News Main

Technology Development Initiative – Paper of the Month – August 2024

A Wearable Device Towards Automatic Detection and Treatment of Opioid Overdose IEEE Trans Biomed Circuits Syst

A wearable closed-loop drug delivery system capable of detecting a hypoxia event and an automatic rapid delivery of a naloxone dose has the potential to mitigate the effects of the opioid epidemic. The closed-loop system can be complementary to the existing evidence-based harm reduction strategies, particularly in instances of unwitnessed overdose where there are no bystanders to administer Narcan.
[Read More]

Lateral hypothalamic glutamatergic inputs to VTA glutamatergic neurons mediate prioritization of innate defensive behavior over feeding

Featured Paper of the Month – August 2024

Published in Nature Communications by Flavia Barbano and Marisela Morales, et al. of the NIDA IRP Neuronal Networks Section.

Defensive behaviors are critical actions evolutionary selected to improve survival. Barbano et al., discovered an unanticipated neuronal pathway that is activated during threatening environmental conditions.

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]

Technology Development Initiative – Paper of the Month – July 2024

Unlocking opioid neuropeptide dynamics with genetically-encoded biosensors Nat Neurosci.

Endogenous peptides are central to addiction research, but there are limited experimental tools to study these systems in a circuit-specific and selective spatiotemporal manner. Tian and collaborators developed a class of genetically encoded opioid peptide indicators, κLight, δLight, and µLight, based on κOR, δOR, and µOR respectively, that are selective and sensitive to the rapid dynamic changes in endogenous opioid peptides release in vivo.
[Read More]

Khalin E. Nisbett and Evan Hart Receive International Behavioral Neuroscience Society Travel Award

Khalin E. Nisbett is a Predoctoral Visiting Fellow at the Stress and Addiction Neuroscience Unit under the supervision of Dr. George Koob and Dr. Leandro Vendruscolo. She is also pursuing her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Illinois. Evan Hart is a Post-doctoral IRTA Fellow at the Behavioral Neurophysiology Neuroscience Section under the supervision… [Read More]

Ecological Momentary Assessment of Self-Reported Kratom Use, Effects, and Motivations Among US Adults

Featured Paper of the Month – July 2024

Published in Jama Network Open by Kirsten Smith and David Epstein, et al. of the NIDA IRP Real-world Assessment, Prediction, and Treatment Unit.

This was the first-ever study to use real-time, app-based monitoring of patterns and consequences of kratom use, in 357 people who used kratom daily or almost daily.

Technology Development Initiative – Paper of the Month – June 2024

Simple behavioral analysis (SimBA) as a platform for explainable machine learning in behavioral neuroscience Nat Neurosci.

Neuroscience is advancing from subjective to objective behavioral definitions with the help of machine-guided animal pose estimation and behavioral detection tools. However, these approaches often require significant investments in specialized hardware and specialized computational knowledge. Simple Behavioral Analysis (SimBA) provides an open-source machine learning platform that uses pose tracking data to detect and annotate animal behaviors, making the methods accessible and understandable to non-specialists.
[Read More]

Unique pharmacodynamic properties and low abuse liability of the µ-opioid receptor ligand (S)-methadone

Featured Paper of the Month – June 2024

Published in Molecular Psychiatry by Marjorie Levinstein and Michael Michaelides, et al. of the NIDA IRP Biobehavioral Imaging and Molecular Neuropsychopharmacology Section.

In this article we performed an in depth in vivo, in vitro, and in silico analysis of (R,S)-methadone and its enantiomers. (S)-methadone is currently in phase III trials as an antidepressant and is frequently referred to as an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist, like ketamine. Here we show that (S)-methadone, like (R)-methadone and (R,S)-methadone is an agonist at the mu opioid receptor (MOR) and does not bind to NMDARs at physiologically relevant concentrations.

Technology Development Initiative – Paper of the Month – May 2024

FARESHARE: An open-source apparatus for assessing drinking microstructure in socially housed rats. NPP—Digit Psychiatry Neurosci.

The authors describe an open-source and cost-effective system for monitoring drinking behavior in group housed rodents. The fully customizable system can measure both the volume consumed and drinking bouts microstructure in context of social behaviors.
[Read More]

Combined treatment with naloxone and the alpha2 adrenoceptor antagonist atipamezole reversed brain hypoxia induced by a fentanyl-xylazine mixture in a rat model

Featured Paper of the Month – May 2024

Xylazine, an increasingly abused drug mixed with fentanyl, leads to devastating respiratory issues during fentanyl-xylazine overdose. Despite naloxone being the primary treatment, it falls short in fully reversing the hypoxic effects of the drug mixture. Our study suggests that supplementing naloxone with atipamezole, a xylazine antagonist, provides a more effective and thorough solution for addressing brain hypoxia caused by fentanyl-xylazine mixture.