Department of Psychiatry Faculty

Therese A. Kosten, PhD Assistant Professor Psychiatry Division of Substance Abuse Ribicoff Research Facilities CMHC; Room S-305 34 Park Street New Haven, CT 06508 Tel: 203-789-7090, x353 Fax: 203-562-7079

Education

1978, B.A., SUNY at Purchase
1986, Ph.D., Yale University

Research Interest

The Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory examines neuropharmacological mechanisms underlying behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs, including cocaine, opiates, and alcohol. We utilize several models in rats that reflect reward, tolerance, sensitization, and withdrawal, including: place conditioning, drug discrimination, self-administration, locomotor sensitization, schedule-controlled responding, and assessments of somatic signs. Current research investigates: 1) enhanced sensitivity to cocaine's behavioral effects with chronic dopamine antagonist treatment; 2) how ethanol, which has NMDA antagonist properties, compares to the uncompetitive NMDA antagonist, MK-801, in its ability to affect short and long-term behavioral effects of morphine; 3) mechanisms involved in the ability of cocaine exposure to cause subtle behavioral deficits in extinction of appetitive responding; 4) if "novelty-seeking" predicts behavioral and hormonal responses to drugs; 5) strain differences in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and stress responses to the behavioral effects of cocaine using drug discrimination, self-administration, and place conditioning; 6) how opiodergic agents alter the behavioral effects of alcohol; and 7) strain differences in the effects of dopaminergic and second messenger systems on cocaine self-administration and schedule-controlled responding. We are modifying these paradigms for mice to take advantage of emerging molecular genetic technologies and are developing a computer-assisted, behavioral monitoring system for mice.

Publications of Note

Kosten TA, DeCaprio JL, Nestler EJ. Long-term haloperidol administration enhances and short-term administration attenuate the behavioral effects of cocaine in a place conditioning procedure. Psychopharmacology, 128:304-312, 1996.

Kosten TA, Miserondino MJD, Haile CN, DeCaprio JL, Jatlow TI, Nestler EJ. Acquisition and maintenance of intravenous cocaine self-administration in Lewis and Fischer inbred rat strains. Brain Research, in press.

Shoemaker WJ, Kosten TA, Muly S. Ethanol attenuation of morphine dependence: comparison to dizocipline. Psychopharmacology, in press.

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