
Hugo Tejeda, Ph.D.
Stadtman Investigator
Unit on Neuromodulation and Synaptic Integration
NIMH
Research Topics
Research in Dr. Tejeda’s laboratory is aimed at elucidating how the brain utilizes neuromodulation in motivational and emotional neural circuits to process information and orchestrate behavior. Another major focus of the laboratory is to identify plastic changes in neuromodulation and synaptic integration in limbic circuits of animal models of psychiatric disorders to elucidate novel therapeutic targets and increase our understanding of conventional therapies. The laboratory employs an inter-disciplinary approach including electrophysiological, in-vivo imaging, optogenetic, and viral and transgenic techniques to dissect the function of neuromodulators, such as opioid receptors, in regulating synaptic integration in single cells, microcircuits, and distributed limbic networks to control motivated behavior.
Biography
Dr. Tejeda completed his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and at the National Institute on Drug Abuse under the mentorship of Drs. Patricio O’Donnell and Toni Shippenberg. His thesis work elucidated the role of neuromodulatory systems, including opioid receptors, in modulating synaptic integration in prefrontal cortical and limbic circuits. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Antonello Bonci at the National Institute Drug Abuse where he elucidated the mechanisms by which monoamine and opioid receptors, as well as stress modulate information processing in the nucleus accumbens. Dr. Tejeda joined the National Institute of Mental Health in 2018 as a Stadtman principal investigator. His research focuses on the role of neuromodulation in processing information in limbic neural circuits under physiological conditions and in psychiatric disorders.
Selected Publications
- Wang H, Flores RJ, Yarur HE, Limoges A, Bravo-Rivera H, Casello SM, Loomba N, Enriquez-Traba J, Arenivar M, Wang Q, Ganley R, Ramakrishnan C, Fenno LE, Kim Y, Deisseroth K, Or G, Dong C, Hoon MA, Tian L, Tejeda HA. Prefrontal cortical dynorphin peptidergic transmission constrains threat-driven behavioral and network states. Neuron. 2024;112(12):2062-2078.e7.
- Enriquez-Traba J, Arenivar M, Yarur-Castillo HE, Noh C, Flores RJ, Weil T, Roy S, Usdin TB, LaGamma CT, Wang H, Tsai VS, Kerspern D, Moritz AE, Sibley DR, Lutas A, Moratalla R, Freyberg Z, Tejeda HA. Dissociable control of motivation and reinforcement by distinct ventral striatal dopamine receptors. Nat Neurosci. 2025;28(1):105-121.
- Dong C, Gowrishankar R, Jin Y, He XJ, Gupta A, Wang H, Sayar-Atasoy N, Flores RJ, Mahe K, Tjahjono N, Liang R, Marley A, Or Mizuno G, Lo DK, Sun Q, Whistler JL, Li B, Gomes I, Von Zastrow M, Tejeda HA, Atasoy D, Devi LA, Bruchas MR, Banghart MR, Tian L. Unlocking opioid neuropeptide dynamics with genetically encoded biosensors. Nat Neurosci. 2024;27(9):1844-1857.
- Alkaslasi MR, Lloyd EYH, Gable AS, Silberberg H, Yarur HE, Tsai VS, Sohn M, Margolin G, Tejeda HA, Le Pichon CE. The transcriptional response of cortical neurons to concussion reveals divergent fates after injury. Nat Commun. 2025;16(1):1097.
- Arenivar MA, Ross N, Flores RJ, Zakariya S, Wang Z, Yarur HE, Kore R, Richiez-Mateo WV, Limoges A, Wang H, Bravo-Rivera H, Agbor-Enoh D, Enriquez-Traba J, Gu X, Averbeck BB, Li Y, Tejeda HA. Neuropeptidergic transmission shapes emergent properties of prefrontal cortical circuits underlying learning. bioRxiv. 2025.
Related Scientific Focus Areas
Social and Behavioral Sciences
View additional Principal Investigators in Social and Behavioral Sciences
This page was last updated on Thursday, January 18, 2024