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Cocaine addiction in a rat model
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Exercise as a non-pharmacological treatment for cocaine addition (rat model)
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overview
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I am currently an Assistant Professor at Ponce Health Sciences University/Ponce Research Institute, investigating cellular mechanisms of cocaine reward and addiction. I am developing a research program with clinical application, as well as provide scientific education to both university students and the greater community. One of my long-term goals includes providing academic, educational, and research opportunities to underrepresented groups. During my postdoctoral training in Dr. Reissner’s laboratory at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, I found that riluzole, a drug for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, decreases cue- and cocaine primed reinstatement and prevents the changes in excitability induced by cocaine in medial prefrontal cortex neurons (Sepulveda-Orengo et al., 2018). Looking toward treatments to prevent relapse of cocaine, I am investigating the effects of aerobic exercise in cocaine-induced neurophysiological changes. As exercise represents an important candidate therapy currently under investigation for substance use disorders, it is important to understand the cellular mechanism(s) by which effects on measures of drug craving and seeking are exerted. This will accordingly allow for more effective treatment avenues, at the levels of both behavior and pharmacotherapy, and will inform whether and how exercise may also have benefit for other psychiatric conditions.
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