CONAN KORNETSKY, Ph.D.
CONAN KORNETSKY, Ph.D.
Professor
Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology
Office: L-602
Phone: 617-638-4320; Fax: 617-638-4329
Email: ckornets@bu.edu
Ph.D.: University of Kentucky
Research Interests:
NEURONAL BASES FOR THE REWARDING EFFECTS OF ABUSED SUBSTANCES
Research in the behavioral pharmacology laboratory is directed toward the determination of neuronal mechanisms involved in the behavioral effects of drugs. Much of this research is focused on the brain’s motivational systems. Changes in these systems are directly related to the rewarding effects associated with the action of the abused psychomotor stimulants, e.g., cocaine and opioids, e.g., heroin. There is reason to believe that these same systems are also affected, albeit in opposite ways, in clinical depression and anxiety. The research of graduate students in this laboratory will continue to study the mechanisms involved in the rewarding actions of these abused substances using the following techniques and procedures: stereotaxic surgery for implanting intercerebral stimulating electrodes and/or cannulae directly into specific brain sites, the use of psychophysical methods for determining thresholds for various types of intracerebral electrical stimulation (e.g., appetitive, aversive), the use of an intravenous drug self-administration model in rats, the use of the quantitative 2-[14C] deoxyglucose method for determining cerebral metabolic rates of glucose in specific brain areas., and the evaluation of brain-stimulation reward in knockout mice models.
Selected Publications:
Kornetsky C. A walk through the history of research in drug abuse trends and fads. The Nathan B. Eddy Award address given at CPDD 2005: part II. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2007 Oct 8;90(2-3):312-6.
Knapp CM, Mercado M, Markley TL, Crosby S, Ciraulo DA, Kornetsky C. Zonisamide decreases ethanol intake in rats and mice. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2007 May;87(1):65-72. Epub 2007 Apr 11.
Crosby SJ, Knapp CM, Kornetsky C. Nociceptive threshold and analgesic response to morphine in aged and young adult rats as determined by thermal radiation and intracerebral electrical stimulation. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2006 May;84(1):148-57. Epub 2006 Jun 8.
Knapp CM, Jha SH, Kornetsky C. Increased sensitization to morphine-induced oral stereotypy in aged rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2004 Nov;79(3):491-7.
Jha SH, Knapp CM, Kornetsky C. Effects of morphine on brain-stimulation reward thresholds in young and aged rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2004 Nov;79(3):483-90.
Gill BM, Knapp CM, Kornetsky C. The effects of cocaine on the rate independent brain stimulation reward threshold in the mouse. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2004 Sep;79(1):165-70.
Kornetsky C. Brain-stimulation reward, morphine-induced oral stereotypy, and sensitization: implications for abuse. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2004 Jan;27(8):777-86. Review.
Kornetsky C. Conversation with Conan Kornetsky. Addiction. 2003 Jul;98(7):875-82.
Knapp CM, Printseva B, Cottam N, Kornetsky C. Effects of cue exposure on brain glucose utilization 8 days after repeated cocaine administration. Brain Res. 2002 Sep 20;950(1-2):119-26.
Knapp CM, Lee K, Foye M, Ciraulo DA, Kornetsky C. Additive effects of intra-accumbens infusion of the cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase inhibitor, rolipram and cocaine on brain stimulation reward. Life Sci. 2001 Aug 24;69(14):1673-82.
Knapp CM, Foye MM, Cottam N, Ciraulo DA, Kornetsky C. Adenosine agonists CGS 21680 and NECA inhibit the initiation of cocaine self-administration. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2001 Apr;68(4):797-803.
Kraus MA, Kornetsky C. Cue-induced changes in basal local cerebral glucose utilization 13 days after morphine sensitization in the Fischer 344 rat: relevance for drug craving. Brain Res. 2000 May 26;865(2):194-201.
Wennemer HK, Kornetsky C. Fluoxetine blocks expression but not development of sensitization to morphine-induced oral stereotypy in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1999 Sep 1;146(1):19-23.
Kushner SA, Dewey SL, Kornetsky C. The irreversible gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transaminase inhibitor gamma-vinyl-GABA blocks cocaine self-administration in rats. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1999 Aug;290(2):797-802.
Knapp CM, Foye MM, Ciraulo DA, Kornetsky C. The type IV phosphodiesterase inhibitors, Ro 20-1724 and rolipram, block the initiation of cocaine self-administration. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1999 Jan;62(1):151-8.
Duvauchelle CL, Fleming SM, Kornetsky C. Prefrontal cortex infusions of SCH 23390 cause immediate and delayed effects on ventral tegmental area stimulation reward. Brain Res. 1998 Nov 16;811(1-2):57-62.
