Jose J Vasquez

The paper identifies a cortical circuit in mice modulated by opioids and develops a gene therapy to mimic opioid analgesia for chronic pain.

This study identifies molecular and circuit mechanisms in the globus pallidus that regulate cocaine-induced behavioral plasticity, showing that GPePV cell activity predicts and modulates cocaine reward and sensitization.

The paper uses rabies virus tracing to identify drug-induced changes in connectivity to midbrain dopamine cells and links these changes to gene expression patterns.

This study identifies a midbrain dopamine projection to the amygdala that mediates cocaine withdrawal-induced anxiety and reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior.