Functional Neuroscience Research Branch

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The Functional Neuroscience Research Branch (FNRB) supports grants that focus on understanding the regulation of the mechanisms of neurotransmission under normal, drug-exposed, and drug-withdrawn conditions. They include studies on neuropharmacology and receptor binding, internalization and intracellular trafficking of proteins, signal transduction, neurophysiology, and neurotoxicity. The FNRB also encourages grants that explore neuronal-glial interactions and the etiology, pathogenesis and sequelae of neuroAIDS, particularly as related to the process of drug addiction. Neuroadaptations and their functional consequences in neuroresilience and protection, neuroplasticity, and neurogenesis, especially those that occur after repeated drug exposure or other chronic stressors, are also of interest. The FNRB also fosters applications that explore the interactions between stem and progenitor cells and their microenvironment in the normal and compromised nervous system. Grants assigned to FNRB employ multidisciplinary, integrated approaches to the study of drug abuse, including analysis at the levels of the single cell, protein, circuit, and behavior.

The grant portfolios maintained within this branch address several basic science issues:

• Neuropharmacology of all abused substances except alcohol as it applies to cellular and neuronal systems. Development of an understanding of the effects of abused substances and treatment drugs on basic neurobiology and their functional consequences using a variety of approaches, including electrophysiology, in situ monitoring of neurochemicals, and behavior.
• Mechanisms underlying neurotransmission, at the protein and circuit levels, including the processes of signal transduction, the coupling of receptors to second messenger systems, receptor internalization and its consequences, and trafficking of regulatory elements within the neuron.
• The study of persistent neuroadaptations that occur as a consequence of drug exposure, including structural and functional changes in the brain associated with long-term drug use and drug withdrawal, neurotoxicity, neuroprotection, tolerance and sensitization, and comorbidity with other disease states. This also includes studies of neural progenitor and stem cells in adult brains.
• Neuroendocrine modulation of neural systems and their functions, including the study of neurosteroids, neuroactive steroids, gender-related brain function, non-opioid peptides, and hormones of the stress axis as they affect neurotransmission.
• NeuroAIDS and neuroinflammation as it is related to drug abuse.

PAR-11-319: Scalable Assays for Unbiased In Vitro Analysis of Neurobiological Function (R21/R33)

PA-10-270: Neuroscience Research on Drug Abuse (R03)

PA-10-269: Neuroscience Research on Drug Abuse (R21)

PA-10-268: Neuroscience Research on Drug Abuse (R01)

Nancy Pilotte, Ph.D.
Chief
(301) 435-1317

Description: Dr. Pilotte's areas of interest include neurotransmitter transporters (including protein trafficking, signal transduction, and their modulation by steroids and peptides), the structural and functional neural adaptations that occur in response to chronic stress and drug abuse, the roles of steroids in the nervous system, and the long-term effects of drugs and/or their withdrawal on the brain during postnatal development.

Activities: Member of the NIDA Neuroscience Consortium, NIDA CSR Oversight Committee, Aging and Drug Abuse workgroup, NIH-wide Parkinson"s Disease Coordinating Committee, and the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint Coordinating Committee. Reviewer for NIDA"s International Office and for the NIH ORWH (REAP program).

Jerry Frankenheim, Ph.D.
Health Scientist Administrator
(301) 435-1312

Description: Dr. Frankenheim's programmatic interests center on the neurotoxic effects of abused drugs, neural resilience and repair in the drug-compromised brain, and the neuropharmacology and toxicology of methamphetamine, MDMA, GHB, ketamine, hallucinogens and inhalants. Another area of interest is the relationship between phencyclidine (PCP), ketamine, and other glutamate antagonists and synaptic plasticity, especially with respect to pharmacologic models of psychosis and comorbidity of drug abuse and psychological dysfunctions.

Activities: Member of the NIDA Neuroscience Consortium, the Child and Adolescent Workgroup, and the Women and Gender Workgroup. NIDA expert on methamphetamine and club drugs, author of annual chapters on MDMA, PCP and other glutamate antagonists and LSD for several encyclopedias. Reviewer for NIDA"s International Office and Special Populations Office.

Geraline Lin, Ph.D.
Health Scientist Administrator
(301) 435-1305

Description: Grants fostered by Dr. Lin center on opiate and cannabinoid neuropharmacology. At the circuit level, this includes studies on the mechanisms of action of these drugs and the neuroadaptations they produce that underlie tolerance, dependence, sensitization, and desensitization. At the cellular level, these mechanisms include signal transduction, receptor trafficking, internalization, recycling, degradation and others. She also maintains an interest in the studies of the pharmacology, mechanisms and neural substrates underlying reward and feeding, neuroplasticity, and drug-induced changes in stem cell behavior (cell differentiation, proliferation, migration) and neurogenesis and the functional consequences of such alterations.

Activities: Member of the NIH Nutrition Coordinating Committee, Interagency Committee on Drug Control, NIDA Neuroscience Consortium. Co-author (with Jerry Frankenheim) of the chapter "Hallucinogenic Drugs", in "Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 3rd Ed. Vol. 2".

Roger Sorensen, Ph.D., M.P.A.
Health Scientist Administrator
(301) 443-3205

Description: Dr. Sorensen's programmatic interests broadly concern studies of the biological mechanisms underlying the functional changes in neuronal excitability and output, synaptic plasticity and homeostasis, and communication within neural circuits and networks as a consequence of substance abuse and addiction. This includes mechanistic studies of plasticity at excitatory and inhibitory synapses produced by drugs of abuse, and the neurotransmission of drug-related sensory cue responses. Of additional interest are studies of the effects of psychoactive drugs on the functional interactions between neurons and glial cells in their regulation of neuronal activity.

Activities: Member of the NIDA Neuroscience Consortium, and the NIDA Nicotine and Tobacco Interest Group.

Diane Lawrence, Ph.D. Health Scientist Administrator
(301) 594-3225

Description: Dr. Lawrence's programmatic interests include the impact of drugs of abuse on the neuropathogenesis of HIV/AIDS and other viral infections, viral entry and replication in different cell types within the brain, and interactions between viral and cellular proteins. She is also interested in the molecular, cellular, and viral factors that contribute to the initiation of immunity and inflammation in the brain, and their interaction with neural pathways involved with drug abuse and addiction, and studies of the blood-brain barrier.

Activities: Member of the AIDS workgroup, the Women and Gender workgroup, and the Neuroscience Consortium.