Duvauchelle CL, Sapoznik T, Kornetsky C. The synergistic effects of combining cocaine and heroin (”speedball”) using a progressive-ratio schedule of drug reinforcement. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1998 Nov;61(3):297-302.
Lee K, Kornetsky C. Acute and chronic fluoxetine treatment decreases the sensitivity of rats to rewarding brain stimulation. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1998 Jun;60(2):539-44.
Kushner SA, Dewey SL, Kornetsky C. Gamma-vinyl GABA attenuates cocaine-induced lowering of brain stimulation reward thresholds. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1997 Oct;133(4):383-8.
Duvauchelle CL, Fleming SM, Kornetsky C. DAMGO and DPDPE facilitation of brain stimulation reward thresholds is blocked by the dopamine antagonist cis-flupenthixol. Neuropharmacology. 1997 Aug;36(8):1109-14.
Duvauchelle CL, Fleming SM, Kornetsky C. DAMGO and DPDPE facilitation of brain stimulation reward thresholds is blocked by the dopamine antagonist cis-flupenthixol. Neuropharmacology. 1997 Aug;36(8):1109-14.
Kraus MA, Piper JM, Kornetsky C. Persistent increases in basal cerebral metabolic activity induced by morphine sensitization. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1997 May-Jun;57(1-2):89-100.
Castagliuolo I, Lamont JT, Qiu B, Fleming SM, Bhaskar KR, Nikulasson ST, Kornetsky C, Pothoulakis C. Acute stress causes mucin release from rat colon: role of corticotropin releasing factor and mast cells. Am J Physiol. 1996 Nov;271(5 Pt 1):G884-92.
Duvauchelle, C.L., S.M. Fleming and C. Kornetsky (1996) Involvement of d and m-opioid receptors in the potentiation of brain-stimulation reward. Eur. J. Pharmacol., 316:137-143.
Knapp, C.M. and C. Kornetsky (1996) Low-dose apomorphine attenuates morphine-induced enhancement of brain stimulation reward. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav.,55(1):87-91.
Kraus, M.A., J.M. Piper and C. Kornetsky (1996) Naloxone alters the local metabolic rate for glucose in discrete brain regions associated with opiate withdrawal. Brain Res., 724:33-40.
Sarkar, M., D. Huston-Lyons, and C. Kornetsky (1995) Reward-specific blockade of morphine’s effect on brain-stimulation reward by pimozide but not SCH23390. Exp. Clin. Psychopharmacol. 3(2):118-122.
Gescuk, B., S. Lang, L.J. Porrino and C. Kornetsky (1994) The local cerebral metabolic effects of morphine in rats exposed to escapable footshock. Brain Res. 663:303-311.
Sarkar, M. and C. Kornetsky (1995) Methamphetamine’s action on brain-stimulation reward threshold and stereotypy. Exp. Clin. Psychopharmacol. 3(2):112-117.
Kornetsky, C. and C.L. Duvauchelle (1994) Dopamine, common substrate for the rewarding effects of (BSR), cocaine and morphine. In: Neurobiological Models for Evaluating Mechanisms Underlying Cocaine Addiction. (L. Arinoff and R. Brown, eds.) NIDA Research Monograph 145, NIH, pp. 19-39.
Huston-Lyons, D. M. Sarkar and C. Kornetsky (1993) Nicotine and brain-stimulation reward: Interactions with morphine, amphetamine and pimozide. Pharmacology Biochemistry Behavior, 46:453-457.
Unterwald, E.M. and C. Kornetsky. (1993) Reinforcing effects of opiates – modulation by dpamine. In: The Neurobiology of Opiates, (R.P. Hammer, Jr., ed.) CRC Press, Ann Arbor, pp 361-379.
Kornetsky, C. and G. Bain (1992) Brain-stimulation reward: A model for the study of the rewarding effects of abused drugs. In: Neurobiological Approaches to Brain-Behavior Interaction. (J. Frascells, and R.M. Brown, eds.) NIDA Research Monograph 124, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD, pp. 73–93.
Hubner, C.B. and C. Kornetsky (1992) Heroin 6-acetylmorphine and morphine on threshold for rewarding and aversive brain stimulation. The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 260 (2): 562-567.
Kornetsky, C. and L.J. Porrine. (1992) Brain mechanisms of drug-induced reinformement. In: Addictive States. (C.P. O’Brien and J.H. Jaffee, eds.) Raven Press, New York, pp. 59-77.
Pollock, J. and C. Kornetsky. (1991) Naloxone prevents and blocks the emergence of neuroleptic-mediated oral sterotypic behaviors. Neuropsychopharmacology 4:245:249.
Kornetsky, C,. D. Huston-Lyons and L.J. Porrino. (1991) The role of the olfactory tubercle in the effects of cocaine, morphine and brain-stimulation reward. Brain Research 541: 75-81.
