Matthew M. Ford
Research Assistant Professor
Email
Office
MRB-734
Mail Code
L470
Major Areas and Interests
Behavioral Pharmacology, Neuroendocrinology, Addiction, Drug Reinforcement and Motivation, Drug Discrimination, Drug Self-Administration, Animal Models of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Summary of Current Research
Our laboratory group employs animal models of alcoholism to arrive at a better understanding of the physiological and psychological bases of drug abuse. Over the past several years our laboratory has developed multiple models that address the behavioral processes underlying self-administration, reinforcement, reinstatement, and discrimination. Previously, these behavior-based models were implemented to examine the influence of endogenous neuroactive steroids, which exhibit positive modulatory activity at GABAA receptors, on the appetitive and consumptive processes associated with alcohol self-administration. Two current and ongoing projects in the laboratory are addressing: 1) alcohol-nicotine interactions and the role of neuronal nicotinic receptors in mediating reward, and 2) alcohol-stress interactions and the role of environmental contingencies that result in 'conflict or cognitive' stress and associated 'binge' drinking. By investigating rodent models of alcohol consumption and discrimination (perception of subjective drug effects) it is hoped that brain mechanisms underlying the propensity to drink alcohol uncontrollably can be identified, and subsequently manipulated to provide more effective treatment options for alcohol abusers.
Recent Publications
Tanchuck MA, Long SL, Ford MM, Hashimoto J, Crabbe JC, Roselli CE, Wiren KM, Finn DA (2009) Selected Line Difference in the Effects of Ethanol Dependence and Withdrawal on Allopregnanolone Levels and 5alpha-Reductase Enzyme Activity and Expression. Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Epub ahead of print). PMID: 19740134
Ford MM, Fretwell AM, Nickel JD, Mark GP, Strong MN, Yoneyama N, Finn DA (2009) The influence of mecamylamine on ethanol and sucrose self-administration. Neuropharmacology 57:250-258. PMID: 19501109
Finn DA, Beckley EH, Kaufman KK, Ford MM (2009) Manipulation of GABAergic steroids: Sex differences in the effects on alcohol drinking- and withdrawal-related behaviors. Hormones and Behavior (Epub ahead of print). PMID: 19615369
Gililland KR, Tanchuck MA, Ford MM, Crabbe JC, Beadles-Bohling AS, Snelling C, Mark GP, Finn DA (2008) The neurosteroid environment in the hippocampus exerts bi-directional effects on seizure susceptibility in mice. Brain Research 1243:113-123. PMID: 18840414
Finn DA, Mark GP, Fretwell AM, Gililland KR, Strong MN, Ford MM (2008) Reinstatement of ethanol and sucrose seeking by the neurosteroid allopregnanolone in C57BL/6 mice. Psychopharmacology 201:423-433. PMID: 18758755
Ford MM, Yoneyama N, Strong MN, Finn DA (2008) Inhibition of 5α-Reduced Steroid Biosynthesis Impedes Acquisition of Ethanol Drinking in Male C57BL/6J Mice. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 32:1408-1416. PMID: 18565155
Ford MM, Nickel JD, Eddy S, Finn DA (2008) Ethanol intake patterns in female C57BL/6J mice: Influence of allopregnanolone and the inhibition of its synthesis. Drug & Alcohol Dependence 97:73-85. PMID: 18486362
Yoneyama N, Crabbe JC, Ford MM, Murillo A, Finn DA (2008) Voluntary Ethanol Consumption in 22 Inbred Mouse Strains. Alcohol 42:149-160. PMID: 18358676
Ford MM, Mark GP, Phillips TJ, Finn DA (2007) Allopregnanolone influences the consummatory processes that govern ethanol drinking in C57BL/6J mice. Behav Brain Res 179:265-272. PMID: 17376546
Ford MM, Mark GP, Finn DA (2007) Influence of reinforcement schedule on ethanol consumption patterns in non-food restricted male C57BL/6J mice. Alcohol 41:21-29. PMID: 17452296
Rhodes JS, Ford MM, Yu CH, Brown LL, Finn DA, Garland Jr. T, Crabbe JC (2007) Mouse inbred strain differences in ethanol drinking to intoxication. Genes Brain Behav 6:1-18. PMID: 17233637
Finn DA, Beadles-Bohling AS, Beckley EH, Ford MM, Gililland KR, Gorin-Meyer RE, Wiren KM (2006) A new look at the 5α-reductase inhibitor finasteride. CNS Drug Reviews 12:53-76. PMID: 16834758
Ford MM, Nickel JD, Finn DA (2005) Treatment with and withdrawal from finasteride alters ethanol intake patterns in male C57BL/6J mice: potential role of endogenous neurosteroids? Alcohol 37:23-33. PMID: 16472716
Ford MM, Nickel JD, Phillips TJ, Finn DA (2005) Neurosteroid modulators of GABAA receptors differentially modulate ethanol intake patterns in male C57BL/6J mice. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 29:1630-1640. PMID: 16205363
Ford MM, Eldridge JC, Samson HH (2004) Determination of an estradiol dose-response relationship in the modulation of ethanol intake. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 28:20-28. PMID: 14745299
Finn DA, Ford MM, Wiren KM, Roselli CE, Crabbe JC (2004) The role of pregnane neurosteroids in ethanol withdrawal: behavioral genetic approaches. Pharmacol Ther 101:91-112. PMID: 14761701
Finn DA, Sinnott RS, Ford MM, Long SL, Tanchuck MA, Phillips TJ (2004) Sex differences in the effect of ethanol injection and consumption on brain allopregananolone levels in C57BL/6 mice. Neuroscience 123: 813-819. PMID: 14751275
Ford MM, Eldridge JC, Samson HH (2002) Ethanol consumption in the female Long-Evans rat: a modulatory role of estradiol. Alcohol 26:103-113. PMID: 12007585
Ford MM, Eldridge JC, Samson HH (2002) Microanalysis of ethanol self-administration: estrous cycle phase-related changes in consumption patterns. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 26:635-643. PMID: 12045471
Education & Previous Positions
- B.S., Biology (1992-1996) Bucknell Univ.
- Ph.D., Pharmacology (1996-2002) Wake Forest Univ.
- Post-Doc, Behavioral Neuroscience (2002-2007) Oregon Health & Science Univ.
