Research Objectives
Our work focuses on regions of the brain important for reward and motivation. We are interested in identifying brain regions that mediate aspects of drug addiction or depression.
We are studying the molecular and cellular changes that occur in these regions in response to chronic administration of a drug of abuse or chronic exposure to stress. The result of the research will guide future efforts toward the development of more effective treatments for addiction and depression.
In a broader sense, the Lab is interested in the biological basis of behavioral plasticity—understanding how the brain adapts over time to chronic perturbations—and we use drugs of abuse and stress as prototypical challenges. The importance of understanding how the brain adapts is underscored by the fact that both the development of psychiatric symptoms and their reversal during treatment occur gradually and progressively over weeks, months, and even years. Yet the molecular and cellular basis of such stable changes in behavior remains largely unknown. The advanced behavioral models of addiction and stress in rodents make these problems uniquely well suited to address this challenge. That is, by analyzing drug- and stress-induced changes in the brain, in the context of behavioral models of addiction and depression, it is possible to understand the detailed molecular mechanisms of clinically relevant behavioral abnormalities.
Described on subsequent pages are examples of the four major research projects currently underway in the Nestler Lab.
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