Fereshteh S. Nugent, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Neurophysiology, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran, 2003
Postdoctoral, Neuroscience, Brown University
Phone: (301) 295-3243
Lab: (301) 295-3229
Fax: (301) 295-3220
Email: fnugent@usuhs.mil
Synaptic plasticity and Drug Addiction
Drug addiction costs the U.S. economy more than half a trillion dollars per year. Like most psychiatric disorders, its pathological basis is not yet well understood. Therefore, research is needed to understand the neural basis of addiction to improve prospects for successful treatment. The major components of the neural reward circuitry to include the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are capable of exhibiting synaptic plasticity, the neural substrate of learning and memory. Recent studies support the idea that induction of different forms of synaptic plasticity in response to drugs of abuse in the VTA contributes to the pathogenesis of addiction suggesting the potential therapeutic benefits of selective intervention in this brain area in treatment of addiction. While synaptic mechanisms involving glutamatergic synapses are well characterized and correlated with addiction, the mechanisms by which inhibitory GABAergic synapses contribute to addiction are still unknown. The major focus of my laboratory is to elucidate inhibitory synaptic mechanisms underlying drug addiction. To achieve this goal, we use in vitro slice preparation of the VTA and patch clamp recording techniques in animal models of addiction to study synaptic plasticity relevant to drug addiction. We believe that understanding the inhibitory synaptic basis of drug addiction will point to new directions in pharmacotherapy for addiction.
Selected Publications
Dacher, M. and Nugent, F.S., Opiates and plasticity, Neuropharmacology, 2011, 61(7):1088-96.
Dacher, M. and Nugent, F.S., Morphine-induced modulation of LTD at GABAergic Synapses in the ventral tegmental area, Neuropharmacology, 2011, 61(7):1166-71.
Nugent, F.S., Niehaus J.L., and Kauer, J.A. PKG and PKA Signaling in LTP at GABAergic Synapses, Neuropsychopharmacology, 34(7):1829-42 (2009).
Nugent, F.S. and Kauer, J.A. LTP of GABAergic synapses in the ventral tegmental area and beyond. Journal of Physiology, March 15, 586(6):1487-93 (2008).
Nugent, F.S., Penick, E.C., Kauer, J.A. Opiates block long-term potentiation of GABAergic synapses. Nature, 466: 1086-1095 (2007).
Salmanzadeh, F., Fathollahi, Y., Semananian, S., Shafiezadeh, M. Long-term potentiation as an electrophysiological assay for morphine dependence and withdrawal in rats: an in vitro study. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 124:189-196 (2003).
Postdoctoral Research Associate: Dr. Matthieu Dacher
Graduate Student: Steven Dash
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Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
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4301 Jones Bridge Road
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Tel 301-295-3223
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