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News Main

ESG-1-60 and ESG-1-61: Novel dopamine D receptor-preferring partial agonists/antagonists that inhibit cocaine taking and seeking in rodents

Omar Soler-Cedeño

Featured Paper of the Month – March 2025

Published in Human Brain Mapping by Justine Hill and Amy Janes, et al. of the NIDA IRP Cognitive and Pharmacological Neuroimaging Unit.

In this study, we show that methylphenidate – a drug used to treat ADHD by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine – boosts the amount of time that the brain is engaged in both internal and external attention networks.

Distributed midbrain responses signal the content of positive identity prediction errors.

Featured Paper of the Month – March 2025

Published in Human Brain Mapping by Justine Hill and Amy Janes, et al. of the NIDA IRP Cognitive and Pharmacological Neuroimaging Unit.

In this study, we show that methylphenidate – a drug used to treat ADHD by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine – boosts the amount of time that the brain is engaged in both internal and external attention networks.

Catecholaminergic Modulation of Large-Scale Network Dynamics Is Tied to the Reconfiguration of Corticostriatal Connectivity

Study Author Justine Hill

Featured Paper of the Month – March 2025

Published in Human Brain Mapping by Justine Hill and Amy Janes, et al. of the NIDA IRP Cognitive and Pharmacological Neuroimaging Unit.

In this study, we show that methylphenidate – a drug used to treat ADHD by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine – boosts the amount of time that the brain is engaged in both internal and external attention networks.

GHSR blockade, but not reduction of peripherally circulating ghrelin via β1-adrenergic receptor antagonism, decreases binge-like alcohol drinking in mice

Rani Richardson

Featured Paper of the Month – February 2025

Published in Molecular Psychiatry by Rani Richardson, Leandro Vendruscolo, and Lorenzo Leggio of the NIDA IRP.

We previously found that systemic and central administration of GHSR antagonists reduced binge-like alcohol drinking, whereas a ghrelin vaccine did not. Thus, we hypothesized that central GHSR drives binge-like alcohol drinking independently of peripheral ghrelin.

Preexisting risk-avoidance and enhanced alcohol relief are driven by imbalance of the striatal dopamine receptors in mice

A mouse and a beer bottle

Hot Off the Press – January, 2025 Published in Nature Communications by Miriam Bocarsly, Mike Michaelides and Veronica Alvarez, et al. of the NIDA IRP. Summary Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is frequently comorbid with anxiety disorders, yet whether alcohol abuse precedes or follows the expression of anxiety remains unclear. Rodents offer control over the first drink,… [Read More]

Expectancy-related changes in firing of dopamine neurons depend on hippocampus

An illustration of a mouse

Featured Paper of the Month – January 2025

Published in Nature Communications by Zhewei Zhang,  Yuji Takahashi and Geoffrey Schoenbaum et al. of the NIDA IRP Behavioral Neurophysiology Neuroscience Section.

We studied rats with hippocampus damage as they played a smell-based game. The game involved four contexts with different reward structures changing over time.

Technology Development Initiative – Paper of the Month – December 2024

A portion of the graphical abstract from this study. Image copyright Elsevier

A fast and responsive voltage indicator with enhanced sensitivity for unitary synaptic events Neuron.

The paper introduces ASAP5, a genetically encoded voltage indicator (GEVI) optimized for detecting electrical activity in neurons with improved speed, sensitivity, and signal resolution. The study highlights ASAP5’s in vitro and in vivo utility across species (flies, fish, mice, and human neurons). It bridges the gap between low-throughput electrophysiology and non-invasive imaging, making it a valuable resource for investigating synaptic dysfunction in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases.

[Read More]

Genetic or pharmacological GHSR blockade has sexually dimorphic effects in rodents on a high-fat diet

A portion of The Graphical Abstract for this study. Image copyright: Nature Communications Biology

Featured Paper of the Month – December 2024

Published in Nature Communications Biology by  András H Lékó, Adriana Gregory-Flores and Lorenzo Leggio et al. of the NIDA IRP Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology Section.

In this study. we investigated whether the deletion of the GHSR gene (GHSR-KO) in rats can prevent or attenuate weight gain caused by a high-fat diet.

Lorenzo Leggio Recieves 2023 Arthur S. Flemming Award

Lorenzo Legio, M.D., Ph.D.

Lorenzo Leggio, M.D., Ph.D. is a 2023 recipient of the Arthur S. Flemming Award for his exceptional service as a Federal Employee. Dr. Leggio received his award in a ceremony on November 14, 2024. The Flemming Awards are managed by the George Washington University’s Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and recipients include many notable figures… [Read More]

Technology Development Initiative – Paper of the Month – November 2024

A figure from this study. Copyright: Nature

DART.2: bidirectional synaptic pharmacology with thousandfold cellular specificity Nat Methods.

Understanding how specific brain cells drive behavior requires targeted, cell- and circuit-specific neuropharmacology. DART.2 (Drugs Acutely Restricted by Tethering, version 2) offers improved cellular precision for targeting drugs compared to the original DART.1 technology, enabling unprecedented brain-wide drug distribution and bidirectional modulation of neurotransmitter pathways to examine behavior.

[Read More]

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