PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR TO STUDY LINK BETWEEN BRAIN CHEMISTY, ALCOHOLISM

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Dr. Judith Grisel, the Herman N. Hipp Assistant Professor of Psychology at Furman University, has received a $137,000 grant to study why low levels of a certain chemical in the brain can lead to an increased risk of alcoholism.

The three-year grant, "Ethanol Sensitivity in Beta-Endorphin Deficient Mice," was awarded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Grisel will study how beta-endorphin, a morphine-like substance produced by the brain, affects sensitivity to alcohol and whether this relationship contributes to excessive alcohol use.

"Differences in brain chemistry lead to differences in the way drugs like alcohol work in the brain," Grisel said. "Researchers have shown that those with a family history of alcoholism tend to have lower levels of beta-endorphin and have further suggested that alcoholics may be trying to self-medicate this deficiency because alcohol stimulates beta-endorphin's release. I am interested in studying how beta-endorphin affects sensitivity to alcohol."

Grisel said her earlier studies show that mice lacking beta-endorphin self-administer more alcohol and exhibit an enhanced alcohol-mediated reduction in anxiety, despite the fact that under normal conditions anxiety increases as beta-endorphin levels decrease. This preliminary data, she said, suggests that beta-endorphin levels may affect sensitivity to alcohol by modulating the animal's response to stressful situations.

Grisel, who joined the Furman faculty in 1997, is the first recipient of the Herman N. Hipp University Professorship. Endowed by the family of the late Greenville businessman Herman N. Hipp, the professorship is a three-year appointment to support junior faculty members of extraordinary promise in any academic department.

A graduate of Florida Atlantic University, Grisel earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in behavioral neuroscience/psychology from the University of Colorado. She also spent three years in post-doctoral training at the Portland (Ore.) Alcohol Research Center and one year as a visiting professor at Reed College.

She has authored and co-authored numerous research papers on drug abuse and alcoholism, and served as science editor for the nationally syndicated radio show, "Recovery Road," on KEX in Portland. She is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, Association for Women in Science, Research Society for Alcoholism, and the International Brain Research Organization.

For more information, contact Dr. Judith Grisel at 864-294-3218 or Furman's Office of News and Media Relations at 864-294-3107.