Description: Effects of Peri-Adolescent Licit and Illicit Drug Use on the Developing CNS: Part II, Volume 161, in the International Review on Neurobiology serial highlights new advances, with this volume presenting chapters on topics including Introduction to Effects of Peri-Adolescent Licit and Illicit Drug Use on the Developing CNS, Peri-adolescent Exposure to (Meth)amphetamine in Animal Models, The Impact of Adolescent Nicotine Exposure on Alcohol Use During Adulthood: The Role of Neuropeptides, Cannabis Exposure During Adolescence: A uniquely Sensitive Period for Neurobiological Effects, The Stoned Age: Sex Differences in the Effects of Adolescent Cannabinoid Exposure on Prefrontal Cortex Structure and Function in Animal Models, and more.
Brief description: Dr. Bell received a Bachelor of Arts in General Psychology and Addiction Counseling from Minot State University (Minot, ND) and went on to receive a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Biopsychology, with a minor in Biostatistics, from the University of New Orleans (New Orleans, LA). He is presently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Indiana University School of Medicine (Indianapolis, IN). He has been researching the in vivo effects of alcohol for 20 years and has maintained continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health--National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for close to 15 years. His research during this time has focused on the behavioral genetics of rat lines selectively bred to consume high, vs very low, amounts of ethanol. The high ethanol-consuming rat lines display intakes corresponding with that of a 70 kg male drinking a fifth, or more, of 90-proof whiskey every day. These rat lines display many of the behavioral, physiological, neurochemical and genetic characteristics observed in clinical family history positive (FHP), for alcoholism, individuals; whereas the low ethanol-consuming rat lines serve as an animal model of family history negative (FHN) individuals. Moreover, these high ethanol-consuming rat lines meet established criteria for an animal model of alcoholism. Regarding this, he has written extensively on the genotypic as well as behavioral and neurochemical phenotypic characteristics of these and other major, international selectively bred high vs low ethanol-consuming rat lines. His more recent research has focused on three major areas: (1) innate and ethanol-induced changes in gene expression within subregions of the mesocorticolimbic and extended amygdala reward neurocircuits; (2) the acute as well as chronic behavioral and neurochemical effects of ethanol and/or nicotine exposure during adolescence and emerging adulthood; and (3) differences in the genetic, behavioral and neurochemical effects of binge-like, non-binge-like and relapse-like ethanol drinking and/or nicotine consumption. Scholastically, Dr. Bell has presented his findings to professional and lay audiences locally, nationally and internationally. He has published approximately 120 journal articles and book chapters. He serves as Associate Editor, Review Editor or Reviewer for over 50 international journals. He serves as a grant reviewer for the Veterans Affairs and the National Institutes of Health as well as multiple international academic institutions and is a member of the Research Society on Alcoholism--Animal Research and Ethics Committee.