Faculty & Research

C.J. Malanga, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology and Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies

Office | Neuroscience Research Bldg (NSRB) 6109-C

Email | malangacj@neurology.unc.edu

Website | Neurology

Research Interests

  • Physiology and pharmacology of the basal ganglia
  • Neurobiology of motivation and reward
  • Effects of early exposure to drugs of abuse on brain and behavioral development
  • Cellular electrophysiology
  • Behavioral and developmental neuroscience
  • Drug abuse neurobiology

Clinical Interests

  • Movement disorders in children
  • Consequences of prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse

Center Line Articles

Recent Publications

The rewarding and locomotor-sensitizing effects of repeated cocaine administration are distinct and separable in mice. Riday, TT., Kosofsky, BE. and Malanga, CJ. Neuropharmacology 2011 Dec 16 [Epub ahead of print]

Orexin-1 receptor antagonism does not reduce the rewarding potency of cocaine in Swiss-Webster mice. Riday, TT., Fish, EW., Robinson, JE., Jarrett, TM., McGuigan MM. and Malanga, CJ. Brain Research 2012 Jan 11;1431:53-61. Epub 2011 Nov. 7.

Intracranial self-stimulation in FAST and SLOW mice: effects of alcohol and cocaine.  Fish, EW., Robinson, JE., Krouse, MC., Hodge, CW., Reed, C., Phillips, TJ. and Malanga, CJ.  Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2011 Oct 7. [Epub ahead of print]

Potentiation of brain stimulation reward by morphine: effects of neurokinin-1 receptor antagonism.  Robinson, JE., Fish, EW., Krouse, MC., Thorsell, A., Heilig, M. and Malanga, CJ., Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2011 Sep 10 [Epub ahead of print]

Alcohol, cocaine, and brain stimulation-reward in C57Bl6/J and DBA2/J mice.  Fish EW, Riday TT, McGuigan MM, Faccidomo S, Hodge CW, Malanga CJ. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2010 Jan;34(1):81-9.

Still no time for complacency: Developmental effects of prenatal methamphetamine exposure. Malanga CJ. Neurology. 2009 Jun 16;72(24):2062-3.

Augmentation of Cocaine-Sensitized Dopamine Release in the Nucleus Accumbens of Adult Mice Following Prenatal Cocaine Exposure.  Malanga CJ, Ren JQ, Guerriero RM, Kosofsky BE. Dev Neurosci. 2009;31(1-2):76-89

Prenatal exposure to cocaine increases the rewarding potency of cocaine and selective dopaminergic agonists in adult mice. Malanga CJ, Riday TT, Carlezon WA Jr, Kosofsky BE. Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Jan 15;63(2):214-21.

Prenatal exposure to cocaine alters the development of conditioned place-preference to cocaine in adult mice.  Malanga CJ, Pejchal M, Kosofsky BE.  Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2007 Oct;87(4):462-71.

Does drug abuse beget drug abuse? Behavioral analysis of addiction liability in animal models of prenatal drug exposure. Malanga CJ, Kosofsky BE. Brain Res Dev Brain Res. 2003 Dec 30;147(1-2):47-57.