Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · NeuroscienceNestler Lab
Eric J. Nestler · New York, New York
Research Focus
Dr. Eric J. Nestler's lab focuses on understanding the brain mechanisms involved in addiction and stress-related disorders. Researchers in this lab study how specific types of neurons in brain regions, particularly the nucleus accumbens, respond to drugs like cocaine and opioids, as well as how early life stress can lead to long-lasting changes in brain function and behavior. The ultimate goal is to identify new strategies for treating addiction and stress disorders by unraveling the complex interactions between drug exposure, gene expression, and neuronal activity.
addictionchronic stressneuron ensemblesepigeneticsdopamine receptorsnucleus accumbensdrug exposurebehavioral neurosciencemolecular mechanismsstress susceptibility
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the specific neuronal ensembles activated by acute versus chronic drug exposure in the nucleus accumbens.
AIM 02Characterize the epigenetic changes induced by early life stress in brain regions related to reward and motivation.
AIM 03Identify molecular targets for future therapeutic interventions in drug addiction and stress-related disorders.
AIM 04Analyze transcriptional and chromatin changes in response to drug exposure and their impact on behavior.
AIM 05Explore the relationship between neuronal activity patterns and behavioral responses in addiction models.
Skills the Lab Values
mouse modelsRNA sequencingneuron cultureimmunohistochemistrybehavioral assaysviral vector techniquesproteomicschromatin immunoprecipitationmolecular cloningbioinformatics
Output against the department
Publications1,650top 1% of dept.9th of 671
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations133ktop 1% of dept.9th of 671
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.