Project Overview
We investigate how personality traits, social hierarchy, and stress exposure influence vulnerability to drug addiction. Using a unique mouse model of dominance and submissiveness, we study behavioral, hormonal, and molecular mechanisms that determine resilience or susceptibility to stress-induced substance abuse. Our goal is to identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets that enable prediction, prevention, and personalized intervention for addiction-related disorders.
Research Focus
- Addiction Research,
- Stress Biology
- Stress Coping Ability
- Behavioral Psychiatry
- Neuropsychopharmacology
Experimental Approaches
- Animal models
- Behavioral phenotyping
- CPP assays
- Genomic and epigenetic analysis hormonal profiling
- HPA-axis assessment
- Dopaminergic and endocannabinoid signaling
Clinical Relevance
- Biomarker discovery for addiction vulnerability
- Early prediction of stress-induced substance use disorders
- Personalized prevention and intervention strategies
- Identification of novel therapeutic targets
- Precision psychiatry approaches for addiction disorders
Principal Investigator: Prof. Albert Pinhasov
Behavioral and Molecular Psychiatry Lab
Recent publications:
K Cohen, Y Mama, P Rosca, A Pinhasov, AM Weinstein, Chronic use of synthetic cannabinoids is associated with impairment in working memory and mental flexibility. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2020 Jun 30;11:602.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7339911/
K Cohen, S Rosenzweig, P Rosca, A Pinhasov, A Weizman, A Weinstein, Personality Traits and Psychotic Proneness Among Chronic Synthetic Cannabinoid Users. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2020 May 15;11:355.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7242629/
Tetiana Kardash, Dmitry Rodin, Michael Kirby, Noa Davis, Igor Koman, Jonathan Gorelick, Izhak Michaelevski, Albert Pinhasov, Link between personality and response to THC exposure. Behavioural Brain Research, 2020 Feb 3:379:112361.