Center for the Translational Neuroscience of Alcohol

The CTNA's mission is to promote the translation of basic neuroscience advances into clinical neuroscience insights in the study of alcoholism. The CTNA conducts interdisciplinary research by combining neurochemical, physiological, and behavioral measurements within studies.

The CTNA is designed to bridge the gap between the basic and clinical neuroscience of alcoholism. Using cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, the main objectives are:

• To understand how sensitivity to reward contributes to the vulnerability to alcoholism.
• To investigate the role of glutamate circuits to the vulnerability to alcoholism.
• To characterize the factors influencing the transition from vulnerability to habitual use.
• To develop and test novel treatments for alcoholism

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the website of the NIAAA Center for the Transitional Neuroscience of Alcohol (CTNA) based at Yale University Department of Psychiatry. CTNA is a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional effort spanning 10 years of research with the primary focus on understanding and treating alcoholism. CTNA conducts groundbreaking molecular neuroscience, molecular genetics, functional and chemical neuroimaging, and psychopharmacology studies in the service of providing new insights to bridge the gap between basic and clinical research. The CTNA has developed remarkable and outstanding programs of research.

Currently, following its second competitive renewal, CTNA is focused on understanding the mechanisms through which disturbances in glutamate and dopamine neurotransmission within cortico-limbic circuitry promote the development of pathological drinking. Building on this perspective and its prior achievements, CTNA will explore novel approaches to the pharmacotherapy of alcoholism. As a Center, we are focused on facilitating transdisciplinary research within projects and across projects. CTNA also emphasizes its highly productive Pilot Projects Core that provides an open competitive mechanism to enable the Center to rapidly encompass innovative new research and to engage outstanding investigators new to alcoholism research.

Furthermore, CTNA fosters a strong educational mission, building on the success of the NIAAA Research Fellowship and the International Conference on the Applications of Neuroimaging to Alcoholism. Also, as part of our educational mission, CTNA is dedicated to bringing national and international experts in alcoholism research to lecture at Yale University. CTNA is a tremendously exciting and collaborative research environment dedicated to understanding and treating alcoholism. We invite you to explore our research programs, options for participation in our studies as well as educational and training opportunities.

John H. Krystal, MD
Director