University of Minnesota-Twin Cities · PharmacologyAtwood Neurobiology Lab
Brady Atwood · Minneapolis, Minnesota
Research Focus
Dr. Brady Atwood's lab at the University of Minnesota focuses on understanding how prenatal exposure to opioids, specifically methadone, affects brain circuits involved in alcohol behaviors. The research primarily uses a mouse model to investigate the differences between male and female offspring regarding their susceptibility to alcohol consumption. The lab aims to uncover the neural mechanisms that explain why males may be more affected by prenatal opioid exposure when it comes to drinking behaviors.
prenatal opioid exposurealcohol behaviormale susceptibilitycorticostriatal circuitssynaptic plasticityproteomicsbinge drinkingopiate addictionneural mechanisms
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate how prenatal methadone exposure influences alcohol drinking habits in male offspring.
AIM 02Elucidate the synaptic changes in the dorsal striatum due to prenatal opioid exposure.
AIM 03Explore the differences in alcohol-related behaviors between male and female mice.
AIM 04Assess the role of glutamate transmission in modulating alcohol consumption.
AIM 05Develop a better understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying substance use disorders.
Skills the Lab Values
mouse modelsbehavioral assaysbrain slice electrophysiologyproteomic analysisoptogeneticsconfocal microscopylong-term depression measurementdata analysismolecular biology techniques
Output against the department
Publications99bottom 25% of dept.347th of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations3.9kbottom 30% of dept.322nd of 462
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.