About

RESEARCH STATEMENT

Addiction is a complex brain disease for which there is no effective cure or prevention due to the lack of the understanding of neuronal changes that happen after drug consumption. Genes regulate molecular events that drug consumption triggers, which ultimately leads to the change in the behavior. Understanding genetic contributions in drug-induced changes in the brain functioning will contribute to the development of effective treatments for drug addiction.

In the lab we study genetic regulation of behaviors that occur after consumption of psychostimulants cocaine and methamphetamine. Psychostimulants change the brain chemistry and the functioning of the nerve cells, refered to as neuronal plasticity. These changes start occurring after a single drug administration, and repeated exposures make changes long-lasting. Ultimately, this results in changed behavior typical of addiction.

We use Drosophila melanogaster, a fruit fly, as a laboratory model organism to study genetic regulation of behaviors induced by psychostimulants. These behaviors are similar to behaviors that psychostimulants induce in other laboratory animals and humans. Because of the gene homology between Drosophila and mammals, the advances in the understanding of gene regulation in Drosophila can be translated into mammals and help in defining prevention and treatment for addiction.

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Our lab has all the basic instrumentation for performing behavioral measurements that relates to study of addiction, sleep and longevity. Specifically, these include: quantification of the amount of locomotion after exposure to volatilized psychostimulants or other chemical substances, measuring the preferential consumption of psychostimulants or other chemical substances, quantification of the amount of sleep and activity over several days or weeks, measuring of the circadian periodicity of locomotion over several weeks, quantification of negative geotaxis (ability to climb vertical surfaces) and measurement of the life span.