Wesson laboratory

at the University of Florida

Wesson lab publications

RESEARCH ARTICLES (WITHIN LAST 8 YEARS -- see end of page for a list of chapters and reviews)

Sniffen SE, Ryu SE, Kokoska MM, Bhattarai J, Wang Y, Thomas ER, Skates GM, Johnson NL, Chavez AA, Iaconis SR, Janke E, Ma A, Wesson DW. Bidirectional modulation of negative emotional states by parallel genetically-distinct basolateral amygdala pathways to ventral striatum subregions. BioRxiv. 2024.

Johnson NL, Cotelo-Larrea A, Stetzik LA, Akkaya UM, Varga AG, Ma M, Wesson DW. Sniffing is initiated by the actions of dopamine on ventral striatum neurons. BioRxiv. 2024.

Zhang YF, Wu J, Wang Y, Johnson NL, Bhattarai JP, Li G, Wang W, Guevara C, Shoenhard H, Fuccillo MV, Wesson DW, Ma M. Ventral striatal islands of Calleja neurons bidirectionally mediate depression-like behaviors in mice. Nature Communications. 2023.

Patten T, Johnson NL, Shaw JK, Dossat AM, Dreier A, Kimball BA, Wesson DW, De Biasi M. Strawberry Additive Increases Nicotine Vapor Sampling and Systemic Exposure But Does Not Enhance Pavlovian-Based Nicotine Reward in Mice. eNeuro. 2023.

​Dossat AM, Kokoska MM, Whitaker-Fornek JR, Sniffen SE, Kulkarni AS, Levitt ES, Wesson DW. Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptors in the Gustatory Cortex Influence Food Intake. Journal of Neuroscience. 2023.

​Cansler HL, In 't Zandt E, Carlson K, Khan W, Ma M, Wesson DW. Organization and engagement of a prefrontal-olfactory network during olfactory selective attention. Cerebral Cortex. 2023.

Schreck MR, Zhuang L, Janke E, Moberly A, Bhattarai J, Gottfried J, Wesson DW, Ma M. State-dependent olfactory processing in freely behaving mice. Cell Reports. 2022.

Zhang Y-F, Janke E, Bhattarai JP, Wesson DW, Ma M. Self-directed orofacial grooming promotes social attraction in mice via chemosensory communication. iScience. 2022.

Wright KN, Johnson NJ, Dossat AM, Wilson JT, Wesson DW. Reducing local synthesis of estrogen in the tubular striatum promotes attraction to same-sex odors in female mice. Hormones & Behavior.2022.
Zhang Y-F, Luigim Vargas Cifuentes, Katherine N Wright, Janardhan P Bhattarai, Julia Mohrhardt, David Fleck, Emma Janke, Chunjie Jiang, Suna L Cranfill, Nitsan Goldstein, Mary Schreck, Andrew H Moberly,  Yiqun Yu, Benjamin R Arenkiel, J Nicholas Betley, Wenqin Luo, Johannes Stegmaier, Daniel W Wesson, Marc Spehr, Marc V Fuccillo, Minghong Ma. Ventral striatal islands of Calleja neurons control grooming in mice. Nature Neuroscience. 2021.

Johnson ME, Bergkvist L, Stetzik L, Meyerdink L, Schulz E, Wolfrum E, Luk KC, Wesson DW, Krainc D, Brundin P. Heterozygous GBA D409V and ATP13a2 mutations do not exacerbate pathological α-synuclein spread in the prodromal preformed fibrils model in young mice. Neurobiology of Disease. 2021.

Midroit M, Chalençon L, Renier N, Milton A, Thevenet M, Sacquet J, Breton M, Forest J, Noury N, Richard M, Raineteau O, Ferdenzi C, Fournel A, Wesson DW, Bensafi M, Didier A, Mandairon N. Behavioral evidence for odorants acting as natural reward and underlying circuitry. Current Biology. 2021.

Wright KN & Wesson DW. The tubular striatum and nucleus accumbens distinctly represent reward-taking and seeking. Journal of Neurophysiology. 2020. In Press. *featured by the Journal*

Kulkarni AS, Cortijo M, Roberts ER, Suggs TL, Stover HB, Pena-Bravo JI, Steiner JA, Luk KC, Brundin P, Wesson DW. α-Synuclein perturbs in vivo neural activity following seeding in the olfactory bulb. Journal of Parkinson's Disease. 2020.

Roberts ER*, Dossat AM*, Cortijo M, Brundin P, Wesson DW. Alterations in odor hedonics in the 5XFAD Alzheimer's disease mouse model and the influence of sex. Behavioral Neuroscience. 2020.

