Projects

Addiction leads to a progressively increased choice of drugs over healthy rewards. However, the choice of alcohol over alternative non-drug rewards has so far been largely overlooked as preclinical models of alcohol use disorder (AUD), and even less as a function of sex. We therefore aim at investigating whether male and female subjects would differ for choosing alcohol over an alternative high-value reward and develop an addiction-like behavior. Using molecular approaches, we also study the causal role of GABAergic transmission in pathological choice behavior in both sexes.

We aim to investigate whether a disrupted GABAergic neurotransmission in brain regions including CeA is also a hallmark of cocaine addiction. Using techniques including intravenous self-administration and targeted intracerebral injections of viral vectors, we aim to verify the functional role of the GABA transporter GAT3 in cocaine addiction. We examine a set of cocaine addiction-like symptoms including the loss of control over cocaine use, motivation to get the drug and craving for cocaine in both male and female subjects.

By combining behavioral, neuroanatomical, electrophysiological, and molecular approaches, we aim to investigate the bidirectional relationship between psychosocial factors and drug use, in particular how drug exposure can impair social behavior.

In parallel to our main research projects, we also perform preclinical screening and validation of novel candidates to treat alcohol use disorder. We are particularly interested in GABAB receptor positive allosteric modulators, that have the potential to restore impaired GABAergic transmission in CeA, and to achieve mechanistic and therapeutic effects similar to GABAB agonists, while avoiding tolerance and overdose toxicity.