Otis Laboratory

The Otis Laboratory seeks to determine how neuronal circuit activity and plasticity control drug-seeking behaviors. To approach this objective, we use and develop novel research strategies such as deep brain two-photon imaging, slice electrophysiology, and optogenetics to monitor and manipulate activity in single neurons, neuronal ensembles, and precisely defined neuronal circuits ex vivo and in vivo. We combine these technologies with advanced computational approaches and custom behavioral assays to study the neuronal circuit computations and adaptations that guide natural and drug-reward seeking. Most recently, the Otis Laboratory has unraveled two converging brain circuits – from the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and paraventricular thalamus to the nucleus accumbens (dmPFCNAc; PVTNAc) – that underlie the facilitation and disinhibition of opioid and alcohol-seeking behaviors, respectively.

Research Focus:
Two-photon microscopy
The Otis Lab has two state-of-the-art multiphoton microscopes that enable deep-brain imaging experiments in awake, behaving animals. Calcium imaging and single-cell holographic optogenetics experiments are commonly applied by the lab to determine how neuronal circuit activity patterns are modified over the course of drug use to causally influence maladaptive drug-related behaviors.

Patch-clamp electrophysiology
The Otis Lab has two patch-clamp electrophysiology systems, equipped with components that allow simultaneous optogenetics ex vivo. These systems can be used to study the synaptic architecture of neural circuits. In addition, the lab uses patch-clamp electrophysiology to study how neural circuits change in response to experience, including but not limited to drug use. Such plasticity is a major component of neuropsychiatric diseases, and therefore is a major focus of the lab.

Circuit mapping
The Otis lab uses a combination of viral strategies to identify the precise connectivity of neural circuits. These strategies include, but are not limited to, cre-driven rabies tracing, retrograde toxin labeling, anterograde tracing, as well as a combination of the above techniques that allow us to identify the precise architecture of neural circuits.

Behavioral Optogenetics
In addition to using optogenetics during two-photon imaging and patch-clamp electrophysiology experiments, the Otis Lab uses optogenetics to determine the neural mechanisms that underly behavior in both head-fixed and freely moving animals. Most notably, the Otis Lab created a novel head-fixed drug self-administration assay that enables imaging and optogenetic experiments to be applied easily for the study of addiction-related behaviors.

Team:
 
James M. Otis, Ph.D.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Originally from Wisconsin, Jim completed his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from UW-Stout and UW-Milwaukee from 2006-2014, followed by his postdoctoral work at UNC-Chapel Hill from 2014-2018. Jim joined the Department of Neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in September 2018. When not in the lab, he enjoys playing sports and chess, visiting friends and family, and hanging out with his pup, Rosie. Jim’s goal in the lab is to provide a fun, friendly, and supportive work environment that allows scientists from all backgrounds to pursue their goals and interests, and in doing so further our understanding of the brain and neuropsychiatric illnesses.


 
Elizabeth Doncheck, Ph.D.
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW
Beth received her bachelor's degrees from University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 2012, and her doctoral degree at Marquette University in 2019. While living in the Milwaukee area, Beth worked in outstanding labs that focus on the neurobiology of drug addiction, including the labs of Drs. Devin Mueller, Cecilia Hillard, John Mantsch, and others. Her work focuses on the influence of circulating hormones and sex differences on addiction behavior, and in the Otis lab she hopes to extend her work to understanding how these hormones function at the level of neural circuits to influence behaviors such as drug seeking. Outside of lab, Beth enjoys chilling with her pup Vebo, traveling, and hanging with her friends.

 
Jackie Paniccia, Ph.D.
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW
Jackie received her bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University in 2014, and her doctoral degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2021. While at UNC, Jackie worked in the laboratory of Dr. Don Lysle examining the neural immune mechanisms underlying different heroin-conditioned Pavlovian responses. While in the Otis lab, she aims to investigate how astrocyte-neuron interactions and glial cell activity modulates drug-taking and drug-seeking behaviors. Outside of the lab Jackie enjoys live music, cooking, and spending time with her friends and family.

