In our 10th Fresh Perspectives webinar with Amara Davis we discuss recent research on the circuitry in the brain that controls withdrawal symptoms and potential return to substance use. Amara talked to Dr. Kevin Beier, a Professor of Biophysics at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine. They discuss Dr. Beier’s recently published work entitled “An extended amygdala-midbrain circuit controlling cocaine withdrawal-induced anxiety and reinstatement”. Dr. Beier started his research career in retinal research using a virus to map connected neurons in the brain, and then using his biophysics background, transitioned to work in neuropsychiatric disease. Dr. Beier presents an overview of his work on the factors that predispose people to developing substance use disorder. He describes how by utilizing circuitry his lab dissects where and when in the brain vulnerability factors are active with the goal of integrating this research with molecular research that is more common in this field.
Public Interest: Understanding what causes some people to be vulnerable to developing substance use disorder (SUD) while others can use drugs without developing SUD allows researchers to get a holistic understanding of the disease and aid in treatment.
Innovation in Research: This research looks at the link between drug withdrawal causing an anxiety state, and the reward value of the drug to offer temporary elimination of the anxiety. They use viral circuit tracking to show in a murine model that this anxiety leads to the reinstatement of drug-seeking behaviors in mice. This work shows these two functions, the anxiety and the reinstatement, may be orchestrated by a single pathway.
Key Research Findings: Dr. Beier’s research found a key circuit in the amygdala of the brain that gets activated after a single administration of cocaine. In a murine model, this circuit is related to cocaine-induced anxiety and can be reactivated with a secondary exposure that is sufficient to cause a cocaine preference.
To see Amara’s full Interview with Dr. Kevin Beier on his research improving our understanding of addiction and withdrawal, see the video below or on the LMI YouTube Channel:
Tian G, Hui M, Macchia D, Derdeyn P, Rogers A, Hubbard E, Liu C, Vasquez JJ, Taniguchi L, Bartas K, Carroll S, Beier KT. An extended amygdala-midbrain circuit controlling cocaine withdrawal-induced anxiety and reinstatement. Cell Rep. 2022 May 3;39(5):110775. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110775.