Hot Off the Press – March 18, 2026 Published in PNAS by Ying Duan, Pei-Jung Tsai and Yihong Yang, et al. of the NIDA IRP Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Section. Summary This study is a trans-branch collaboration between groups of Drs. Yihong Yang and Yavin Shaham at NIDA-IRP. Relapse driven by craving remains a challenge in… [Read More]
Hot off the Press
Cocaine chemogenetics blunts drug-seeking by synthetic physiology
Hot Off the Press – March 9, 2026 Published in Nature by Juan Gomez and Michael Michaelides et al. of the NIDA IRP Biobehavioral Imaging and Molecular Neuropsychopharmacology Section. Summary Our research team is pleased to announce the publication of our latest study in Nature, introducing a transformative synthetic biology platform designed to study and… [Read More]
VTA monosynaptic connections by local glutamate and GABA neurons and their distinct roles in behavior
Hot Off the Press – January 2026 Published in Nature Communications by Flavia Barbano and Marisela Morales et al. of the NIDA IRP Neuronal Networks Section. Summary This study demonstrates that the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a brain region central to motivation and reward, contains tightly organized local circuits that shape behavior in distinct ways…. [Read More]
Hippocampal output suppresses orbitofrontal cortex schema cell formation
Hot Off the Press – August 21, 2025 Published in Nature Neuroscience by Wenhui Zong and Geoffrey Schoenbaum, et al. of the NIDA IRP Behavioral Neurophysiology Neuroscience Section. Summary The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and hippocampus (HC) are both thought to contribute to the construction of cognitive maps and their generalization into schemas, yet the nature… [Read More]
Locomotor activity depends on β-arrestin recruitment by the dopamine D1 receptor in the striatal D1-D3 receptor heteromer
Hot Off the Press – August, 2025 Published in Pharmacological Research by Alexandra Evans and Sergi Ferré , et al. of the NIDA IRP Integrative Neurobiology Section. Summary It has been long advocated that the mechanism responsible for the classically established cooperative effect of dopamine D1-like and D2-like receptor agonists in the elicitation of locomotor activity… [Read More]
Preexisting risk-avoidance and enhanced alcohol relief are driven by imbalance of the striatal dopamine receptors in mice
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]
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]
Basal forebrain-lateral habenula inputs and control of impulsive behavior.
Hot Off the Press – August 27, 2024 Published in Neuropsychopharmacology by Eun-Kyung Hwang, Agustin Zapata and Carl Lupica, et al. from the NIDA IRP Electrophysiology Research Section. Summary Impulsive behavior is both a predictor and a consequence of drug use and substance use disorders, as well as a symptom of other neuropsychiatric illnesses such… [Read More]
Presynaptic and Postsynaptic Mesolimbic Dopamine D3 Receptors Play Distinct Roles in Cocaine Versus Opioid Reward in Mice
Hot Off the Press – July 29, 2024 Published in Biological Psychiatry by Zheng-Xiong Xi and Amy Hauck Newman, et al. from the NIDA IRP Addiction Biology Unit. Summary Dopamine D3 receptors (D3Rs) play pivotal roles in the rewarding effects of cocaine and opioids. However, the cellular and neural circuit mechanisms in the brain underlying… [Read More]
Incubation of methamphetamine craving in punishment-resistant individuals is associated with activation of specific gene networks in the rat dorsal striatum
Hot Off the Press – April 24, 2024 Published in Molecular Psychiatry by Atul Daiwile and Jean Lud Cadet, et al. from the NIDA IRP Molecular Neuropsychiatry Section. Summary Methamphetamine also called METH, crank, ice etc. is a powerful stimulant that has caused addiction in a lot of people in the world. Humans who take… [Read More]