 
Rachel Clarke, Ph.D.
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW
Growing up in Australia, Rachel completed her undergraduate studies (2012-2015) and doctoral degree (2016-2020) at Monash University close to Melbourne, Victoria. Her PhD project was supervised by Professor Zane Andrews and investigated cortical to hypothalamic circuits implicated in feeding and reward seeking behavior. In the Otis lab, Rachel aims to utilize two-photon imaging to examine neuronal activity and dendritic spine dynamics underlying drug seeking behavior. Outside of the lab, Rachel enjoys swimming, reading, and exploring Charleston.

 
Ian Grant
PhD STUDENT
Ian grew up in Massachusetts but is in his 8th year as a South Carolina resident. He attended the College of Charleston and graduated with a B.S. in Biology with a Neuroscience minor in 2015. Following graduation, he worked in a neurovascular imaging lab at MUSC, studying the diversity of pericytes within the murine brain. He is currently a PhD student at the Medical University of South Carolina, where he plans to use multiphoton imaging to dissect the neural circuits underlying addiction. Outside of lab, Ian enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling, and going to the beach.

 
Amy Ward
PhD STUDENT
Amy received her bachelor’s degree from Washington & Lee University in 2021, majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in German. In undergrad, she worked with Dr. Fiona Watson and researched pesticide-induced neuronal degeneration in frogs. She is currently co-mentored with Dr. Jennifer Rinker and is interested in dissecting the neural circuitry underlying alcohol use disorders. Outside of the lab, she enjoys spending time with friends, fishing, and hanging out with her pet gecko, Margot

 
Logan Manusky
PhD STUDENT
Logan graduated from the College of Charleston in 2017 with her B.S. in Biology and a minor in Neuroscience. She has been working at MUSC since 2019 in Howard Becker’s lab, who is the director of the Charleston Alcohol Research Center. Logan’s previous research has focused on the comorbidity between alcohol use disorder and PTSD, specifically stress-induced reinstatement and the role that exercise plays on the intersection between stress and alcohol use. She has also worked as a research technician with the Veterans Health Administration. Logan is currently a Ph.D. student at the Medical University of South Carolina in the Otis lab. Outside of lab, Logan enjoys playing volleyball, painting, cooking, and enjoying time with her family/friends!

 
Annaka Westphal
PhD STUDENT
Annaka is a current graduate student who is co-mentored by Drs. Michael Scofield and Jim Otis. Originally hailing from the Land of Enchantment, she completed her undergraduate work at The University of New Mexico in 2020 with a B.S. in Biology. Following graduation, she moved to Charleston where she worked as a research technician at The Medical University of South Carolina during Covid. She is interested in the neurobiology of addiction and the relationship between science and public policy from the perspective of substance use disorder treatment. Outside of the lab, Annaka enjoys spending time with her family, watching Formula 1, and playing games.

 
Mike Martino
MD/PhD STUDENT
Originally from Western New York, Mike completed his undergraduate degree at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville (SIUE) in 2016. He then completed his master’s degree in kinesiology in 2018 while conducting research investigating liver amino acid metabolism at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. Mike was accepted to the MD/PhD program at MUSC in 2020 and is currently investigating how a stressful experience increases susceptibility to future stressors. His training will prepare him for a career as a Physician-Scientist in Psychiatry. When outside of the lab, Mike enjoys running, powerlifting, and spending time with his family and friends.

 
Marcus Bell
MD/PhD STUDENT
Marcus received a BS in biochemistry with a minor in cellular and molecular neuroscience from the University of Minnesota where he researched lipids, senescence, and metabolic dysfunction. He is an MD/PhD student in the Otis lab interested in the neural underpinnings of addiction and developing accessible therapies for substance use disorder.

