Vidhya Kumaresan, PhD
Assistant Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics

PhD, University of Rhode Island
MS, University of Rhode Island
BS, University of Madras



Dr. Kumaresan’s expertise is in behavioral neuropharmacology. Dr. Kumaresan studies the neurobiological underpinnings of addiction using cellular, molecular and behavioral methods. The overall research objective is to study neuronal activity-dependent plasticity and its relevance for brain disorders. The current focus is to understand the neurobiological bases of addiction to psychostimulants. Recidivism to drug abuse is a major hurdle in the successful treatment of addiction. Illicit drug use usurps neural circuits involved in survival enhancing behaviors. The goal is to elucidate the cellular and molecular underpinnings of drug-induced enduring neural plasticity in these circuits using a combination of behavioral, cellular and molecular approaches. In particular, Dr. Kumaresan employs a novel approach of using cell-permeable peptides that disrupt protein-protein interactions in vivo in order to study ongoing behavior. These approaches are expected to lead to successful treatment of relapse precipitated by drug re-exposure, drug-associated cues and stress. Knowledge gained from these studies will also be applicable to the treatment of other brain dysfunctions involving persistent memories such as PTSD. Research techniques used include: immunocytochemistry, western blots, operant conditioning methods and site-specific intracranial microinjections of pharmacological reagents, viral vectors encoding specific constructs designed to interfere with protein-protein interactions and cell permeable peptides.


Mechanisms of Cue-induced Reinstatement of Cocaine Seeking
09/15/2012 - 08/31/2015 (PI)
NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse
1R03DA030441-01A1



Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2012 Mechanisms of cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking. 1R03DA030441-01A1
1997 DEVELOPMENT OF AUDITORY FUNCTION 5F32DC000192-03 4
1996 DEVELOPMENT OF AUDITORY FUNCTION 5F32DC000192-02 4
1995 DEVELOPMENT OF AUDITORY FUNCTION 1F32DC000192-01 4

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

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  1. Kumaresan V, Lim Y, Juneja P, Tipton AE, de Guglielmo G, Carrette LLG, Kallupi M, Maturin L, Liu Y, George O, Zhang H. Abstinence from Escalation of Cocaine Intake Changes the microRNA Landscape in the Cortico-Accumbal Pathway. Biomedicines. 2023 May 05; 11(5).View Related Profiles. PMID: 37239038; PMCID: PMC10216163; DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11051368;
     
  2. Ratner MH, Downing SS, Guo O, Odamah KE, Stewart TM, Kumaresan V, Robitsek RJ, Xia W, Farb DH. Prodromal dysfunction of a5GABA-A receptor modulated hippocampal ripples occurs prior to neurodegeneration in the TgF344-AD rat model of Alzheimer's disease. Heliyon. 2021 Sep; 7(9):e07895.View Related Profiles. PMID: 34568591; PMCID: PMC8449175; DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07895;
     
  3. Moazzam M, Yim T, Kumaresan V, Henderson DC, Farrer LA, Zhang H. Analysis of telomere length variation and Shelterin complex subunit gene expression changes in ethanol-exposed human embryonic stem cells. J Psychiatr Res. 2021 11; 143:543-549.View Related Profiles. PMID: 33243459; PMCID: PMC8126580; DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.11.027;
     
  4. Ratner MH, Kumaresan V, Farb DH. Neurosteroid Actions in Memory and Neurologic/Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2019; 10:169.View Related Profiles. PMID: 31024441; PMCID: PMC6465949; DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00169;
     
  5. Sadri-Vakili G, Kumaresan V, Schmidt HD, Famous KR, Chawla P, Vassoler FM, Overland RP, Xia E, Bass CE, Terwilliger EF, Pierce RC, Cha JH. Cocaine-induced chromatin remodeling increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor transcription in the rat medial prefrontal cortex, which alters the reinforcing efficacy of cocaine. J Neurosci. 2010 Sep 1; 30(35):11735-44. PMID: 20810894; PMCID: PMC2943400; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2328-10.2010;
     
  6. Kumaresan V, Yuan M, Yee J, Famous KR, Anderson SM, Schmidt HD, Pierce RC. Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) antagonists attenuate cocaine priming- and cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking. Behav Brain Res. 2009 Sep 14; 202(2):238-44. PMID: 19463707; PMCID: PMC2844436; DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2009.03.039;
     
  7. Famous KR, Kumaresan V, Sadri-Vakili G, Schmidt HD, Mierke DF, Cha JH, Pierce RC. Phosphorylation-dependent trafficking of GluR2-containing AMPA receptors in the nucleus accumbens plays a critical role in the reinstatement of cocaine seeking. J Neurosci. 2008 Oct 22; 28(43):11061-70. PMID: 18945913; PMCID: PMC2601563; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1221-08.2008;
     
  8. Anderson SM, Famous KR, Sadri-Vakili G, Kumaresan V, Schmidt HD, Bass CE, Terwilliger EF, Cha JH, Pierce RC. CaMKII: a biochemical bridge linking accumbens dopamine and glutamate systems in cocaine seeking. Nat Neurosci. 2008 Mar; 11(3):344-53. PMID: 18278040; DOI: 10.1038/nn2054;
     
  9. Schmidt HD, Anderson SM, Famous KR, Kumaresan V, Pierce RC. Anatomy and pharmacology of cocaine priming-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. Eur J Pharmacol. 2005 Dec 5; 526(1-3):65-76. PMID: 16321382
     
  10. Pierce RC, Kumaresan V. The mesolimbic dopamine system: the final common pathway for the reinforcing effect of drugs of abuse? Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2006; 30(2):215-38. PMID: 16099045
     
Showing 10 of 11 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 11 publications over 9 distinct years, with a maximum of 2 publications in 2005 and 2008

YearPublications
19981
20052
20082
20091
20101
20191
20201
20211
20231

In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

addiction
Behavioral Neuroscience
cellular
drug abuse
glutamate transmission
Homer
metabotropic glutamate receptors
molecular
Neuropharmacology
PDZ-domains
PICK-1
protein-protein interactions
PSD-95
psychostimulants
scaffolding proteins
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Boston MA 02118
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