Publications
Publication list
Peer-reviewed publications from the lab. Filter by topic or search, or see them on the publication timeline. The complete list is on UCSD Profiles and Google Scholar.
Book chapters
- The causal role of amygdalar circuits in addiction-like behaviors
- Negative reinforcement mechanisms in addiction
- Overview of nicotine withdrawal and negative reinforcement (preclinical)
Peer-reviewed articles
Topic:
2026
- Genome-wide association study of cocaine self-administration behavior in Heterogeneous Stock rats. AlcoholNicotineStimulantsBehaviorGenetics
- Engaging Gut-to-Brain Signalling to Treat Alcohol Use Disorder. AlcoholBehaviorGut–BrainTreatment & Medications
- High incidence of estrous cycle irregularities in heterogeneous stock (HS) rats is associated with footshock-resistant cocaine intake. StimulantsBehaviorGenetics
- Large-scale behavioral characterization of oxycodone self-administration in heterogeneous stock rats reveals initial analgesic effects are associated with addiction-like behaviors. OpioidsBehaviorGenetics
- Incentive salience, not psychomotor sensitization or tolerance, drives escalation of cocaine self-administration in heterogeneous stock rats. StimulantsBehavior
2025
- Sex-specific transcriptional signatures of oxycodone persist during withdrawal and abstinence in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of heterogeneous stock rats. OpioidsBehaviorGeneticsSex DifferencesStress & CRFTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- The influence of stress and social defeat on neurobiological reinforcement mechanisms across reward to withdrawal in nicotine addiction. NicotineBehaviorStress & CRF
- Sex-Specific Concordance of Striatal Transcriptional Signatures of Opioid Addiction in Human and Rodent Brains. OpioidsBehaviorGeneticsSex DifferencesTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- Identification of Plasma Metabolites Responding to Oxycodone Exposure in Rats. OpioidsBehaviorTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
2024
- Large-scale characterization of cocaine addiction-like behaviors reveals that escalation of intake, aversion-resistant responding, and breaking-points are highly correlated measures of the same construct. StimulantsBehaviorGeneticsSex Differences
- Y and mitochondrial chromosomes in the heterogeneous stock rat population. BehaviorGeneticsGut–BrainTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- High quality, high throughput, and low-cost simultaneous video recording of 60 animals in operant chambers using PiRATeMC. Behavior
- Acute nicotine activates orectic and inhibits anorectic brain regions in rats exposed to chronic nicotine. NicotineBehavior
- A reverse translational study of PPAR-α agonist efficacy in human and rodent models relevant to alcohol use disorder. AlcoholTreatment & Medications
2023
- Acute nicotine intake increases feeding behavior through decreasing glucagon signaling in dependent male and female rats. NicotineBehaviorSex Differences
- Author Correction: Single-nucleus genomics in outbred rats with divergent cocaine addiction-like behaviors reveals changes in amygdala GABAergic inhibition. StimulantsBehaviorGeneticsTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- Single-nucleus genomics in outbred rats with divergent cocaine addiction-like behaviors reveals changes in amygdala GABAergic inhibition. StimulantsBehaviorGeneticsTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- Directed evolution unlocks oxygen reactivity for a nicotine-degrading flavoenzyme. NicotineBehaviorGeneticsTreatment & Medications
- Chronic administration of a norepinephrine antagonist prevents and partially reverses escalation of cocaine self-administration. StimulantsBehaviorStress & CRFTreatment & Medications
- Microbial short-chain fatty acids regulate drug seeking and transcriptional control in a model of cocaine seeking. StimulantsBehaviorGut–Brain
- Cocaine Regulates NLRP3 Inflammasome Activity and CRF Signaling in a Region- and Sex-Dependent Manner in Rat Brain. StimulantsBehaviorSex DifferencesStress & CRF
- Strain and sex-related behavioral variability of oxycodone dependence in rats. OpioidsBehaviorGeneticsSex Differences
- Hyperconnectivity of Two Separate Long-Range Cholinergic Systems Contributes to the Reorganization of the Brain Functional Connectivity during Nicotine Withdrawal in Male Mice. NicotineBehaviorBrain Imaging
- Abstinence from Escalation of Cocaine Intake Changes the microRNA Landscape in the Cortico-Accumbal Pathway. OpioidsStimulantsBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- An Ensemble Learning Approach to Improving Prediction of Case Duration for Spine Surgery: Algorithm Development and Validation.