 
Lisa Green
RESEARCH TECHNICIAN AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGIST
Lisa graduated from Western Carolina University in 2017 with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Psychology. Following graduation, she worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator in Charleston for 2 years working on Phase I-III trials. Lisa is did her Master’s Thesis in the Otis Lab, graduating from the Medical University of South Carolina in 2020. Outside of the lab, Lisa enjoys traveling, spending time with her pets, and playing board games with her family and friends.

 
Joshua Boquiren
DATA ANALYST AND PROGRAMMER
Born and raised in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, Josh studied Computer Information Systems and Data Science at the College of Charleston with an interest in machine learning and computational neuroscience. He joined the lab in 2022 as an undergraduate volunteer before transitioning to a full-time position as a data analyst. When the time allows, Josh enjoys travelling, trying new foods, and keeping an active lifestyle with weight training and hiking.


Otis Laboratory Recent Publications (2020-current)
Paniccia JE*, Vollmer KM*, Green LM*, Grant RI, Winston KT, Buchmaier S, Westphal AM, Clarke RE, Doncheck EM, Bordieanu B, Manusky LM, Martino MR, Ward AL, Rinker JA, McGinty JF, Scofield MD, and Otis JM (2024). Behavioral suppression circuitry is weakened by opioid use and its restoration prevents relapse. Neuron. 112: 772-785. (*authors contributed equally).

Vollmer K.M.*, Green L.M.*, Grant R.I., Winston K.T., Doncheck E.M., Bowen C.W., Paniccia J.E., Clarke R.E., Siegler P.N., Bordieanu, B., Siemsen B.M., Denton A.R., Jhou T.C., Rinker J.A., McGinty, J.F., Scofield M.D, and Otis J.M. (2022). An opioid-gated thalamoaccumbal circuit for the suppression of reward seeking in mice. Nature Communications 13: 6865. (*authors contributed equally).

Paniccia JE, Otis JM, and Scofield MD (2022). Looking to the stars for answers: strategies for determining how astrocytes influence neuronal activity. Computational and Structural Biotechnology 20: 4146-4156.

Siemsen BM, Barry SM, Vollmer KM, Green LM, Brock AG, Westphal AM, King RA, DeVries DM, Otis JM, Cowan CW, and Scofield MD (2022). A subset of nucleus accumbens neurons receiving dense and functional prelimbic cortical input are required for cocaine seeking. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. 16: 844243

Grant RI, Doncheck EM, Vollmer KM, Winston KT, Romanova EV, Siegler PN, Bowen CW, and Otis JM (2021). Specialized coding patterns among dorsomedial prefrontal neuronal ensembles predict conditioned reward seeking. eLife 10: e65764.

Vollmer KM* Doncheck EM*, Grant RI, Winston KT, Romanova EV, Bowen CW, Siegler PN, Green LM, Bobadilla AC, Trujillo-Pisanty I, Kalivas PW, and Otis JM (2021). A novel assay allowing drug self-administration, extinction, and reinstatement testing in head-restrained mice. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 15: 744715. PMCID: 8585999. (*authors contributed equally).

McGinty JF and Otis JM. (2020). Heterogeneity in the paraventricular thalamus: the traffic light of motivated behaviors. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 14: 590528.

Rodriguez-Romaguera J, Ung RL, Nomura H, Otis JM, Basiri ML, Namboodiri VMK, Zhu X, Robinson JE, van den Munkhof HE, McHenry JA, Eckman LEH, Kosyk O, Jhou TC, Kash TL, Bruchas MR, and Stuber GD. (2020). Prepronociceptin-expressing neurons in the extended amygdala encode and promote rapid arousal responses to motivationally salient stimuli. Cell Reports 33: 108362.

Resendez SL, Namboodiri VMK, Otis JM, Eckman LEH, Rodriguez-Romaguera J, Ung RL, Basiri ML, Kosyk O, Rossi MA, Dichter GS, and Stuber GD (2020). Social stimuli induce activation of oxytocin neurons within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus to promote social behavior in male mice. Journal of Neuroscience 40: 2282-2295.

For more information on the work we do in our lab, please visit https://www.otis-lab.org/