After training with Jaak Panksepp, Jeff Burgdorf dedicated his research career to the neuroscience of emotions — particularly positive emotions — and their genetic expression. Working with Panksepp and others, he wrote several papers examining the vocalizations of rats before and during various activities and showing that at least some could be described in human terms as laughter. He also identified genes that grow neurons in the human brain and showed that play activates the expression of those genes; without play, they remain dormant. More recently, his research has examined molecular biology and gene activation specific to depression, ADHD, learning, memory, stress response, and similar issues, and explored ways that play therapy could support healthy brain activity. He is a Research Associate Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Most Influential Work:
- “The Neurobiology of Positive Emotions,” written with Jaak Panksepp and published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2006, is widely cited.
View all books and articles on our site by Jeffrey S. Burgdorf:
- Tickling induces reward in adolescent rats
- Ultrasonic Vocalizations of Rats (Rattus norvegicus) During Mating, Play, and Aggression: Behavioral Concomitants, Relationship to Reward, and Self-Administration of Playback
- Regional brain cholecystokinin changes as a function of rough-and-tumble play behavior in adolescent rats
- Frequency-modulated 50kHz ultrasonic vocalizations: A tool for uncovering the molecular substrates of positive affect
- Breeding for 50-kHz positive affective vocalization in rats
- Rats selectively bred for low levels of play-induced 50kHz vocalizations as a model for Autism Spectrum Disorders: A role for NMDA receptors
- Anticipation of play elicits high-frequency ultrasonic vocalizations in young rats.
- A novel NMDA receptor glycine-site partial agonist, GLYX-13, has therapeutic potential for the treatment of autism
- Positive emotional learning is regulated in the medial prefrontal cortex by GluN2B-containing NMDA receptors
- Rat 22-kHz Ultrasonic Vocalizations as a Measure of Emotional Set Point During Social Interactions
