A central feature of drugs of abuse is to induce gene expression in discrete brain structures that are critically involved in behavioral responses related to addictive processes. Although extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) has been implicated in several neurobiological processes, including neuronal plasticity, its role in drug addiction remains poorly understood. This study was designe...

Based on previous work indicating different neural substrates, two aspects of energetic state, "arousal" and "activation", have been conceptualized separately in our laboratory. "Arousal" has been defined as the energetic state at any particular time, and task-related "activation" as the task-related change in state from resting baseline to the task situation. Both are reflected in electroderma...

R.J. KATZ, A CTH~_l o antagonism of morphine-induced behavioral activation in the mouse, European J. Pharmacol. 53 (1979) 383--385. The 4-10 fragment of adrenocort icotrophic hormone (ACTH4_10; Met-Glu-His-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly) was administered intracerebroventricularly to C57B1 mice with and without concurrent systemic injection of a standard dose of morphine sulfate. Morphine produced s tereotyped...

Neuropathic pain is a complex syndrome resulting from damage to the peripheral nervous system. Central neuroimmune activation contributes to the generation and maintenance of chronic pain after nerve injury. The current study determined the effects of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) on behavioral hyperalgesia and neuroimmune activation in a rat model of neuropathic pain induced by L5 s...