Understanding Addiction — The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded Dr. Saleem Nicola nearly $2 million over five years to support his efforts to find the neural circuitry underlying drug addiction. Recovering drug addicts can relapse into drug-seeking behavior when they encounter stimuli associated with drugs. Using a rat behavioral model, the Nicola lab will examine the neuronal connections by which stimuli associated with the availability of reward triggers reward-seeking behavior. The goal is to better understand addiction and relapse, and to develop strategies to curb the urge to seek drugs. Dr. Nicola is associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and of neuroscience.
Posted on: Wednesday, July 09, 2014