{"id":3478,"date":"2020-10-27T10:03:35","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T14:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/neuroid.uprrp.edu\/?page_id=3478"},"modified":"2021-07-12T13:17:39","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T17:17:39","slug":"omaris-velez-acevedo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/neuroid.uprrp.edu\/index.php\/omaris-velez-acevedo\/","title":{"rendered":"Omaris V\u00e9lez Acevedo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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University of Puerto Rico, R\u00edo Piedras Campus
Cellular Molecular<\/strong> Biology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home Research<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentor:<\/strong> Dr. Carlos A. Jim\u00e9nez Rivera
University of Puerto Rico
Medical Sciences Campus
San Juan, PR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project:\u00a0<\/strong>Effects on HCN protein expression of neurons in the PFC after Cocaine Intermittent Self-Administration<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Description of Project:<\/strong> My research focuses on elucidating neuroadaptations in the brain\u2019s natural reward-motivational system after cocaine self-administration. The brain\u2019s mesocorticolimbic (MCL) system structures such as the ventral tegmental area (VTA), prefrontal cortex (PFC), and the nucleus accumbens (NAc) are involved in the rewarding and reinforcing stimuli experienced after exposure to addictive drugs. It is known that the PFC represents a main component of drug-seeking in this system. However, the PFC\u2019s adaptations that are associated with drug-related behavior have not yet been fully elucidated. The Hyperpolarization-activated cation current (Ih) is an essential property of pyramidal neurons in the PFC that contributes to several critical neuronal activities, such as the rhythmic control of the cell, synaptic transmission, as well as dendritic integration. Therefore, changes in Ih conductance may alter several of these properties and, thus, the processing of information. The Intermittent Access of cocaine self-administration (IntA) is a pre-clinical paradigm that simulates the pattern of cocaine-use in humans. Our long-term goal is to identify neuroadaptations that could possibly contribute to the development of addictive behavior. The central hypothesis is that the temporal dynamics of cocaine intake in IntA, and it\u2019s resulting sensitization will have an effect in the HCN protein expression of pyramidal neurons. By using western blot analysis for protein expression we could give insights into the identification of a new molecular substrate involved in addictive behavior with the potential for it to be a target for the development of possible therapies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University of Puerto Rico, R\u00edo Piedras CampusCellular Molecular Biology Home Research Mentor: Dr. Carlos A. Jim\u00e9nez RiveraUniversity of Puerto RicoMedical Sciences CampusSan Juan, PR Project:\u00a0Effects on HCN protein expression of neurons in the PFC after Cocaine Intermittent Self-Administration Description of Project: My research focuses on elucidating neuroadaptations in the brain\u2019s natural reward-motivational system after cocaine self-administration. … <\/p>\n

Read more “Omaris V\u00e9lez Acevedo”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3478","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"NeuroID Program","author_link":"https:\/\/neuroid.uprrp.edu\/index.php\/author\/neuroid\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":null,"rttpg_excerpt":"University of Puerto Rico, R\u00edo Piedras CampusCellular Molecular Biology Home Research Mentor: Dr. Carlos A. Jim\u00e9nez RiveraUniversity of Puerto RicoMedical Sciences CampusSan Juan, PR Project:\u00a0Effects on HCN protein expression of neurons in the PFC after Cocaine Intermittent Self-Administration Description of Project: My research focuses on elucidating neuroadaptations in the brain\u2019s natural reward-motivational system after cocaine self-administration.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuroid.uprrp.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuroid.uprrp.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuroid.uprrp.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuroid.uprrp.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuroid.uprrp.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3478"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/neuroid.uprrp.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5877,"href":"https:\/\/neuroid.uprrp.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3478\/revisions\/5877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuroid.uprrp.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}