Addiction

…to substance-use disorders and addiction-related phenotypes. Work may integrate molecular measurements, neural circuits, behaviour and computational methods to identify mechanisms and useful experimental resources. This U01 cooperative agreement permits projects lasting up to five years, with budgets based on the proposed work rather than a stated award cap. The next application deadline is 11 February 2027 at 5 p.m. in the applicant organisation’s local time. Clinical trials are not allowed.

…cellular neuroscience, glial biology, addiction, computational and data neuroscience, neurodegeneration, CNS injury, neuroimmunology, and sensory, motor and cognitive systems. Successful applicants will develop independent research, mentor trainees and contribute to teaching. Applications remain open until filled; the September priority-review date has passed, but the official posting continues to accept applications.

One of the major challenges of addiction research is to identify vulnerable individuals before they develop addictive disorders. Indeed, only a small subset of users (20-30%) develop pathological behaviors such as loss of control over drug use and compulsive seeking/consumption of the substance despite the negative consequences. In rats, pathological low frequency oscillations in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) can predict compulsive-like cocaine seeking. However, the deep location of this predictive biomarker, requiring invasive electrode implantation, prevents its potential use in humans. Thus

Dopamine (DA)’s relationship with addiction is complex, and the related pathways in the mesocorticolimbic system are used to deliver DA, regulating both behavioral and perceptual actions. Specifically, the mesolimbic pathway connecting the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is crucial in regulating memory, emotion, motivation, and behavior due to its responsibility to modulate dopamine. To better investigate the relationship between DA and addiction, more advanced mapping methods are necessary to monitor its production and propagation accurately and efficiently. In th

Pavlovian conditioning describes a form of associative learning wherein initially neutral cues acquire motivational value through repeated pairing with rewards. Two learning profiles have been identified in how such cues acquire value and bias performance: sign-trackers, i.e., individuals who attribute high incentive (or attractive) value to reward-predictive cues, and goal-trackers, i.e., individuals who acquire the predictive value of cues but use it to directly approach the reward. The acquisition of incentive value seems crucial in making sign-trackers maladaptive, favouring behaviours lik

…hippocampus formation and regulates addiction-related behaviors. Methamphetamine and other psychostimulants can produce a

Addiction is a highly debilitating condition consisting of compulsive self-administration and seek for the substance of abuse, and its most challenging feature is the high rate of relapse. Addiction and relapse share similarities with a brain process called neural plasticity which acts through the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and its receptor TrkB. Moreover, Somatostatin (SST) expressing interneurons are involved in neuronal plasticity and are important in modulating cocaine-seeking behaviour in mice.We are testing the role of TrkB in Somatostatin(SST)-expressing neurons in the formation

Cue reactivity is an important predictor of addiction and relapse. However, it is unclear to what degree it is determined by a trait-like propensity to attribute incentive salience to cues. Animal studies have uncovered that individual variation in such a trait-like propensity expressed behaviorally as “sign-tracking” (ST) is associated with addiction-relevant behavioral and neurobiological features. The current study is first to examine the association between ST and cue reactivity in regular electronic cigarette (ECIG) users. Thirty-seven moderately dependent ECIG users (20 females) were cha

An influential model of addiction proposes that repeated exposure to addictive drugs results in overvaluation of drug cues and long-lasting cue-drug associations, which results in heightened motivation to seek drugs upon exposure to these cues. This model focuses on the role of midbrain dopamine neurons in forming these associations, known as cue reactivity. However, the neurophysiological responses of non-dopamine neurons to cues predicting opioids vs. natural rewards have not been examined previously. Multi-unit electrophysiological recordings were collected from the midbrain of adult Long-E

To survive, individuals use past experience to select an appropriate behaviour (for instance, approaching a previously rewarding, or avoid a previously punished, place). Past experience will also influence how each ongoing experience is assigned with a positive or negative value. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopaminergic (DA) neuronal circuitry is extensively studied in reward-motivated behaviours. Their role in punished ones is less known. Some studies showed that an aversive event may lead either to an activation or an inhibition of VTA DA neurons, suggesting a role for DA neurons in the

