The Picciotto lab is part of a group of investigators interested in sex-specific responses to, and treatments for, addiction. This collaboration involves basic neuroscience studies (Picciotto Lab), human lab studies (McKee Lab) and human imaging studies (Cosgrove Lab). Previous projects have investigated sex differences in cholinergic responses to stress and nicotine reward. Our newest project extends the examination of these mechanisms to stress-induced alcohol intake, and focuses on measures of cholinergic, noradrenergic and GABAergic signaling and how these alter microglial activation and signaling.