My research focuses on stress-alcohol interactions, particularly how male and female brains differentially adapt to stress and how this impacts the brain’s response to alcohol. Females are more susceptible to many stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders, including a greater likelihood of relapse to alcohol drinking, because of past traumatic stress exposure. My work seeks to explain this disparity by identifying sex differences in the molecular and circuit-level remodeling of the brain in response to stress, and by determining the functional relevance of these adaptations. Analysis of gene and protein expression after stress is used to identify new molecular targets that may be responsible for stress-related behavioral disorders. Novel molecular targets are assessed for their ability to alter neuronal activity using electrophysiology and for their ability to alter alcohol-related behaviors like self-administration. I am particularly interested in the long-term effects of traumatic stressors, and thus an additional line of research investigates the persistence of stress-induced changes in neurocircuitry that may elevate alcohol drinking weeks or months later. Overall my research aims to elucidate sex differences in molecular and circuit adaptations to stress, with the goal of identifying novel medication targets that may improve treatment for those with comorbid anxiety and addictive disorders.
