Kathleen Kantak

Director: Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience

Dr. Kantak began as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Boston University in 1982 and founded the Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience. She rose through the ranks to Full Professor, with tenure. She is concurrently affiliated with the Center for Neuroscience, the Interdisciplinary Graduate and Undergraduate Programs in Neuroscience, the Bimolecular Pharmacology Graduate Training Program, and the Transformative Training Program in Addiction Science at Boston University. She also holds an appointment as Lecturer at Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry (Psychobiology) in conjunction with the Division of Behavioral Biology at the New England Primate Research Center. Dr. Kantak has received grant funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse since 1987 to study various aspects of drug addiction, including medication development and other treatment modalities.

Her current research focuses on cognitive aspects of addiction-related behavior. Her overall goal is to conduct translational research using trans-species behavioral models of cognition and drug abuse and to interface her work with that of neurobiologists to understand mechanisms and with that of clinicians to improve drug addiction treatment outcomes.

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Selected Publications

• Kantak KM, Nic Dhonnchadha BÁ (2011) Pharmacological Enhancement of Drug Cue Extinction Learning: Translational Challenges. In: Addiction Reviews 2010, George Uhl editor, Ann NY Acad Sci. 1216: 122-137.
• Harvey RC, Sen S, Deaciuc A, Dwoskin LP, Kantak KM (2011). Methylphenidate treatment in adolescent rats with an attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder phenotype: Cocaine addiction vulnerability and dopamine transporter function. Neuropsychopharmacology, 36: 837-847.
• Nic Dhonnchadha BÁ, Lovascio B, Shrestha N, Kirkman C, Lin A, Leite-Morris KA, Man HY, Kaplan GB, Kantak KM (2012) Changes in expression of c-Fos protein following cocaine-cue extinction learning. Behav Brain Res. 234:100-106.
• Achat-Mendes C, Nic Dhonnchadha BA, Platt DM, Kantak KM, Spealman RD (2012). Glycine transporter-1 inhibition preceding extinction training inhibits reacquisition of cocaine seeking. Neuropsychopharmacology. 37: 2837-2845.
• Nic Dhonnchadha BA, Lin A, Leite-Morris KA, Kaplan GB, Man HY, Kantak KM (2013). Alterations in expression and phosphorylation of GluA1 receptors following cocaine-cue extinction learning. Behav Brain Res, 238: 119-123.
• Somkuwar SS, Darna M, Kantak KM, Dwoskin LP (2013). Adolescence methylphenidate treatment in a rodent model of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Dopamine transporter function and cellular distribution in adulthood. Biochemical Pharmacology, 86: 309-316.
• Somkuwar SS*, Jordan CJ*, Kantak KM, Dwoskin LP (2013). Adolescent atomoxetine treatment in a rodent model of ADHD: Effects on cocaine self-administration and dopamine transporters in frontostriatal regions. Neuropsychopharmacology, in press.
  * co-first authors