Congratulations to the NIDA labs who participated and received awards in the 2023 NIH Green Labs Program! Molecular Neuropsychiatry Section, Adjei, Nasser – Gold Translational Analytical Core, Kryszak, Lindsay – Silver Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section, Sarsfield, Sarah – Silver Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch, Neuronal Networks Section, Barbano, Flavia – Bronze Molecular Targets and Medications… [Read More]
Hot Off the Press
A bitopic agonist bound to the dopamine 3 receptor reveals a selectivity site.
Hot Off the Press – October 15, 2024 Published in Nature Communications with contributions from Alessandro Bonifazi , Francisco Battiti and Amy Hauck Newman of the NIDA IRP Medicinal Chemistry Section. Summary We have been designing bitopic ligands for more than two decades with the idea that the secondary pharmacophore would bind in a site… [Read More]
Reviews To Read
Morphinan Alkaloids and Their Transformations: A Historical Perspective of a Century of Opioid Research in Hungary
Reviews To Read – July 2025. Published in International Journal of Molecular Sciences with contributions by Kenner Rice of the NIDA IRP Drug Design and Synthesis Section. The word opium derives from the ancient Greek word ὄπιον (ópion) for the juice of any plant, but today means the air-dried seed capsule latex of Papaver somniferum. Alkaloid… [Read More]
Featured Papers
Distinct prelimbic cortex ensembles encode response execution and inhibition.
Featured Paper of the Month – January 2026
Published in PNAS by Rajtarun Madangopal, Ph.D. and Bruce Hope, Ph.D. of the NIDA IRP Neuronal Ensembles in Drug Addiction Section.
In this study, researchers used single-cell calcium imaging to longitudinally track hundreds of brain cells (neurons) in rats across three phases: when they pressed a lever for food rewards (Training), as they learned to stop pressing when the reward was removed (Extinction), and when they resumed pressing after a small, non-contingent reward was reintroduced (Reinstatement). Analyses showed that distinct and non-overlapping populations – called ensembles – were active during Training and Extinction, to support response execution and inhibition, respectively.
