Increasing the levels of chemicals naturally produced in the body called endocannabinoids may thwart the highly addictive ...

We are interested in determining how manipulating pre- and post-synaptic adenosine A1 receptors alter reward and relapse behavior and what mechanisms are involved in this process. Dopamine-Adenosine ...

This study utilizes an elegant approach to examine valence encoding of the mesolimbic dopamine system. The findings are valuable, demonstrating differential responses of dopamine to the same taste ...

Pain and pleasure are powerful motivators of behaviour and have historically been considered opposites. Emerging evidence from the pain and reward research fields points to extensive similarities ...

Increasing the levels of chemicals naturally produced in the body called endocannabinoids may thwart the highly addictive ...

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have recently uncovered insights into how specific brain pathways ... cocaine.

We are interested in determining the role of the following vulnerability factors: Identifying the genetic contributions to opioid use disorder. Our lab is using a genetic approach ... consumption ...

Just as opioids stimulate the brain's reward system to release dopamine, so do the naturally occurring endocannabinoids and related drugs, such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the substance in ...

Addiction may involve the use of substances such as alcohol, inhalants, opioids ... involve brain pathways of reward and reinforcement, which involve the neurotransmitter dopamine.

This illustration shows that male animals exposed to THC in the womb experience a greater surge in the "reward-seeking" brain chemical dopamine when exposed to opioid drugs as adolescents compared ...