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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has awarded a 5-year K08 Career Development Award to Leon G. Coleman Jr, MD, PhD of the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, to study the central and peripheral immune responses to ethanol. Alcohol abuse causes dysfunction of immune responses both in the brain and the periphery. Immune … Read more
Dr. Scott Swartzwelder, (shown on the right) professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, has received the 2017 Bowles Award from the UNC School of Medicine’s Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies. The award honors distinguished researchers who have made significant contributions to understanding the causes, prevention and/or treatment of … Read more
Dr. Susan Smith, a world renowned expert in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) research has joined UNC as Deputy Director of the Nutrition Research Institute. Her work focuses on risk factors for development of FASD as well as strategies for treatment in both children and adults who suffer with FASD. Dr. Smith will join the … Read more
