Christian Burgess, PhD

 Christian R. Burgess
Assistant Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Research Assistant Professor, Michigan Neuroscience Institute, Medical School
University of Michigan
Michigan Neuroscience Institute
109 ZINA PITCHER PL, BSRB5053
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
[email protected]
Available to mentor
Christian Burgess, PhD
Christian R. Burgess
Research Assistant Professor
  • About
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  • Qualifications
  • Center Memberships
  • Research Overview
  • Recent Publications

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    • About

    The Burgess lab investigates how learning, as well as changes in motivational and arousal state, impacts how we process the sensory environment. Using neuroanatomical tracing, behavior, optogenetics, and in vivo two-photon calcium imaging in mice, we aim to map the circuits that underlie fundamental behaviors, like sleep and feeding, and elucidate how these circuits impact learning and sensory processing in higher-order brain regions.

    Links
    • Lab website

    Qualifications
    • Postdoctoral fellow
      Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
      2012 - 2017
      Postdoctoral Fellowship
    • PhD
      University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
      2006 - 2012
    • BSc
      University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
      2001 - 2005

    Center Memberships
    • Center Member
      Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics
    • Center Member
      Caswell Diabetes Institute

    Research Overview

    Neuroscience; Sleep; Feeding; Sensory processing; Narcolepsy; Lateral hypothalamus

    Recent Publications

     See All Publications
    • Journal Article
      Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Projections to the Nucleus Accumbens Enhance the Reward Value of Food Consumption and Do Not Induce Feeding or REM Sleep.
      Furman KL, Baron L, Lyons HC, Cha T, Evans JR, Manna J, Zhu L, Mattis J, Burgess CR. J Neurosci, 2025 Mar 5; 45 (10): DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1725-24.2024
      PMID: PMC11884387
    • Journal Article
      Phasic Dopamine Release in the Nucleus Accumbens Influences REM Sleep Timing.
      Toth BA, Burgess CR. J Neurosci, 2025 Feb 26; 45 (9): DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1374-24.2024
      PMID: PMC11867001
    • Journal Article
      Striatal Dopamine Contributions to Skilled Motor Learning
      Phillips CD, Hodge AT, Myers CC, Leventhal DK, Burgess CR. Journal of Neuroscience, 2024 Jun 26; 44 (26): DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0240-24.2024
      PMID: 38806248
    • Journal Article
      Dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens promotes REM sleep and cataplexy
      Toth BA, Chang KS, Fechtali S, Burgess CR. Iscience, 2023 Sep 15; 26 (9): DOI:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107613
    • Journal Article
      The melanin-concentrating hormone system as a target for the treatment of sleep disorders
      Potter LE, Burgess CR. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2022 Sep 13; 16: DOI:10.3389/fnins.2022.952275
    • Journal Article
      Catching Up on REMs
      Burgess CR, Scammell TE. New England Journal of Medicine, 2022 May 19; 386 (20): 1950 - 1952. DOI:10.1056/NEJMcibr2203101
      PMID: 35584160
    • Journal Article
      Visual association cortex links cues with conjunctions of reward and locomotor contexts
      McGuire KL, Amsalem O, Sugden AU, Ramesh RN, Fernando J, Burgess CR, Andermann ML. Current Biology, 2022 Apr 11; 32 (7): 1563 - 1576.e8. DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2022.02.028
      PMID: 35245458
    • Journal Article
      Intermingled Ensembles in Visual Association Cortex Encode Stimulus Identity or Predicted Outcome
      Ramesh RN, Burgess CR, Sugden AU, Gyetvan M, Andermann ML. Neuron, 2018 Nov 21; 100 (4): 900 - 915.e9. DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2018.09.024
      PMID: 30318413

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