Department of Pharmacology, Addiction Science, and Toxicology (PHAST)

Please, join the Department of Pharmacology, Addiction Science, and Toxicology for our

(PHAST) Spring 2026 seminar.

Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at Noon in CRB 114

Our speaker is

Dr. Lieselot Carrette,

University California San Diego,

Department of Psychiatry

Seminar Title:

Whole-brain imaging for brain state mapping of substance use disorders

Hosted by Dr. Anna Bukiya

Brief Summary of presentation: Substance use disorders are complex, brain-wide conditions shaped by interactions between chronic drug use, genetic predispositions, and environmental influences, driving neuroadaptations that alter incentive salience, memory, emotional state, and executive function in regions throughout the brain. While incredible progress has been made in untangling the roles of defined neuronal populations in substance use disorders with spatiotemporal control, the interconnected changes across the whole brain that represent the brain states associated with substance use and dependence are still less clear. Critically, only a subset of individuals exposed to drugs develop a substance use disorder. Therefore, identifying differences in whole-brain reactivity and connectivity following substance use, at different timepoints in the addiction cycle, following treatment, and in those most vulnerable and resilient to addiction is essential for understanding the underlying mechanisms and developing effective, personalized treatments. In this talk, we will present our single-cell whole-brain imaging approach, which allows us to capture neuronal reactivity throughout the brain following immunolabeling of Fos and tissue clearing combined with light-sheet microscopy and an automated computational pipeline aligning the results to the common coordinate space of a reference brain atlas. Fos, the product of an immediate early gene, is an ideal marker of neuronal reactivity associated with long-lasting behavioral states, such as withdrawal or pharmacological intervention, as it integrates neuronal activation over 1-2 hours. Correlation-based analysis can then identify networks of functionally connected brain regions, mapping the brain state connectome. Findings from our studies modeling substance dependence-induced withdrawal, normalization following treatments, intoxication, and using genetically diverse heterogenous stock rats characterized for their addiction-like behaviors will be highlighted.

Zoom Details

https://tennesseehipaa.zoom.us/j/84059058116?pwd=37lCD3RRjOoke1Ybc5lA7zEFjfnzne.1

Meeting ID: 840 5905 8116

Passcode: 139347