Ann E. Kelley
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Ann Elizabeth Kelley (1954–2007) was an American
neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...
, 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. Milton is an immediate southern suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The population was 28,630 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Milton is located in the relatively hilly ...
. She became interested in neuroscience during a field trip to
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
. She completed her undergraduate studies at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
, 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 university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, England, under the supervision of
Susan Iversen Susan Diana Iversen (''née'' Kibble; 28 February 1940 – 29 January 2025) was a British experimental psychologist. She was a former professor of psychology at the University of Oxford. Early life and education Iversen was born in Aylesbury, ...
. She was among the first 13 women to be admitted to
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
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 medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
with Walle Nauta. Later, she held research and teaching positions at the
University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...
in France, Harvard University and
Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...
, before settling at the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
, 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, D.C., 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 k ...
. She died from metastatic colon cancer on August 5, 2007 at her home in
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...
, 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 o ...
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 The striatum (: striata) or corpus striatum is a cluster of interconnected nuclei that make up the largest structure of the subcortical basal ganglia. The striatum is a critical component of the motor and reward systems; receives glutamat ...
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 hypo ...
, 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 connec ...
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 Interna ...
'' 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