroscience Vanderbilt University · Grueter Lab
- 2015 BA, Biochemistry (Neuroscience minor) St. Mary's College of Maryland
Off the clock BirdwatchingSpy novelsToddler wrangling
Publications
Selected work
2026 in preparation
The pedunculopontine nucleus acts as an essential gateway for dopamine-driven associative learning
PPN neurons are required for phasic dopamine release to food and for associative food–cue learning. Kissileff Award for best oral presentation, SSIB 2026.
Smith NK, Wu R, Bianchi J, Awh M, Williams S, Wang S, Betley JN
In preparation
2025 published
A parabrachial hub for the prioritization of survival behavior
A parabrachial hub that arbitrates between competing survival needs.
Goldstein N, Maes A, Allen HN, Nelson TS, Kruger KA, Kindel M, Smith NK, Carty JRE, Villari R, Cho E, Marble EL, Khanna R, Taylor BK, Kennedy A, Betley JN
Nature
2022 published
Hunger dampens a nucleus accumbens circuit to drive persistent food seeking
Hunger dampens a nucleus accumbens → lateral hypothalamus circuit to drive persistent food seeking.
Smith NK, Plotkin JM, Grueter BA
Current Biology
2018 published
Bile diversion, a bariatric surgery, and bile acid signaling reduce central cocaine reward
A bariatric surgery and bile acid signaling reduce cocaine reward in the brain.
Reddy IA*, Smith NK*, Erreger K, Ghose D, Saunders C, Foster DJ, Turner B, Poe A, Albaugh VL, McGuinness O, Hackett TA, Grueter BA, Abumrad NN, Flynn CR, Galli A
PLOS Biology
- 2026
Neuropeptide Y receptor modulation of dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens core
Grueter CA, Murray TW, Smith NK, Grueter BA
Neuropeptides
- 2023
Bile acids modulate reinstatement of cocaine conditioned place preference and accumbal dopamine dynamics without compromising appetitive learning
Zanella D, Smith NK, Hardaway JA, Buchanan AM, Mullins CH, Galli A
Scientific Reports
- 2022
Neuropeptide Y modulates excitatory synaptic transmission and promotes social behavior in the mouse nucleus accumbens
Smith NK, Kondev V, Hunt TR, Grueter BA
Neuropharmacology
- 2022
FGF21 suppresses alcohol consumption through an amygdalo-striatal circuit
Flippo KH, Trammell SAJ, Gillum MP, Aklan I, Perez MB, Yavuz Y, Smith NK, Jensen-Cody SO, Zhou B, Claflin KE, Beierschmitt A, Fink-Jensen A, Knop FK, Palmour RM, Grueter BA, Atasoy D, Potthoff MJ
Cell Metabolism
- 2021
Hunger-driven adaptive prioritization of behavior
Smith NK, Grueter BA
The FEBS Journal
- 2021
Cannabinoid type-1 receptors in A2a neurons contribute to cocaine-environment association
Turner BD*, Smith NK*, Manz KM, Chang BT, Delpire E, Grueter CA, Grueter BA
Psychopharmacology
- 2019
GLP-1: Molecular mechanisms and outcomes of a complex signaling system
Smith NK, Hackett TA, Galli A, Flynn CR
Neurochemistry International
- 2019
The therapeutic effect of stiripentol in Gabrg2+/Q390X mice associated with epileptic encephalopathy
Warner T, Smith NK, Kang JQ
Epilepsy Research
* equal contribution
Research vision
Identify how experience-dependent changes in specific synapses shift brain wide dynamics to direct behavior
01
Map the architecture
How do individual circuits contribute to the neural representation of a learned cue?
02
Identify the building blocks
How do transcriptional programs in specific cells shape synaptic connections to solidify learning?
03
Connect networks to behavior
How does learning alter network hubs to orchestrate behavior?
© 2026 Nick Smith · nicksmithneuro.com