…due to their potential to cause addiction. When these regulations occurred, other known effects were relegated to side

…stress disorder (PTSD), drug addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Using rodent behavioural models of the psychological processes relevant to these disorders, it is possible to identify potential treatment targets for the development of new therapies, including those based upon disrupting the reconsolidation of maladaptive emotional memories. Using examples from rodent models relevant to multiple mental health disorders, this talk will consider some of the opp

…and hijacked across disorders of addiction, compulsivity and mood. My lab focuses on identifying theory-driven modifiable biomarkers focusing on these cognitive constructs with the ultimate goal to optimize and develop novel means of neu

Optimized Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation for Addiction Treatment

Understanding the fundamental gene regulatory mechanisms underlying addiction and related behaviors could facilitate more effective treatments. We discuss our work using multi-omics methods to provide mechanistic and functional insights into how addiction perturbs gene regulatory programs in the rat brain, with single-cell resolution.

Choice rejection is an important part of decision making with high clinical relevance for addiction. Our goal is to understand how neural circuits are engaged during active rejection. This question is largely understudied due to a focus on choice omission, freezing, or stopping in animal studies of behavioral control. Similarly, two-alternative forced choice studies of decision making also fail to isolate active rejection from acceptance since these two aspects of decision making occur in parallel in these tasks. To better isolate active rejection, we adapted a serial decision-making task, Res

Our everyday behaviours, such as physical activity, sleep, diet, meditation, and social connections, have a potent impact on our mental health and the health of our brain. BrainPark is working to harness this power by developing lifestyle-based interventions for mental health and investigating how they do and don’t change the brain, and for whom they are most effective. In this webinar, Dr Rebecca Segrave and Dr Chao Suo will discuss BrainPark’s approach to developing lifestyle-based interventions to help people get better control of compulsive behaviours, and the multi-modality neuroimaging a

Given the complex and dynamic nature of our social relationships, the human brain needs to quickly learn and adapt to new social situations. The breakdown of any of these computations could lead to social deficits, as observed in many psychiatric disorders. In this talk, I will present our recent neurocomputational and intracranial work that attempts to model both 1) how humans dynamically adapt beliefs about other people and 2) how individuals can exert influence over social others through model-based forward thinking. Lastly, I will present our findings of how impaired social computations mi

In this talk series, addiction neuroscientists from across the world share their personal stories/experiences on the beauty of addiction neuroscience and how/why they have decided to invest their scientific life in this field. We hope that this talk series would encourage and support a new generation of young and passionate addiction neuroscientists in different countries to revolutionize the field of addiction medicine.

In this talk series, addiction neuroscientists from across the world share their personal stories/experiences on the beauty of addiction neuroscience and how/why they have decided to invest their scientific life in this field. We hope that this talk series would encourage and support a new generation of young and passionate addiction neuroscientists in different countries to revolutionize the field of addiction medicine.

In this talk series, addiction neuroscientists from across the world share their personal stories/experiences on the beauty of addiction neuroscience and how/why they have decided to invest their scientific life in this field. We hope that this talk series would encourage and support a new generation of young and passionate addiction neuroscientists in different countries to revolutionize the field of addiction medicine.

In this talk series, addiction neuroscientists from across the world share their personal stories/experiences on the beauty of addiction neuroscience and how/why they have decided to invest their scientific life in this field. We hope that this talk series would encourage and support a new generation of young and passionate addiction neuroscientists in different countries to revolutionize the field of addiction medicine.

In this talk series, addiction neuroscientists from across the world share their personal stories/experiences on the beauty of addiction neuroscience and how/why they have decided to invest their scientific life in this field. We hope that this talk series would encourage and support a new generation of young and passionate addiction neuroscientists in different countries to revolutionize the field of addiction medicine.

In this talk series, addiction neuroscientists from across the world share their personal stories/experiences on the beauty of addiction neuroscience and how/why they have decided to invest their scientific life in this field. We hope that this talk series would encourage and support a new generation of young and passionate addiction neuroscientists in different countries to revolutionize the field of addiction medicine.