Behavioral and Pharmacological Investigations of Opioid Analgesics, Drugs of Abuse and Other Psychoactive Compounds

In the past 25 years, Dr. Dykstra’s research has focused on the study of opioid analgesics, with particular focus on opioids that are less likely to produce physical dependence and abuse. Research in Dr. Dykstra's laboratory has examined the relationship between the analgesic effects of opioid analgesics and their interaction with specific opioid receptor types. A more recent research interest includes investigations of genetically-altered mice with relevance to drug dependence and the development of models of mouse behavior for examining behavioral phenotypes related to a range of behavioral disorders.