College of Medicine
Urs Lab
Led by Nikhil Urs · Pharmacology and Therapeutics
What we study
The Urs Lab studies dopamine neurotransmission in mice, focusing on signaling pathways, neuronal circuits, and how they affect behavior. They aim to develop treatments for disorders like Parkinson’s and schizophrenia using drug and gene-based approaches.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Mice
- Coding helps
- Projects
- 3
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Role of cortical catecholamines in regulating motivated behavior and striatal dopamine
Investigating how cortical catecholamines influence dopamine function in the brain.
Effect of Elevated Dopamine on Cognitive Flexibility and Motivation in Heterozygous DAT Knockout Mice
The lab studies how higher dopamine levels affect learning flexibility and motivation in mice that lack one copy of the dopamine transporter gene. The student recorded dopamine signals and tested the mice on a reversal‑learning task, finding reduced flexibility and stronger dopamine bursts.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 224
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The Role of Dopamine Receptor-Expressing Neuronal Projections from the Ventrolateral Orbitofrontal Cortex in Cognitive Flexibility
The lab explores how dopamine signals in a part of the prefrontal cortex affect decision making and learning to change strategies. Students use a drug‑activated receptor system to manipulate specific dopamine pathways and measure learning in a reversal task.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 220
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Locus Coeruleus-Specific Norepinephrine Transporter Deletion Leads to Enhanced Cognitive Flexibility but Reduces Motivation (Abstract ID: 161685)
2025 · Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
- Enhanced cognitive flexibility and phasic striatal dopamine dynamics in a mouse model of low striatal tonic dopamine
2024 · Neuropsychopharmacology
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- Separate gut-brain circuits for fat and sugar reinforcement combine to promote overeating
2024 · Cell Metabolism
- Enhanced cognitive flexibility and phasic dopamine dynamics in Norepinephrine transporter knockout mice
2024 · Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
- Neuroimmune Circuitry of Midbrain Dopamine Neurons
2024 · Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Nikhil Urs hasn't set up this page yet. You can also look them up in the UF directory (search “Nikhil Urs”).