Dans le cadres des conférences du LINC, David BELIN, professeur de Neurosciences à l’université de Cambridge, donnera une conférence au sein de notre laboratoire.
Auteur : David BELIN, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3EB, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Titre : The psychological and neural basis of incentive habits: relevance for our understanding of addiction. – Les bases psychologiques et neuronales des habitudes incitatives : pertinence pour notre compréhension de la dépendance.
Date : 03 juin 2024.
Lieu : Amphithéâtre à l’UFR Santé, Besançon (à définir).
Thématique de recherche :
Our research is interested in the neural, cellular and molecular substrates of inter-
individual vulnerability to develop impulsive / compulsive disorders such as drug
addiction or Obsessive – compulsive disorder. Our working hypothesis is that
impulses, originating from the amygdalo insular networks can drive the behavior
through explicit knowledge involving prefrontal and orbitofrontal loops or implicit
mechanisms that instead depend upon the functional relationships of these
structures with several domains of the striatum.
We suggest that inter-individual vulnerability to develop impulsive / compulsive
neuropsychiatric disorders stem from aberrant plasticity processes within the
corticostriatal networks governing the translation of impulses into actions that
ultimately result in a so-called abnormal incentive habit process.
Our research is designed according to a vertical, top-down strategy with direct
translational perspectives. It stems from a unique combination of contemporary
techniques ranging from experimental psychology to causal manipulations of the
brain with selective pharmacological tools, DREADDS or optogenetics
and,correlational analyses of the brain using state of the art molecular biology and
electrophysiology techniques.
Our program is subdivided in several converging lines of research:
- The role of the insular cortex, and its interactions with the BLA and the ventral
striatum, in drug addiction and OCD. - The nature of the functional interactions between the amygdala and the striatum
subserving the establishment of compulsive incentive habits. - The cellular and molecular substrates of intrastriatal shifts subserving incentive
habits habits. - The influence of the environment on inter-individual differences in the vulnerability
to develop impulsive / compulsive disorders.