Many psychiatric disorders currently have limited treatment options. Dr. Caine’s Neuroscience and Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory was founded in 1997 to investigate the effectiveness of potential medications for conditions including schizophrenia, cocaine and amphetamine dependence, and alcohol use disorder.

Dr. Caine and his staff screen new medications in rodents for abuse potential and other effects. For example, drugs that are habit forming in rodents are likely to be addictive in humans. The lab’s findings have showed that the addictive effects of cocaine and amphetamines are related to the dopamine system in the brain. Understanding these physiological mechanisms is critical to developing effective treatments and predicting and minimizing their side effects.

The lab’s preclinical behavioral pharmacology studies are designed to identify new targets for medication development and characterize the effects of novel candidate medications for drug abuse and dependence. Brain targets under investigation in the laboratory include the dopamine transporter, muscarinic and nicotinic acethylcholine receptors, and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptors.

Recently, Dr. Caine and his staff have focused on preclinical evaluations of candidate medications for the treatment of nicotine dependence, such as trace alkaloids from the tobacco leaf that are also found in healthful vegetables, and which may serve as all-natural aids for smoking cessation.