Sonja Lorean Plasil

This study performs a GWAS on cocaine self-administration in rats, identifying six genome-wide significant loci, including one linked to carboxylesterase genes involved in cocaine metabolism.

This study shows that higher addiction-like severity in rats predicts prolonged oxycodone withdrawal-induced allodynia, with stronger associations between self-administration behaviors and pain sensitivity.

The paper identifies incentive salience as the driver of cocaine self-administration escalation in rats, showing individual differences in pre-lever activity predict long-term intake.

This study finds that irregular estrous cycles in HS rats are associated with severe cocaine addiction-like behaviors, but estrous phase itself does not influence cocaine self-administration.

The paper shows that escalation of cocaine intake, progressive ratio responding, and continued use despite adverse consequences are highly correlated in rats, with sex differences in addiction-like behaviors.

This paper introduces CRISPy TAKO, a CRISPR/Cas9 method to generate homozygous knockout mice in one generation, validated using MyD88-/- mice showing expected ethanol-related behavioral changes.