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High-precision mapping reveals the structure of odor coding in the human brain

Hot Off the Press – September 2023 Published in Nature Neuroscience by Thorsten Kahnt, et al. Summary Odorous molecules evoke distributed patterns of activity in olfactory cortices but how these patterns map onto inherently subjective odor percepts has remained unclear. In this study, Sagar and colleagues addressed this question by collecting high-resolution neural and perceptual… [Read More]

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Featured Papers

Alkoxy chain length governs the potency of 2-benzylbenzimidazole ‘nitazene’ opioids associated with human overdose

Featured Paper of the Month – February 2024
Published in Psychopharmacology by Grant Glatfelter and Michael Baumann et al. of the NIDA IRP Designer Drug Research Unit.

Our findings reveal that nitazenes are potent mu-opioid receptor agonists that induce opioid-like effects in mice. Importantly, we show that certain analogs (e.g., isotonitazene, etonitazene) are much more potent than fentanyl, portending serious risk of overdose and other adverse effects in humans who are exposed to the drugs.

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