Ann E. Kelley
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Ann Elizabeth Kelley (1954–2007) was an American
neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, neural circuits, and glial ...
, who specialized in the neuroscience of reward and behavior. She was a professor at the University of Wisconsin.


Biography

Kelley was born in
Milton, Massachusetts Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and an affluent suburb of Boston. The population was 28,630 at the 2020 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and architect Buckminster Fuller. ...
. She became interested in neuroscience during a field trip to Harvard. She completed her undergraduate studies at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, where she was captain for both the field hockey and lacrosse teams. She then received a Thouron fellowship which allowed her to pursue a PhD at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
, England, under the supervision of Susan Iversen. She was among the first 13 women to be admitted to Trinity College in 1976. At Cambridge she continued to play lacrosse, and she was a member of the rowing team. She continued her work at the
Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...
with Walle Nauta. Later, she held research and teaching positions at the
University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a Lists of universities in France, public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in Southern France, southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bor ...
in France, Harvard University and Northeastern University, before settling at the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
, where she was named Wisconsin Distinguished Neuroscience Professor in 2006. At the University of Wisconsin, she was also Director of the Neuroscience Training Program. In 2006, she was honored with Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award by the
Society for Neuroscience The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is a professional society, headquartered in Washington, DC, for basic scientists and physicians around the world whose research is focused on the study of the brain and nervous system. It is especially well kn ...
. She died from metastatic colon cancer on August 5, 2007 at her home in
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
, at the age of 53. Kelley was an accomplished athlete, being a pioneering player for the women's lacrosse team and the field hockey team at the University of Pennsylvania. She started a rowing eight at Cambridge and was stroke for the team. She competed in the
May Bumps The May Bumps (also May Races, Mays) are a set of rowing races, held annually on the River Cam in Cambridge, England. They began in 1887 after separating from the Lent Bumps, the equivalent bumping races held at the end of February or start of M ...
in a women's four. She was also an avid skier. Kelley was the mother of three children.


Research

Kelley's research focused on the neuroscience of reward and behavior. She was a leading expert in the intracerebral microinfusion technique. During her PhD and the following years she studied the mesocorticostriatal systems and the role of opioids in interactions between the striatum and hypothalamic regulatory circuits in the control of behavior. Following these studies she focused on eating behavior and food intake. She found that eating behavior was mediated by μ-opioids, but this was mechanism was dependent on the palatability of the food. She later performed studies to determine what part of the striatum was responsible for this mechanism. Together with Min Zhang she performed a microinfusion study that showed that the ventral and lateral areas of the striatum, including both the shell and the core of the
nucleus accumbens The nucleus accumbens (NAc or NAcc; also known as the accumbens nucleus, or formerly as the ''nucleus accumbens septi'', Latin for " nucleus adjacent to the septum") is a region in the basal forebrain rostral to the preoptic area of the hypot ...
, were most sensitive to injections of opioids causing behavioural changes. Together with Ned Kalin, Kelley demonstrated the role of the amygdala in the linking of sensory representations and their motivational value. After lesioning the amygdala in rhesus monkeys, they found that the monkeys no longer learn proper fear responses to stimuli, such as a predator. During her time with Walle Nauta, she also performed anterograde and
retrograde tracing Retrograde tracing is a research method used in neuroscience to trace neural connections from their point of termination (the synapse) to their source (the cell body). Retrograde tracing techniques allow for detailed assessment of neuronal conne ...
studies to study the neural projections from the amygdala to the striatum. They showed that these projection were much more extensive than previously thought, and that the amygdala innervates large parts of the caudal striatum. As the amygdala is involved in motivation they speculated that the striatum may in fact also be mediated in a large part by motivation. Kelly furthermore showed that food can act as an addictive substance. She found that the consumption of salty and sweet foods was influenced injection of a μ-opioid antagonist into the nucleus accumbens in a similar way the intake of alcohol, but not the intake of water, was.


Legacy

Two years after her death, Kelley posthumously received the Patricia Goldman-Rakic Hall of Honor award by the Society for Neuroscience. The University of Wisconsin-Madison established the Ann E. Kelley Fellowship in Behavioral Science in her honour. Kelley's alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, established the Ann E. Kelley Memorial Scholarship in 2007. In 2013 the journal ''
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews ''Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering behavioral neuroscience published by Elsevier. The journal publishes reviews, theoretical articles, and mini-reviews. It is an official journal of the Intern ...
'' dedicated a volume to her.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelley, Ann 1954 births 2007 deaths American neuroscientists University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty University of Pennsylvania alumni 20th-century American women scientists American women neuroscientists People from Milton, Massachusetts Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge American women academics 21st-century American women