Ryan Alejandro Cabrera

Graduate Student

Advisor

Research Area

Neuroscience and Behavior

Biography

I am primarily interested in animal models of drug addiction to inform addiction etiology and treatment. In the past, I have worked with drugs like methamphetamine and nicotine to investigate these stimulants' effects on the developing rodent mind. I seek to study addiction from all five levels of analysis, especially at the level of behavior. I wish to continue using animal models to understand how different drugs of abuse affect the rodent mind neurobiologically and behaviorally so that pharmaceutical interventions can be developed to help decrease drug reward.

Research

I'm primarily interested in animal models of drug addiction to inform addiction etiology and treatment. In the past, I have worked with drugs like nicotine, methamphetamine, and alcohol to investigate these stimulants' influence on the developing rodent mind. I want to study addiction from all five levels of analysis, and I love to focus on behavior. I want to continue to work with animals and other drugs of abuse to understand how these drugs work neuro-chemically to hopefully develop a pharmaceutical intervention to help people who are addicted gain more control over their life.