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Money has no intrinsic value. It is simply paper, or increasingly, a digital abstraction. Yet it powerfully motivates behaviour. This is because the brain is adapted to assign value to otherwise neutral things when they reliably predict natural rewards, such as food. Addiction hijacks this adaptive learning process. Cues like drug paraphernalia, casino lights, social media notifications, or even the time of day can become potent triggers that draw us into persistent, maladaptive behaviours. At the Hynes Lab we aim to understand the biological and behavioural mechanisms underlying this form of associative learning, how they become disregulated in addiction, and how these processes differ between females and males.

 

We have recently identified astrocytes as key regulators of dopamine homeostasis, demonstrating their critical role in cue-controlled opioid use. In parallel, we have uncovered contributions of dopamine and acetylcholine to gambling-like behaviour. Building on these discoveries, we combine sophisticated animal behavioural paradigms with cutting-edge neuroscience technology including in vivo dual-colour fibre photometry, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, chemogenetics, optogenetics, spatial transcriptomics, and of course a bit of old school pharmacology. These approaches allow us to dissect how interactions between dopamine, acetylcholine, and astrocytes shape learning and motivation in the context of addiction.

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Focusing on both substance (e.g., opioid use disorder) and behavioural addictions (e.g., gambling and social media), our goal is to redefine the cellular framework of addiction and identify novel therapeutic targets. In particular, we aim to leverage astrocyte-based mechanisms to restore the balance between dopamine and acetylcholine that becomes disrupted in addictive disorders.

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