WenLin Sun, M.D., Ph. D.
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Education:
Beijing Medical University, Beijing, China., M.D., 1989 Research Interest:My long-term research goal is to understand basic neurobiological mechanisms underlying drug addiction, a chronic relapsing brain disease. Compulsive drug seeking and drug taking even in the face of serious negative consequences are the core symptoms of this disease. Thus far, treatment of drug addiction has met a limited success due to a high rate of relapse, the most challenging issue facing clinicians today. Development of better and more effective behavioral and drug therapies will depend on our better understanding of the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of the disease. Toward this end, my research focuses on several related areas. The first area aims to identify neural circuits and receptor systems involved in relapse induced by various environmental stimuli such as drug-conditioned stimuli (CS), stress, and drugs. The second area aims to understand what type of information (reward, motivation, learning/memory, and motor programming) is processed in these circuits. The third area aims to investigate what type of neuronal plasticity occurs within the circuits after chronic drug abuse and how the neuroplasticity is related to addiction-related behavior. To answer these questions the drug self-administration and reinstatement animal models are used to simulate drug-taking and relapse to drug-seeking behavior. Integrated studies combining the techniques of neuropharmacology, electrophysiology, electrochemistry and behaviorare conducted in these models. By using the cutting-edge electrophysiological (single-unit recording) and electrochemical (fast scan cyclic voltammetry) techniques in behaving animals, the activities of multiple neurons and neurotransmissions in the brain can be recorded while animals are performing drug-taking and drug-seeking behavior. Because such a technique offers the ability to simultaneously monitor brain activity and the behavior, it provides a powerful tool to study neuronal and neurochemical mechanisms underlying addiction-related behavior. Selected Publications:
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