Bruno Aouizerate

Biography

 His research activity is based on understanding the physiopathological basis of compulsive behavior, whether it is integrated into the nosographic framework of addiction or that of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Addiction refers to a mode of compulsive use of a substance and the loss of control over it, with drug taking then becoming the main purpose of the behavioral activity of the individual. TOC results in repetitive behaviors (eg, hand-washing, ordering, checking) that the subject feels obliged to perform in response to obsessive thinking and intended to neutralize or diminish the feeling of distress caused by the emergence of the latter. On the basis of these clinical considerations, my work between 1995 and 2003 focused on a better knowledge of the neuroendocrine factors predisposing to the development of a state of vulnerability to drug abuse. It was carried out in the Psychobiology of Adaptive Behaviors Unit of Professor Michel Le Moal under the direction of Dr Pier Vincenzo Piazza (INSERM U259-U588). It enabled us to better define, in a comparative animal / man analysis, the role of glucocorticoid hormone receptors in modulating the effects of drugs, promoting the acquisition and maintenance of toxicophilic behavior in the vulnerable individual. This research activity was the subject of a DEA in Neurosciences (1995-1996) (a grant from the Foundation for Medical Research), and a PhD in Science (1996-2000) (INSERM Post Office, 1996-1998), options Neurosciences and Pharmacology.

Research Interest

 Neurology