"Modafinil neuroprotective profile against methamphetamine-induced deleterious effects: evidences from animal models"

V. BISAGNO

San Diego

Exposición; TMARC Visting Fulbright Scholar Lecture; 2013

UCSD

A. Personal Statement As part of a collaborative effort, our team first described the fact that repetitive administration of cocaine altered the intrinsic properties of thalamocortical neurons and GABAergic transmission, resulting in the enhancement of low frequency EEG (i.e., inducing a thalamocortical dysrhythmia, TCD). Our findings suggest the presence of over-inhibition of thalamic nuclei under the influence of cocaine, as observed after repeated cocaine administration in rodents (Urbano et al., 2009). Also, we described for the first time that modafinil administration was able to block methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity in female and male mice (Raineri et al., 2011 and Raineri et al., 2012). These data from basic studies has considerable translational value since modafinil is currently being used off-label to treat psychostimulant addiction. Our current research goals are to verify whether modafinil is also able to rescue methamphetamine-induce cognitive deficits and the molecular pathways involved in its protective effects.