Valerie Vierkant

This study shows that alcohol and opioids modulate glutamatergic input to the SCN, revealing the SCN as a target of depressant substances and highlighting glutamatergic transmission as a vulnerability in circadian dysregulation.

The paper identifies two distinct engram ensembles within striatal medium spiny neurons that encode opposing memories for alcohol relapse and extinction.

This paper identifies a CRF-CIN pathway linking the extended amygdala to the dorsal striatum and shows alcohol disrupts CRF-induced cholinergic activity.

This study shows that traumatic brain injury increases alcohol consumption and impairs cognition by reducing cholinergic activity and increasing microglial cells in mice.

The paper inhibits striatal engrams involved in alcohol-taking behaviors to show reduced future alcohol-seeking and enhanced extinction.