Margaret E. Rice, PhD

Dr. Rice's NIH-funded laboratory studies factors that regulate the release of dopamine, which is a key transmitter in motor and reward pathways of the brain. Current topics include modulation of dopamine release in the striatum by diet and by the metabolic hormones insulin and leptin, the influence of exercise on dopamine levels and release, and how a Parkinson's-related protein, alpha-synuclein, affects the physiology of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra. Methods used include fast-scan cyclic voltammetry, optogenetics, patch-clamp recording of basal ganglia neurons, and immunohistochemistry. Dr. Rice is an investigator in the Neuroscience Institute and a member of the Marlene and Paolo Fresco Institute for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders at NYU Langone, and she serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Parkinson’s Foundation.