2022
- Voluntary and forced exposure to ethanol vapor produces similar escalation of alcohol drinking but differential recruitment of brain regions related to stress, habit, and reward in male rats. AlcoholBehaviorNeuronal EnsemblesStress & CRFVapor Models
- Are we compulsively chasing rainbows? Behavior
- Effects of single and dual hypocretin-receptor blockade or knockdown of hypocretin projections to the central amygdala on alcohol drinking in dependent male rats. AlcoholBehaviorStress & CRFVapor Models
- Glucocorticoid Receptor-Regulated Enhancers Play a Central Role in the Gene Regulatory Networks Underlying Drug Addiction. OpioidsStimulantsBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionStress & CRFTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- Leptin Protects Against the Development and Expression of Cocaine Addiction-Like Behavior in Heterogeneous Stock Rats. StimulantsBehaviorGenetics
- Microstructural meal pattern analysis reveals a paradoxical acute increase in food intake after nicotine despite its long-term anorexigenic effects. AlcoholNicotineBehavior
- Administration of BDNF in the ventral tegmental area produces a switch from a nicotine-non-dependent D1R-mediated motivational state to a nicotine-dependent-like D2R-mediated motivational state. NicotineBehaviorTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
2021
- FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE ESCALATION OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION. Alcohol
- Deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens shell attenuates cocaine withdrawal but increases cocaine self-administration, cocaine-induced locomotor activity, and GluR1/GluA1 in the central nucleus of the amygdala in male cocaine-dependent rats. StimulantsBehaviorTreatment & Medications
- Characterization of the Brain Functional Architecture of Psychostimulant Withdrawal Using Single-Cell Whole-Brain Imaging. NicotineStimulantsBehaviorBrain ImagingTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- Drugs and Bugs: The Gut-Brain Axis and Substance Use Disorders. AlcoholBehaviorGut–BrainStress & CRF
- How nicotine withdrawal symptoms fight each other: interpeduncular GABA neuron activity dynamically controls negative affect vs. coping behavior. NicotineBehavior
- Individual differences in addiction-like behaviors and choice between cocaine versus food in Heterogeneous Stock rats. StimulantsBehaviorGenetics
- The Cocaine and Oxycodone Biobanks, Two Repositories from Genetically Diverse and Behaviorally Characterized Rats for the Study of Addiction. OpioidsStimulantsBehaviorGeneticsGut–BrainTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- The Hidden Brain: Uncovering Previously Overlooked Brain Regions by Employing Novel Preclinical Unbiased Network Approaches. Brain Imaging
- Cannabidiol reduces withdrawal symptoms in nicotine-dependent rats. AlcoholCannabinoidsNicotineStimulantsBehaviorSex DifferencesTreatment & Medications
- Glucocorticoid receptor modulators decrease alcohol self-administration in male rats. AlcoholBehaviorGeneticsStress & CRFTreatment & MedicationsVapor Models
2020
- Advances in smoking cessation pharmacotherapy: Non-nicotinic approaches in animal models. CannabinoidsNicotineBehaviorTreatment & Medications
- Adapting Genotyping-by-Sequencing and Variant Calling for Heterogeneous Stock Rats. Genetics
- Validation of a nicotine vapor self-administration model in rats with relevance to electronic cigarette use. NicotineBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionVapor Models
- Depletion of the Microbiome Alters the Recruitment of Neuronal Ensembles of Oxycodone Intoxication and Withdrawal. OpioidsBehaviorGeneticsGut–BrainNeuronal Ensembles
- Role of corticotropin-releasing factor in alcohol and nicotine addiction. AlcoholNicotineBehaviorGeneticsSex DifferencesStress & CRF
- Oxycodone self-administration and withdrawal behaviors in male and female Wistar rats. OpioidsBehaviorSex Differences
- Chronic voluntary caffeine intake in male Wistar rats reveals individual differences in addiction-like behavior. Behavior
- Dopamine D3 Receptor Antagonism Reverses the Escalation of Oxycodone Self-administration and Decreases Withdrawal-Induced Hyperalgesia and Irritability-Like Behavior in Oxycodone-Dependent Heterogeneous Stock Rats. OpioidsBehaviorSex DifferencesTreatment & Medications