Gadziola MA*, Stetzik LA*, Wright KN, Milton AJ, Arakawa, K, Cortijo M, Wesson DW. A neural system that represents the association of odors with rewarded outcomes and promotes behavioral engagement. Cell Reports. 2020. 32(3). *equal contributing authors

Johnson ME#, Bergkvist L#, Mercado G, Stetzik LA, Meyerdirk L, Wolfrum E, Madaj Z, Brundin P, Wesson DW. Deficits in olfactory sensitivity in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease revealed by plethysmography of odor-evoked sniffing. Scientific Reports. 2020. 10(1). #equal contributing authors, *shared corresponding authors.

White KA*, Zhang Y-F*, Zhang Z*, Bhattarai JP, Moberly AH, in 't Zandt E, Mi H, Jia X, Fuccillo M, Xu F, Ma M, & Wesson DW. Glutamatergic neurons in the piriform cortex influence the activity of D1- and D2-type receptor expressing olfactory tubercle neurons. Journal of Neuroscience. 2019. 39(48): 9546-9559.

In 't Zandt EE*, Cansler HL*, Denson HB, & Wesson DW. Centrifugal Innervation of the Olfactory Bulb: A Reappraisal. eNeuro.  2019. Feb 7;6(1). pii. *equal contributing authors.

Carlson KS, Gadziola MA, Dauster ES, & Wesson DW. Selective attention controls olfactory decisions and the neural encoding of odors. Current Biology.  2018. Jul 23; 28(14): 2195-2205.

Jagetia S*, Milton A*, Stetzik L*, Liu S, Pai K, Arakawa K, Mandairon N, & Wesson DW.  Inter- and intra-mouse variability in odor preferences revealed in an olfactory multiple choice test. Behavioral Neuroscience. 2018. 132(2), 66-98.  *equal contributing authors.

Carlson KS*, Whitney MS*, Gadziola MA, Deneris ES, & Wesson DW. Preservation of essential odor-guided behaviors and odor-based reversal learning after targeting adult brain serotonin synthesis. eNeuro. 2016. *equal contributing authors.

Gadziola MA, & Wesson DW. The neural representation of goal-directed actions and outcomes in the ventral striatum's olfactory tubercle. Journal of Neuroscience. 2016; 36(2), 548-560. *featured in "This Week in The Journal".

Kimball BA, Wilson DA, Wesson DW. Alterations of the volatile metabolome in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. Scientific Reports. 2016; 6(19495).

Xia CZ, Adjei SA, Wesson DW. The coding of odor stimulus features among secondary olfactory structures. Journal of Neurophysiology.2015; 114:1, 736-45.

Gadziola MA, Tylicki K, Christian D, Wesson DW. The olfactory tubercle encodes odor valence in behaving mice. Journal of Neuroscience. 2015; 35: 4515-4527.

Adjei, S. & Wesson DW. Laminar and spatial localization of the islands of Calleja in mice. Neuroscience. 2015; 287: 137-43.

Carlson KS, Dillione M, Wesson DW. Odor- and State-dependent olfactory tubercle local field potential dynamics in awake rats. Journal of Neurophysiology. 2014; 111:2109-23.

FitzGerald, B, Richardson, K, Wesson DW. Olfactory tubercle stimulation alters odor preference behavior and recruits forebrain reward and motivational centers. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 2014; 8.

Carlson KS*, Xia CZ*, Wesson DW. Encoding and representation of intranasal CO2 in the mouse olfactory cortex. Journal of Neuroscience. 2013; 33: 13873-81. *equal contributing authors.PDF

Adjei, S., Houck, A., Ma, L.L., & Wesson DW. Age-dependent alterations in the number, volume, and localization of islands of Calleja within the olfactory tubercle. Neurobiology of Aging. 2013 34(11): 2676-82. 

Wesson DW. Sniffing communicates social hierarchy. Current Biology. 2013; 23: 575-580. PDF

*accompanied with commentaries: "Animal Communication: Sniffing is about more than just smell" by Bennett Galef. "Social cognition in the rodent: nothing to be sniffed at" by Rennie, Moita, & Mainen.

Wesson DW. (2014) A Breath of New Life into Human Social Cognition. Chemical Senses; 39(4): 273-5.

Wesson DW. Olfaction in rodents in natural and semi-natural habitats. (2015) Handbook of Olfaction and Gustation; 3rd Ed. Editor: R.L. Doty.
Wesson DW, Nixon RA, Levy E, & Wilson DA. (2011) Mechanisms of Neural and Behavioral Dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease. Molecular Neurobiology; 43(3): 163-79. PDF. 

Wesson DW & Wilson DA. (2011) Sniffing out the contributions of the olfactory tubercle to the sense of smell: hedonics, multisensory integration, and more? Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews; 35: 655-668. PDF.
Wilson DA, Chapuis J, & Wesson DW. (2010) Olfaction. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (Chinchester, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd).