María Luisa, a graduate student in the the McElligott lab at the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, received an NRSA from the NIAAA entitled “Examining Alcohol Induced Plasticity in Amygdala Hind Brain Circuits.” She will work to determine whether a history of alcohol consumption in mice can alter the behavioral and physiological properties of these … Continued
BCAS congratulates Dr. Tamara J. Phillips for winning the 2018 Bowles Lectureship Award. The Bowles Award is given annually to honor a distinguished researcher who has made significant contributions to our understanding of the causes, prevention and/or treatment of alcoholism and alcohol abuse. Her remarkable research discoveries on the genetic dissection of behavioral traits associated … Continued
New publication from the Parnell Lab: The Parnell lab used mice models to study the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on behavior and brain alteration. Through the use of various behavioral tests, they determined that female mice affected by PAE lacked social flexibility and demonstrated autistic-like behavior, while PAE males were more likely to … Continued
New Publication from the Breese Lab: Almost a third of people with chronic pain abuse alcohol, yet the reason is unknown. To begin to investigate this, the Breese Lab created a mouse model of osteoarthritis pain by snipping the medial meniscus of mice, and allowed them to choose between water and alcohol. The experimental mice … Continued
New research from the Morrow lab: Have you ever wondered why symptoms such as anxiety and seizures are associated with alcohol withdrawal? These symptoms are caused in part by reduced activity of the GABA-A receptor, encoded by the Gabra1 gene, which is downregulated by excessive alcohol intake. Using pharmacology, genetics and epigenetics, the Morrow Lab … Continued
Fetal Alcohol Disorder may be more common than previously thought.
Is nicotine a “gateway drug” that leads to abuse of other addictive drugs? The Robinson Lab tested whether nicotine exposure starting in adolescence promoted alcohol drinking in female rats, hypothesizing that the pharmacological effect of nicotine on the brain would result in greater motivation to drink alcohol. In contrast, they found that nicotine exposure per … Continued
Through innovative research, the Besheer Lab has identified a novel brain circuit that regulates alcohol drinking. This lab studied the role of the frontal cortex, including the insular cortex, in alcohol use by monitoring rats’ ingestion of alcohol. They found that blocking projections from the insular cortex to the nucleus accumbens, a key brain area … Continued
What are the effects of alcoholism on the immune system? Drs. Crews, Zou and Coleman researched the responses of the neuroimmune system to alcohol. They found that a pro-inflammatory protein complex – the HMGB1-IL 1b complex – is more common in people who suffer from alcohol-use disorder. By studying this complex in brain cultures, they … Continued
The center, established 20 years ago and led by Fulton Crews, PhD, will receive more than $8.7 million over five years to continue research on the effects of alcohol on the brain.