National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

A study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health gives insight into changes in the reward circuitry of the brain that may provide resistance against cocaine addiction. Scientists found that strengthening signaling along a neural pathway that runs through the nucleus accumbens – a region of the brain involved in motivation, pleasure, and addiction – can reduce cocaine-seeking behavior...

NIH scientists identify possible treatment target for type 2 diabetes Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have clarified in rodent and test tube experiments the role that inflammation plays in type 2 diabetes, and revealed a possible molecular target for treating the disease. The researchers say some natural messenger chemicals in the body are involved in an inflammatory chain...

Mouse study advances knowledge of habitual behavior pathophysiology Daily activities involve frequent transitions between habitual behaviors, such as driving home, and goal-directed behaviors, such as driving to a new destination on unfamiliar roads. An inability to shift between habitual and non-habitual behaviors has been implicated in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), addiction, and other disorders characterized by impaired decision-making. In a new...

Researchers have long known that dopamine, a brain chemical that plays important roles in the control of normal movement, and in pleasure, reward and motivation, also plays a central role in substance abuse and addiction. In a new study conducted in animals, scientists found that a specific dopamine receptor, called D2, on dopamine-containing neurons controls an organism’s activity level and...

Dysregulated cellular response to estrogen and progesterone suspected. National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have discovered molecular mechanisms that may underlie a woman’s susceptibility to disabling irritability, sadness, and anxiety in the days leading up to her menstrual period. Such premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) affects 2 to 5 percent of women of reproductive age, whereas less severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS)...

Scientists have been developing astounding new tools for exploring neural circuits that underlie brain function throughout the first five years of the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies ® (BRAIN) Initiative. Now, the NIH has announced its continued support for these projects by funding over 180 new BRAIN Initiative awards, bringing the total 2019 budget for...

الکل مسیرهای ارتباطی مغز را مختل می‌کند و ممکن است بر ظاهر و عملکرد مغز تاثیر بگذارد. الکل کارکرد نواحی مغزی مربوط به کنترل تعادل، حافظه، گفتار و قضاوت را مختل می‌کند و احتمال بروز آسیب و پیامدهای ناخوشایند را افزایش می‌دهد. مصرف زیاد و طولانی مدت الکل سبب ایجاد تغییراتی در نورون‌ها، مثلاً تغییر اندازه آنها، می‌شود. در ادامه...

Also known as “Diversity Supplements” Links Introduction Administrative Requirements Eligibility for the Program Research Plan Career Development Plan/Mentoring Requirements Candidate Statement/Biosketch Transcript Requirements Budget and Salary Requirements Submission and Receipt of Applications Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Links NIH Policies Updated information on the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipends, Tuition/Fees and Other Budgetary Levels Effective for Fiscal...

Girls who suffered childhood sexual abuse are more likely to develop alcoholism later in life if they possess a particular variant of a gene involved in the body’s response to stress, according to a new study led by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The new finding...

Mission Statement: Focuses on identifying the molecular components of intracellular signaling cascades. Ion Channel Modulation by Second Messenger Systems The Section on Transmitter Signaling focuses primarily on determining the molecular mechanisms underlying G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) modulation of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels in neuronal systems using electrophysiological, optical, molecular, and biochemical techniques. A consequence of modulation, which usually manifests as a...

Open Funding Opportunities Omnibus Solicitation NIAAA offers funding through the PHS 2024-2 Omnibus Solicitation program announcement, as well as targeted Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) and several resources for additional technical assistance, commercialization R&D support, and training programs. Standard due dates are April 5, September 5, and January 5 or the next business day. SBIR ( PA-24-246) (R43/R44 Clinical Trial...

Pretreating transplanted livers with the immune molecule interleukin-6 (IL-6) dramatically increased survival of rats receiving organs with fatty degeneration—a common condition in humans that typically reduces transplant viability. The results suggest a means of making it possible to use a higher percentage of available donor livers for transplantation in humans. With over three times as many Americans needing transplants as...

Rượu cản trở các tuyến giao tiếp của não bộ và có thể ảnh hưởng đến hình dáng và hoạt động của não bộ. Rượu khiến các vùng não bộ kiểm soát khả năng giữ thăng bằng, trí nhớ, lời nói và khả năng phán đoán khó thực hiện chức năng của chúng hơn, dẫn đến khả năng bị thương...

NIAAA/COGA DATA AND BIOMATERIALS DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT-- WAVE I and WAVE II WHEREAS, the national Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism ("NIAAA") pursuant to its public health mission to identify and characterize the genetic basis of alcohol-related disorders supports research projects in which there is collection by scientific investigators and their relatives; WHEREAS, anonymous blood samples obtained from Wave I and/or...

The Laboratory on Neurobiology of Compulsive Behaviors is a Joint Laboratory of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) led by Dr. Veronica Alvarez. The Alvarez laboratory aims to understand the causes of substance use disorder (SUD). More specifically, we focus on the neuronal mechanisms that drive the high motivation to...

What we do Alcohol use disorder (AUD) has a tremendous negative individual and global impact, and there is an urgent need to understand its etiology and to advance treatment for this devastating illness. Research on the clinical pharmacology of alcohol is necessary to explain how variability in alcohol response affects the risk of developing AUD. The premise underlying the research...

Mechanisms for mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty liver and tissue injury – Dr. Song and his lab members have studied regulations and roles of the two enzymes involved in metabolism of alcohol and acetaldehyde: the ethanol-inducible cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) and mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2). In particular, the functional implications of increased CYP2E1 and decreased ALDH2...

Our senses are essential for us to interact with the world. Our five senses–sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell work closely to enable the mind to understand its surroundings better. In humans, chemical senses mediate safety, nutrition, the sensation of pleasure, and general well-being. Taste, olfaction, and chemesthesis (refers to chemical irritation from the burning of chili peppers, the cooling...

What we do The Section on Clinical Genomics and Experimental Therapeutics (CGET) conducts pre-clinical studies and translational clinical studies with focus on genomics and epigenetics related to the pathophysiology and treatment of alcohol use disorders and addictions. The pre-clinical work focuses on identifying molecular mechanisms involved in addictions, utilizing a wide array of methods including human population genetics, genome wide...

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a major cause of chronic liver diseases, leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer. The majority of patients with ALD also have moderate to severe alcohol use disorder (AUD). Our laboratory is investigating the immunological aspects and molecular pathogenesis of ALD and its associated liver cancer, and exploring novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of these...