Opioid receptors and brain function

Air date: Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 3:00:00 PM

Category: WALS - Wednesday Afternoon Lectures

Author: Brigitte Kieffer, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University

Opiates have been in use for thousands of years for their remarkable pain-relieving and rewarding properties. Opiates produce their potent effects by activating opioid receptors in the brain, hijacking an endogenous opioid system, which is central to hedonic and mood homeostasis. Recently, revolutions in G-protein-coupled-receptor research, fascinating developments in basic neuroscience, and the rising opioid crisis have propelled opioid receptors back on stage. Dr. Kieffer's presentation will discuss rapidly evolving areas in opioid-receptor research for addiction including the key questions of whether we can use opiates to eliminate pain without addiction and how opioid receptors operate within the neurocircuitry of addiction. Dr. Kieffer will also present recent work describing how functional MRI is being used in mice to explore the link between the mu-opioid receptor gene and drug activities to whole-brain functional networks.

For more information go to https://oir.nih.gov/wals/2018-2019

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