What We Do:
The INB supports research to identify the neural circuits and synaptic responses underlying drug addiction to understand the mechanisms of action, the neuroplastic adaptations, and the functional outcomes that occur as a consequence of substance use disorders throughout the addictive process. This includes the regulation of neurotransmission under drug-free, drug-exposed, and drug-withdrawn conditions, and the influences of modifiers such as sex, stress, pain, and co-occurring disorders, including HIV/AIDS.
Program Areas:
The grant portfolios maintained within the INB delineate the fundamental neurobiological mechanisms of addiction using a variety of scientific approaches, thereby enabling the identification of the structural and functional neuroadaptations due to drug use at the morphometric, electrophysiological, neurochemical, and behavioral levels of analysis. These include:
- Regulation of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission, at the molecular, cellular and circuit levels, including the processes of signal transduction, the coupling of receptors to second messenger systems, trafficking of regulatory elements within the neuron and neuroplasticity induced by chronic intermittent exposure to addictive substances and withdrawal from chronic use.
- The study of persistent neuroadaptations that occur as a consequence of repeated intermittent drug exposure, including structural and functional changes in the brain associated with long-term drug use and drug withdrawal, neurotoxicity, and neuroprotection.
- Neuron-glia interactions in the CNS and their modification by addictive substances.
- Neuroendocrine modulation of neural systems and their functions, including the study of neurosteroids, neuroactive steroids, sex-related brain function, endogenous peptides, and hormones of the stress axis.
- Neuroimmune modulation of the brain as it is related to drug use disorders, including the influences of neuroAIDS and drug-induced neuroinflammation.
- Morphological and functional changes in the brain brought about by pain and recurrent opiate administration as it is related to drug use disorders and addiction.
- Bioinformatic and computational approaches to understand the transition from voluntary to compulsive drug use.