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Neuronal Ensembles in Drug Addiction Section

Bruce T. Hope, Ph.D.

Bruce T. Hope, Ph.D.

A division of the Behavioral Neuroscience Research Branch

Section Chief

Bruce T. Hope, Ph.D.

Contact

Location:
Biomedical Research Center
251 Bayview Blvd
Suite 200, Room 06A719
Baltimore, MD 21224

Phone:  667-312-5151

Email: bhope@mail.nih.gov

About the Lab

When using drugs of abuse, learned associations are formed between the drugs and stimuli present in the drug-taking environment. With continued use, these stimuli can become cues that promote drug relapse. Our research is focused on figuring out how these memories are stored in the brain. We have identified sparsely distributed patterns of neurons in the brain called ‘neuronal ensembles’ that are selectively activated by drug-related cues and thought to encode the learned associations that mediate drug seeking behavior. Drug-related cues activate specific genes such as Fos within these neuronal ensembles that allow us to identify them in the brain. We exploit the Fos promoter to turn on different transgenes in transgenic rats that allow us to manipulate specific neuronal ensembles and assess their role in drug-related memories. We also developed a fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) procedure for purifying these activated ensembles and found unique molecular alterations within their cell bodies and synapses. We developed novel Fos-GFP transgenic rats that produce green fluorescent protein (GFP) in activated neurons and found unique synaptic alterations using slice electrophysiology. We are now advancing these studies with the use of calcium imaging and irreversible calcium-dependent labels to examine the relationship of ensembles identified by calcium influx with ensembles identified by Fos expression. Overall, we use combinations of novel viruses and transgenic rats to search and characterize drug-related memory engrams in the brain that control drug relapse.

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Neuronal Ensembles in Drug Addiction Section

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  • About
    ▼
    • About NIDA IRP
    • Contact Us
    • Directions and Map
    • Careers at NIDA IRP
    • Emergency Contacts
    • Employee Assistance Resources
  • Organization
    ▼
    • Faculty
    • Office of the Scientific Director
    • Office of the Clinical Director
    • Office of Education and Career Development
    • Administrative Management Branch
    • Molecular Targets and Medications Discovery Branch
    • Cellular and Neurocomputational Systems Branch
    • Molecular Neuropsychiatry Research Branch
    • Neuroimaging Research Branch
    • Behavioral Neuroscience Research Branch
    • Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch
    • Translational Addiction Medicine Branch
    • Core Facilities
    • Community Outreach Group
  • Training Programs
    ▼
    • Office of Education and Career Development
    • OECD Awards
    • Summer Internship Program
    • Postbaccalaureate Program
    • Graduate Partnership Program
    • Postdoctoral Program
    • NIDA Speakers Bureau
    • Clinical Electives Program
    • Clinical Mentoring Program
  • Study Volunteers