Home Department: Human Biology
Mentor: William Giardino (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences)

"Sex-Specific Extended Amygdala Circuits Underlying the Impact of Early Life Stress on Morphine Reward and Pain Sensitivity"

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase risk for developing opioid use disorder (OUD) and chronic pain conditions, with the latter further predisposing individuals to opioid misuse and OUD. Women are more likely to experience ACEs, chronic pain, and pain-related opioid use, but the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the relationship between ACEs, biological sex, pain, and opioid use vulnerability remain largely unknown. Aniyah’s project examines the sex-specific role of neuropeptide neurons of the extended amygdala in mediating impacts of early life stress (ELS) on morphine reward and pain sensitivity in mice. She hypothesizes that ELS heightens morphine-seeking and pain sensitivity in a neuronal activity-dependent manner, with these effects differing by sex and varying across hormonal fluctuations.