Previously: Professor
(1995-2004),
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology
Saint Louis University School of Medicine

Research Associate
(1982-1985),
Departments of Neurology,
Neurosurgery and Otolaryngology,
University of Virginia School of Medicine,
Charlottesville, VA

Education
PhD,
Pennsylvania State University, 1982

Research Summary

The laboratory seeks to understand fundamental patterns of organization in the basal forebrain, how forebrain systems contribute to behavioral synthesis and brain development and what the vulnerabilities of different forebrain systems are in circumstances leading to neurodegeneration.

Honors & Awards
Leverhulme Visiting Professorship,
University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews,
Scotland, June-December, 2000

Forbairt Visiting Professorship,
Royal College of Surgeons and Trinity College,
Dublin, June - July, 1997

Grant Support
USPHS-NIH/NS-23805 (R01)
Convergent vs. Parallel Striatal Afferents
9/1/1986-12/31/2013

Professional Memberships
Editorial Boards: Neuroscience (1995-present); Journal of Comparative Neurology (2004-2007; 2012-2016); Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy (2005-present); Brain Structure and Function (2006-present)

Society for Neuroscience

International Brain Research Organization

Publications

- Selected Papers from 94 (citations from GoogleScholar as of 1/18/2013):

Zahm DS, Parsley KP, Schwartz ZM, Cheng AY:  Connections of the accumbal ‘hedonic hotspot’ of Pecina and Berridge with commentary on the transitional nature of basal forebrain’boundaries’. J. Comp. Neurol.521:50-68, 2013 (cited by 1).

St.Onge JR, Stopper CM, Zahm DS, Floresco SB: Separate neural circuits bias choice towards risky or certain options.  J Neurosci, 32:2886-2899, 2012 (cited by 2).

Zahm DS, Cheng AY, Lee TJ, Ghobadi CW, Schwartz ZM, Geisler S, Parsely KP, Gruber C, Veh RW: Inputs to the midbrain dopaminergic complex in the rat, with emphasis on extended amygdala-recipient sectors. J Comp Neurol 519:3159-3188, 2011 (cited by 7).

Lavezzi HN, Parsley KP, Zahm DS: Mesopontine rostromedial tegmental nucleus neurons projecting to the dorsal raphe and pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus: psychostimulant-elicited Fos expression and collateralization.  Brain Structure & Function 217:719-734, 2012 (cited by 1).

Lavezzi HN, Zahm DS: The mesopontine tegmental nucleu: an integrative modulator of the reward system.  Basal Ganglia 1:191-200, 2011 (cited by 4) .

Zahm, D.S., Pharmacological approach to the treatment of addiction: persisting challenges. Missouri Medicine 107:276-280, 2010 (cited by 4).

Zahm, D.S., Becker M.L., Freiman A.J., Strauch S., DeGarmo B., Geisler S., Meredith G.E., and Marinelli M.: Fos after single and repeated self-administration of cocaine and saline in the rat: emphasis on the basal forebrain and recalibration of expression. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35:445-463, 2010 (cited by 14).

Jhou, TC., Geisler, S., Marinelli, M., and Zahm, D.S.: Medial tegmental nucleus: a mesopontine structure targeted by the lateral habenula that projects to the ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra compacta. J . Comp. Neurol. 513:566-596, 2009 (cited by 82).

Geisler, S., Marinelli, M., DeGarmo, B., Becker M.L., Freiman, A.J., Beales, M., Meredith, G.E., and D.S. Zahm: Prominent activation of brainstem and pallidal afferents of the ventral tegmental area by cocaine. Neuropsychopharmacology, 33:2688-2700, 2008 (26).

Zahm, D.S.: The dopaminergic projection system, basal forebrain macrosystems, and conditioned stimuli. CNS Spectrums 13:887-892, 2008 (cited by 10).

Geisler, S., Derst, C., Veh, R.W. and D.S. Zahm: Glutamatergic afferents of the ventral tegmental area in the rat. J. Neurosci. 27:5730-5743, 2007 (cited by 161).

Zahm, D.S. The evolving theory of basal forebrain "functional anatomical macrosystems. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev., 30:148-172, 2006 (cited by 61).

Reynolds, S.M., and D.S. Zahm: Macrosystem-specificity of projections from prefrontal and insular cortex to ventral striatopallidum and extended amygdala. J. Neurosci. 25:11757-11767, 2005 (cited by 78).

Geisler, S., and D.S. Zahm: Afferents of the ventral tegmental area in the rat - anatomical substratum for integrative functions. J. Comp. Neurol. 490:270-294, 2005 (cited by 150).

Zahm, D.S.: An integrative neuroanatomical perspective on some subcortical substrates of adaptive responding with emphasis on the nucleus accumbens. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 24:85-105, 2000 (cited by 314).

Brog, J.S., A. Salypongse, A.Y. Deutch and D.S. Zahm: The patterns of afferent innervation of the core and shell in the "accumbens" part of the rat ventral striatum: Immunohistochemical detection of retrogradely transported Fluoro-Gold. J. Comp. Neurol., 338:255-278, 1993 (cited by 692).

Zahm, D.S. and J.S. Brog: Commentary: On the significance of the core-shell boundary in the rat nucleus accumbens. Neuroscience 50:751-767, 1992 (cited by 744).

Selected Book Chapters (from 11):

Zahm, D.S.: Accumbens in a Functional-Anatomical Systes Context: In: (David H, ed.) The nucleus accumbens: neurotransmitters and related behaviours, Transworld Research Network-Research Signpost, Kerala, India, pgs. 1-37, 2008.

Zahm, D.S., and L. Heimer: Limbic System. In:  (Binder MD, Hirokawa N and Windhorst U, eds.) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, Vol. 3 H-M, Springer, pgs. 2157-2161, 2009.

Book

Heimer, L., Van Hoesen, G.W., Trimble, M., Zahm, D.S. Anatomy of Neuropsychiatry. The New Anatomy of the Basal Forebrain and its Implications for Neuropsychiatric Illness. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 2008.

Dopamine-containing neurons