Neurons communicate with each other through the release of neurotransmitter molecules such as glutamate, GABA, acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin, etc. at synapses. When a neurotransmitter binds to its receptor on the membrane of a neuron, it opens up ion channels that result in neuronal excitation or inhibition. Better understanding how this process works has many implications, both for basic neuroscience and our understanding of nervous system disorders.

The Cohen lab focuses on molecular studies of receptors for GABA, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, and acetylcholine, an excitatory neurotransmitter in many brain regions and at nerve-muscle contacts. GABA_A receptors (GABA_AR) are the targets for many important drugs, including antiepileptics, sedatives and general anesthetics. One current project in the lab is focused on determining the diversity of general anesthetic biding sites in GABA_ARs, which will provide a basis for the development of anesthetics with fewer undesirable side effects.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR), which are the site of binding of nicotine, are involved in the regulation of sleep, attention, learning, and memory. Dysfunctions of nAChRs are implicated in disorders including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and drugs that target nAChRs have potential uses in the treatment of these conditions as well as nicotine addiction. nAChRs on skeletal muscle mediate neural control of muscle contraction, and they are the receptors that are destroyed in an autoimmune disease, myasthenia gravis.  Currently the Cohen lab is studying the mechanisms of novel classes of drugs that act as enhancers of brain or muscle nAChRs.