Research Interests
My research interests include studying the neurobiological mechanisms underlying alcoholism and addiction. My major area of interest is the neurobiology of the subjective/interoceptive effects of alcohol and alcohol drinking. All drugs of abuse share the common attribute that they produce subjective/interoceptive effects in humans (e.g., the feeling of “drunkenness” or lightheadedness that accompanies alcohol drinking). These subjective effects can contribute to drug taking behavior. Our preclinical work takes a multidisciplinary approach, including behavioral pharmacology and immunohistochemistry techniques, to examine how stress can impact the subjective effects of alcohol and alcohol drinking, with a focus on the involvement of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). Together, studying mechanisms involved in how stress can modulate the subjective effects of alcohol and alcohol reinforcement has numerous implications for the development of therapeutic interventions in alcoholism and for identifying factors that influence pathological behavioral processes in addiction, such as drug taking and relapse.
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Center Line Articles
Recent Publications
Click here for a full list of publications from PubMed
Pregnenolone and ganaxolone reduce operant ethanol self-administration in alcohol-preferring p rats. Besheer J, Lindsay TG, O'Buckley TK, Hodge CW, Morrow AL. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2010 Dec;34(12):2044-52.
Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 activity in the nucleus accumbens is required for the maintenance of ethanol self-administration in a rat genetic model of high alcohol intake. Besheer J, Grondin JJ, Cannady R, Sharko AC, Faccidomo S, Hodge CW. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 May 1;67(9):812-22.
Suppression of heavy drinking and alcohol seeking by a selective ALDH-2 inhibitor. Arolfo MP, Overstreet DH, Yao L, Fan P, Lawrence AJ, Tao G, Keung WM, Vallee BL, Olive MF, Gass JT, Rubin E, Anni H, Hodge CW, Besheer J, Zablocki J, Leung K, Blackburn BK, Lange LG, Diamond I. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2009 Nov;33(11):1935-44.
Increased operant responding for ethanol in male C57BL/6J mice: specific regulation by the ERK1/2, but not JNK, MAP kinase pathway. Faccidomo S, Besheer J, Stanford PC, Hodge CW. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2009 May;204(1):135-47.
Besheer J, Schroeder JP, Stevenson RA, Hodge CW. Ethanol-induced alterations of c-Fos immunoreactivity in specific limbic brain regions following ethanol discrimination training.Brain Res. 2008 Sep 26;1232:124-31.
Schroeder JP, Spanos M, Stevenson JR, Besheer J, Salling M, Hodge CW. Cue-induced reinstatement of alcohol-seeking behavior is associated with increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation in specific limbic brain regions: blockade by the mGluR5 antagonist MPEP. Neuropharmacology. 2008 Sep;55(4):546-54.
Stevenson JR, Schroeder JP, Nixon K, Besheer J, Crews FT, Hodge CW. Abstinence following Alcohol Drinking Produces Depression-Like Behavior and Reduced Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Mice.Neuropsychopharmacology. 2008 Jun 18.
Besheer J, Faccidomo S, Grondin JJ, Hodge CW. Effects of mGlu1-receptor blockade on ethanol self-administration in inbred alcohol-preferring rats. Alcohol. 2008 Feb;42(1):13-20.
Besheer J, Faccidomo S, Grondin JJ, Hodge CW. Regulation of motivation to self-administer ethanol by mGluR5 in alcohol-preferring (P) rats.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2008 Feb;32(2):209-21.
Stevenson RA, Besheer J, Hodge CW. Comparison of ethanol locomotor sensitization in adolescent and adult DBA/2J mice. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2008 Apr;197(3):361-70.
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Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill