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How does PMAT deficiency influence behavioral responses to obtain positive outcomes and avoid negative outcomes? 

Behavior-outcome learning processes are applicable to nearly all aspects of life – for example, you wait for a traffic light to turn green before proceeding into an intersection (avoid negative outcome), and you do your job each day so that you can save money for a vacation trip (obtain positive outcome). Dopamine and serotonin are two monoamine neurotransmitters important for learning processes, and for attributing valence (positive or negative) to outcomes. A protein that helps regulate monoamine neurotransmitter signaling is plasma membrane monoamine transporter (PMAT, Slc29a4), but PMAT remains quite understudied due to limited availability of pharmacological and murine tools. Nonetheless, ~30% of people have a functional genetic polymorphism in their PMAT gene that significantly impacts response to a drug treatment for diabetes. Thus, it is probable that reduced PMAT function affects learning processes in people too. Our pilot project funded by BHRI will begin to evaluate this by studying positively and negatively valenced behavior-outcome learning processes under conditions of full or reduced PMAT function. This project will be led by an undergraduate in our lab, Lauren Scrimshaw.