Carrie Ferrario, Ph.D.

Research in my lab group focuses on understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of drug addiction and obesity. We are currently focused on identifying and understanding alterations in excitatory transmission and plasticity within the brain’s “reward pathway” that contribute to these conditions. To accomplish this, we use a variety of approaches including: behavioral pharmacology to identify alterations in motivated behaviors; biochemistry to examine alterations in receptor expression, phosphorylation and signaling; and slice electrophysiology to examine changes in neuronal function and plasticity after in vivo manipulations (e.g. exposure to high fat diet or cocaine self-administration), as well as viral approaches to control neural activity (DREADDs and Optogenetics). We are currently pursuing several lines of research related to obesity including: determining neural and behavioral differences that contribute to the development of obesity, determining how a prolonged state of obesity alters excitatory transmission and plasticity in key reward areas such as the nucleus accumbens, and examining potential roles for leptin and insulin signaling in the regulation of glutamate transmission. For our studies of drug addiction, we are examining effects of intermittent vs. continuous access to cocaine self-administration on striatal glutamatergic receptor expression and function. These studies are conducted in collaboration with Dr. Terry Robinson.