McGarrah, Patrick2012-05-092012-05-092012-04-18https://hdl.handle.net/11299/123349Mentor: Ping-Yee LawOpioids are currently the most powerful medications available for the treatment of severe pain. Unfortunately, their strong analgesic capabilities are complicated by the risk of tolerance, dependence, and abuse. Previous studies have modeled drug addiction as a pathological form of experienced-based learning. Opioids have profound effects on the stability of dendritic spines, which are believed to be important in learning and memory. The internalization of opioid receptors following ligand binding positively influence the stability of dendritic spines. The present study examined whether different opioid receptor subtypes could be induced to internalize following administration of a ‘non-internalizing’ agonist, such as morphine.en-USPhysiologyDepartment of PharmacologyPresentation