RIA: Principal Investigator - Alexis C. Thompson, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Alexis C. Thompson, Ph.D.

Behavioral Neuroscience

Primary Research Areas

Experience-induced or drug-induced neural adaptations associated with increased vulnerability to, or expression of, drug addiction, anxiety, and maternal behavior; mesolimbic cortical pathway function; neuropeptide regulation of monoamines; behavioral regulation of pain and analgesia.

Current Projects

Evaluation of Neuropeptide Y as a Target for Cocaine Dependence Treatment (funded by NIDA). Testing the effectiveness of NPY agonists in reducing craving and heightened anxiety that occur during periods of abstinence from cocaine in an animal model of cocaine dependence. This study will examine whether the pursuit of medicinal compounds that stimulate neuropeptide Y in the brain as therapies for cocaine dependence are warranted and add to the understanding of the neurobiological substrates that underlie cocaine dependence (in collaboration with Co-investigator Jean DiPirro, Ph.D., Buffalo State College).

CNS opioids and maternal behavior (in collaboration with PI Mark Kristal, UB Department of Psychology; funded by National Science Foundation).

Functional significance of neuropeptide Y in the nucleus accumbens (funded by RIA).

Neural adaptations in dopamine neurotransmission in the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, and prefrontal cortex in an animal model of prenatal alcohol exposure (in collaboration with Roh-Yu Shen; funded by NIAAA).

Representative and Recent Publications

Thompson, A. C., Kristal, M. B., Sallaj, A., Acheson, A., Martin, L. B. E., & Martin, T. (2004). Analgesic efficacy of orally administered buprenorphine in rats: Methodological considerations. Comparative Medicine, 54, 289-301.

Doldan, K., Kristal, M. B., DiPirro, J. M., & Thompson, A. C. (2003). Intra-accumbal microinjections of neuropeptide Y increases locomotor behavior in the rat. Program No. 757.19. Abstract Viewer/Itinerary Planner. Washington, DC: Society for Neuroscience. Online.

Shen, R., Leach, P. R., & Thompson A. C. (2003). Ethanol withdrawal reduces the activity of VTA dopamine neurons and extracellular dopamine levels in nucleus accumbens by depolarization inactivation. Program No. 461.11 Abstract Viewer/Itinerary Planner. Washington, DC: Society for Neuroscience. Online.

Thompson, A. C., Zapata, A. Justice, J. B., Jr., Vaughan, R. A., Sharpe, L. G., & Shippenberg, T. S. (2000). Kappa-opioid receptor activation modifies dopamine uptake in the nucleus accumbens and opposes the effects of cocaine. Journal of Neuroscience, 20, 9333-9340.

Chen, L., He, M., Sibille, E., Thompson, A. C., Sarnyai, Z., Baker, H., Shippenberg, T., & Toth, M. (1999). Adaptive changes in postsynaptic dopamine receptors despite unaltered dopamine dynamics in mice lacking monoamine oxidase B. Journal of Neurochemistry, 73, 647-55.

Shippenberg, T. S., LeFevour, A., & Thompson, A. C. (1998). Sensitization to the conditioned rewarding effect of morphine and cocaine: Differential effects of kappa opioid receptor agonist U-69593. European Journal of Pharmacology, 345, 27-34.

Thompson, A. C., & Kristal, M. B. (1996). Opioid-mediated effects on the onset of maternal behavior in the rat. Brain Research, 743, 184-201.

Heidbreder, C. A, Thompson, A. C., & Shippenberg T. S. (1996). Role of extracellular dopamine in the initiation and long-term expression of behavioral sensitization to cocaine. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 278, 490-502.

Thompson, A. C., Justice, J. B., Jr., & McDonald, J. K. (1995). Quantitative microdialysis of neuropeptide Y. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 60, 189-198.