- Brain-wide functional architecture remodeling by alcohol dependence and abstinence. AlcoholBrain ImagingTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- Nociceptin attenuates the escalation of oxycodone self-administration by normalizing CeA-GABA transmission in highly addicted rats. OpioidsBehaviorGeneticsTreatment & Medications
2019
- Increases in compulsivity, inflammation, and neural injury in HIV transgenic rats with escalated methamphetamine self-administration under extended-access conditions. AlcoholStimulantsBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- Insula to ventral striatal projections mediate compulsive eating produced by intermittent access to palatable food. Behavior
- Exposure to passive nicotine vapor in male adolescent rats produces a withdrawal-like state and facilitates nicotine self-administration during adulthood. NicotineBehaviorVapor Models
- Systemic Administration of the Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor (S)-CR8 Selectively Reduces Escalated Ethanol Intake in Dependent Rats. AlcoholBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionTreatment & MedicationsVapor Models
- National Institute on Drug Abuse genomics consortium white paper: Coordinating efforts between human and animal addiction studies. OpioidsBehaviorGeneticsTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- Inactivation of a CRF-dependent amygdalofugal pathway reverses addiction-like behaviors in alcohol-dependent rats. AlcoholBehaviorGeneticsNeuronal EnsemblesStress & CRFTreatment & Medications
2018
- An enzymatic approach reverses nicotine dependence, decreases compulsive-like intake, and prevents relapse. NicotineBehaviorStress & CRFTreatment & Medications
- Adolescent cannabinoid exposure induces irritability-like behavior and cocaine cross-sensitization without affecting the escalation of cocaine self-administration in adulthood. CannabinoidsStimulantsBehavior
- Voluntary urination control by brainstem neurons that relax the urethral sphincter. BehaviorGenetics
- Systemic and Intra-Habenular Activation of the Orphan G Protein-Coupled Receptor GPR139 Decreases Compulsive-Like Alcohol Drinking and Hyperalgesia in Alcohol-Dependent Rats. AlcoholBehaviorTreatment & Medications
- Subthalamic nucleus high frequency stimulation prevents and reverses escalated cocaine use. StimulantsBehaviorTreatment & Medications
- Inhibition of Glyoxalase 1 reduces alcohol self-administration in dependent and nondependent rats. AlcoholBehaviorTreatment & MedicationsVapor Models
- An enzymatic advance in nicotine cessation therapy. NicotineTreatment & Medications
- Self-administered nicotine increases fat metabolism and suppresses weight gain in male rats. NicotineBehaviorBrain Imaging
2017
- Median and Dorsal Raphe Serotonergic Neurons Control Moderate Versus Compulsive Cocaine Intake. StimulantsBehaviorStress & CRF
- Dynorphin Counteracts Orexin in the Paraventricular Nucleus of the Thalamus: Cellular and Behavioral Evidence. OpioidsStimulantsBehaviorStress & CRF
- Individual differences in the neuropsychopathology of addiction. BehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionStress & CRF
- CRF1 Receptor-Dependent Increases in Irritability-Like Behavior During Abstinence from Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure. AlcoholBehaviorStress & CRFVapor Models
- Compulsive-Like Sufentanil Vapor Self-Administration in Rats. NicotineOpioidsBehaviorGut–BrainVapor Models
- Intermittent Access to Ethanol Drinking Facilitates the Transition to Excessive Drinking After Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure. AlcoholBehaviorVapor Models
- Nicotine Vapor Method to Induce Nicotine Dependence in Rodents. NicotineBehaviorGut–BrainVapor Models
- Cebranopadol Blocks the Escalation of Cocaine Intake and Conditioned Reinstatement of Cocaine Seeking in Rats. OpioidsStimulantsBehaviorTreatment & Medications
- Deletion of α5 nicotine receptor subunits abolishes nicotinic aversive motivational effects in a manner that phenocopies dopamine receptor antagonism. NicotineBehaviorGeneticsTreatment & Medications
- Cortical and amygdalar neuronal ensembles in alcohol seeking, drinking and withdrawal. AlcoholBehaviorNeuronal Ensembles
