Dr. Steven Laviolette

Biography

Dr. Steven Laviolette, Associate Professor and N.A.R.S.A.D. Young Investigator, Department of Medicine at University of Western Ontario, Canada. Ph.D. University of Toronto .

Research Interest

Dr. Laviolette's research interests explore the interface between neurobiology, psychology and emotion by using an integrative combination of in vivo neuronal electrophysiology and behavioural neuropharmacology. At the general level, Dr. Laviolette is interested in exploring the neurobiological mechanisms that control how the brain processes emotionally salient information and how disturbances in these basic neural processes may lead to disorders such as addiction and schizophrenia. Dr. Laviolette's investigations into the neurobiology of addiction have focused on nicotine and opiates, both of which represent highly addictive substances and act on pathways in the brain that control reward, motivation and learning. Dr. Laviolette's research group has characterized and identified specific regions in the mammalian brain that control the ‘switch’ from the non-addicted state, to the addicted state following exposure to drugs of abuse. Their ongoing research seeks to precisely define and identify the neurobiological mechanisms that control the addiction process at the behavioural, molecular and single neuron levels of analysis. In addition, Dr. Laviolette's research group is interested in exploring the neuronal mechanisms of emotional associative learning both in single neurons and in specific brain circuits. They have focused on the roles of the endocannabinoid system and specific dopamine receptor populations in the processing of emotionally salient information. Their ongoing research seeks to examine how disturbances in these brain receptor substrates may underlie the distorted sensory processing and emotional associative learning observed in individuals with schizophrenia.