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Compulsive methamphetamine taking induces autophagic and apoptotic markers in the rat dorsal striatum

Featured Paper of the Month – January 2021
Published in Archives of Toxicology by Subu, Rajeev; Jayanthi, Subramaniam; Cadet, Jean Lud

The use of methamphetamine (METH) is very prevalent throughout the world. METH can cause anxiety, psychosis, seizures, and death. Previous research in the Cadet Lab has shown that METH can cause neurodegeneration when the drug is injected by investigators. It was therefore important to find out if there is degeneration in the brains of rats that learn to give themselves METH by a behavioral technique called self-administration (SA)…

Long-Term Cocaine Self-administration Produces Structural Brain Changes That Correlate With Altered Cognition

Hot Off the Press – December 21, 2020 This paper used longitudinal imaging and neurocognitive assessments in matched experimental and control macaque monkeys to study changes following chronic cocaine self-administration and extended abstinence. True baseline measures prior to any cocaine exposure, something not available in clinical cross-sectional comparisons, permitted a determination of changes in structure… [Read More]

Exception That Proves the Rule: Investigation of Privileged Stereochemistry in Designing Dopamine D₃R Bitopic Agonists

Featured Paper of the Month – December 2020
Published in ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters by Battiti, Francisco O; Newman, Amy Hauck; Bonifazi, Alessandro

In this study, starting from our highly selective and potent D3R agonist 5 , we further investigated the chemical space around the linker portion of the molecule, via insertion of a hydroxyl substituent and ring-expansion of the trans cyclopropyl moiety into a trans -cyclohexyl scaffold…

Distinct Signaling by Ventral Tegmental Area Glutamate, GABA, and Combinatorial Glutamate-GABA Neurons in Motivated Behavior

Hot Off the Press – November 23 , 2020 The Ventral tegmental area (VTA) is best known for containing dopamine neurons that play a role in motivated behavior. However, we had previously demonstrated that the VTA has neurons that co-transmit glutamate and GABA, neurons that transmit glutamate without GABA, and neurons that transmit GABA without… [Read More]

Processing in Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex Is Required to Estimate Subjective Preference during Initial, but Not Established, Economic Choice

Hot Off the Press – November 23 , 2020 Adaptive decision making requires us to imagine – or mentally simulate – potential outcomes, particularly when potential outcomes are far off, uncertain, or even anecdotal. This ability depends in part on the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) , an important part of the frontal lobe altered in addiction…. [Read More]

Jingfeng Zhou, Ph.D. Has Received the NIH Pathway to Independence Grant Award

Dr. Zhou is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Geoffrey Schoenbaum at the NIDA IRP where he studies neural circuit mechanisms of animal behavior and cognition. Using in vivo electrophysiology as a primary tool, his research attempts to map neural dynamics embedded in the neural population activities to the hidden cognitive variables… [Read More]

Amy Hauck Newman appointed to lead NIDA’s Intramural Research Program

Amy Hauck Newman, Ph.D., has been appointed the Scientific Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) Intramural Research Program (IRP) in Baltimore. NIDA is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Newman has served as NIDA’s IRP Acting Scientific Director for the past two years. She is also Chief of NIDA’s… [Read More]

In a Rat Model of Opioid Maintenance, the G Protein-Biased Mu Opioid Receptor Agonist TRV130 Decreases Relapse to Oxycodone Seeking and Taking and Prevents Oxycodone-Induced Brain Hypoxia

Hot Off the Press – November 17 , 2020 Bossert et al. used a rat model of opioid agonist maintenance therapy to study the effect of the novel G-protein-biased mu opioid receptor (MOR) agonist TRV130 on relapse oxycodone seeking and taking during abstinence. They showed that TRV130 decreased oxycodone seeking and taking during abstinence in… [Read More]

VTA Glutamatergic Neurons Mediate Innate Defensive Behaviors

Hot Off the Press – November 11 , 2020 The role of ventral tegmental area (VTA) in motivated behavior is well established. However, Barbano et al., demonstrated that a subset of VTA neurons, that utilizes glutamate as signaling molecule, mediates innate defensive behaviors, evolutionary selected responses that promote escaping from dangerous situations. Alterations in innate… [Read More]

Positive Allosteric Modulation of the 5-HT1A Receptor by Indole-Based Synthetic Cannabinoids Abused by Humans

Featured Paper of the Month – November 2020
Published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience in Yano, Hideaki; Adhikari, Pramisha; Naing, Sett; Hoffman, Alexander F; Baumann, Michael H; Lupica, Carl R; Shi, Lei

The nonmedical (i.e., recreational) misuse of synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) is a worldwide public health problem. When compared to cannabis, the misuse of SCs is associated with a higher incidence of serious adverse effects, suggesting the possible involvement of noncannabinoid sites of action. Here, we find that, unlike the phytocannabinoid Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol, the indole-moiety containing SCs, AM2201 and JWH-018, act as positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) at the 5-HT_1A receptor (5-HT_1AR). This suggests that some biological effects of SCs might involve allosteric interactions with 5-HT_1ARs…