- Alcohol Dependence Disrupts Amygdalar L-Type Voltage-Gated Calcium Channel Mechanisms. AlcoholBehaviorStress & CRF
- Voluntary induction and maintenance of alcohol dependence in rats using alcohol vapor self-administration. AlcoholBehaviorGeneticsVapor Models
2016
- Genetic and Pharmacologic Manipulation of TLR4 Has Minimal Impact on Ethanol Consumption in Rodents. AlcoholBehaviorGenetics
- High-Frequency Stimulation of the Subthalamic Nucleus Blocks Compulsive-Like Re-Escalation of Heroin Taking in Rats. OpioidsBehaviorTranscriptomics & EpigeneticsTreatment & Medications
- Recruitment of a Neuronal Ensemble in the Central Nucleus of the Amygdala Is Required for Alcohol Dependence. AlcoholBehaviorNeuronal Ensembles
2015
- A Transgenic Rat for Investigating the Anatomy and Function of Corticotrophin Releasing Factor Circuits. BehaviorGeneticsStress & CRF
- Glucocorticoid receptor antagonism decreases alcohol seeking in alcohol-dependent individuals. AlcoholGut–BrainStress & CRFTreatment & Medications
- Increased CRF signalling in a ventral tegmental area-interpeduncular nucleus-medial habenula circuit induces anxiety during nicotine withdrawal. NicotineBehaviorGeneticsStress & CRF
- Chronic nicotine activates stress/reward-related brain regions and facilitates the transition to compulsive alcohol drinking. AlcoholNicotineBehaviorNeuronal EnsemblesPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionStress & CRFVapor Models
- κ Opioid receptors in the nucleus accumbens shell mediate escalation of methamphetamine intake. OpioidsStimulantsBehaviorStress & CRF
- Hypocretin receptor 2 antagonism dose-dependently reduces escalated heroin self-administration in rats. OpioidsBehaviorStress & CRFTreatment & Medications
2014
- VTA CRF neurons mediate the aversive effects of nicotine withdrawal and promote intake escalation. NicotineBehaviorStress & CRF
- Extended access nicotine self-administration with periodic deprivation increases immature neurons in the hippocampus. NicotineBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & Cognition
- Gene expression changes consistent with neuroAIDS and impaired working memory in HIV-1 transgenic rats. BehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- Negative reinforcement via motivational withdrawal is the driving force behind the transition to addiction. Behavior
- Anticipatory 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations are associated with escalated alcohol intake in dependent rats. AlcoholBehaviorStress & CRFVapor Models
- Virus-mediated shRNA knockdown of prodynorphin in the rat nucleus accumbens attenuates depression-like behavior and cocaine locomotor sensitization. OpioidsStimulantsBehaviorStress & CRFTreatment & Medications
- Corticotropin releasing factor: a key role in the neurobiology of addiction. BehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionStress & CRF
2013
- Long-term antagonism of κ opioid receptors prevents escalation of and increased motivation for heroin intake. OpioidsBehaviorStress & CRFTreatment & Medications
- Dopamine D1 and μ-opioid receptor antagonism blocks anticipatory 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations induced by palatable food cues in Wistar rats. OpioidsTreatment & Medications
- Escalation of drug self-administration as a hallmark of persistent addiction liability. BehaviorGeneticsTranscriptomics & Epigenetics
- Traumatic stress reactivity promotes excessive alcohol drinking and alters the balance of prefrontal cortex-amygdala activity. AlcoholBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionStress & CRF
- Addiction is a Reward Deficit and Stress Surfeit Disorder. AlcoholOpioidsBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionStress & CRF
- Extended access to nicotine leads to a CRF1 receptor dependent increase in anxiety-like behavior and hyperalgesia in rats. NicotineBehaviorStress & CRF
- Animal models of nicotine exposure: relevance to second-hand smoking, electronic cigarette use, and compulsive smoking. NicotineBehaviorVapor Models
- Kappa opioid receptor-mediated dysregulation of gamma-aminobutyric acidergic transmission in the central amygdala in cocaine addiction. OpioidsStimulantsBehaviorStress & CRF
- Addiction as a stress surfeit disorder. OpioidsBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionStress & CRF
- Neuropeptide YY(2)R blockade in the central amygdala reduces anxiety-like behavior but not alcohol drinking in alcohol-dependent rats. AlcoholBehaviorTreatment & Medications
- Control of craving by the prefrontal cortex. Prefrontal Cortex & Cognition
- Hypothalamic proteoglycan syndecan-3 is a novel cocaine addiction resilience factor. StimulantsBehaviorGut–Brain
2012
- Hippocampal neurogenesis protects against cocaine-primed relapse. StimulantsBehavior
- Nicotine vapor inhalation escalates nicotine self-administration. NicotineBehaviorVapor Models
- Recruitment of medial prefrontal cortex neurons during alcohol withdrawal predicts cognitive impairment and excessive alcohol drinking. AlcoholBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionStress & CRF
- Robust escalation of nicotine intake with extended access to nicotine self-administration and intermittent periods of abstinence. NicotineBehavior
- Effects of the specific α4β2 nAChR antagonist, 2-fluoro-3-(4-nitrophenyl) deschloroepibatidine, on nicotine reward-related behaviors in rats and mice. NicotineBehaviorTreatment & Medications
- Effects of the combination of metyrapone and oxazepam on intravenous nicotine self-administration in rats. NicotineStimulantsBehaviorGut–Brain
- Phasic D1 and tonic D2 dopamine receptor signaling double dissociate the motivational effects of acute nicotine and chronic nicotine withdrawal. NicotineBehaviorGenetics
2011
- Levels of neural progenitors in the hippocampus predict memory impairment and relapse to drug seeking as a function of excessive methamphetamine self-administration. StimulantsBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & Cognition
- Allostasis and addiction: role of the dopamine and corticotropin-releasing factor systems. BehaviorStress & CRF
- Craving, context and the cortex. OpioidsBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & Cognition
2010
- Varenicline blocks nicotine intake in rats with extended access to nicotine self-administration. NicotineBehaviorTreatment & Medications
- Individual differences in prefrontal cortex function and the transition from drug use to drug dependence. BehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionStress & CRF
- Low brain allopregnanolone levels mediate flattened circadian activity associated with memory impairments in aged rats. Aging, Sleep & NeurosteroidsPrefrontal Cortex & Cognition
- Exposure to chronic intermittent nicotine vapor induces nicotine dependence. NicotineBehaviorVapor Models
2009
- A role for the endocannabinoid system in the increased motivation for cocaine in extended-access conditions. AlcoholCannabinoidsOpioidsStimulantsBehavior
2007
- Extended access to cocaine self-administration produces long-lasting prefrontal cortex-dependent working memory impairments. StimulantsBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & Cognition
- CRF-CRF1 system activation mediates withdrawal-induced increases in nicotine self-administration in nicotine-dependent rats. NicotineBehaviorStress & CRF
2006
- Motherhood-induced memory improvement persists across lifespan in rats but is abolished by a gestational stress. BehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionStress & CRF
- Chronic exposure of rats to noise: relationship between long-term memory deficits and slow wave sleep disturbances. Aging, Sleep & NeurosteroidsBehaviorPrefrontal Cortex & CognitionStress & CRF
- Neurosteroids and cholinergic systems: implications for sleep and cognitive processes and potential role of age-related changes. Aging, Sleep & NeurosteroidsPrefrontal Cortex & Cognition
2005
- Smad-dependent alterations of PPT cholinergic neurons as a pathophysiological mechanism of age-related sleep-dependent memory impairments. Aging, Sleep & NeurosteroidsPrefrontal Cortex & Cognition
2004
- Sleep-wake states and cortical synchronization control by pregnenolone sulfate into the pedunculopontine nucleus. Aging, Sleep & Neurosteroids
- New insights into the role of neuroactive steroids in cognitive aging. Aging, Sleep & NeurosteroidsPrefrontal Cortex & Cognition
2003
- Individual differences in cognitive aging: implication of pregnenolone sulfate. Aging, Sleep & NeurosteroidsPrefrontal Cortex & Cognition