Sex differences modulating anxiety and binge-drinking behaviours

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a growing women’s health issue. Within Australia alone alcohol leads to 15 deaths and 430 hospitalisations daily and costs the economy around $36 billion each year.

Over the past 20 years, rates of risky alcohol consumption have increased in women by 84%, relative to 35% in men. Recent studies showed Australian women have the highest rates of harmful alcohol use worldwide, with most alcohol use commencing during adolescence.

This dramatic increase is alarming given women also experience greater alcohol-associated health consequences, including heightened risk of alcohol associated cancers, cardiovascular conditions and stroke compared to men. However, until recently the consideration of sex in medical research has been largely ignored, with most therapies identified and tested exclusively in males leading to pharmacotherapies that are more efficacious in males and putting women in danger through higher frequency of adverse drug events.

This project investigates the neurobiology of binge drinking and anxiety-like behaviours in male and female mice. We use novel neuroscience techniques including RNAscope, confocal microscopy, viral mediated neuronal knockdown and calcium imaging (fiber photometry) to answer these questions.

We are also interested in the organisational role of circulating sex hormones. Periods of extreme fluctuations in circulating hormone levels, such as puberty in both sexes and pregnancy/postnatal and menopause in females are linked with increased development of mental health conditions. Our lab is researching the role that circulating hormones play in the development of brain regions involved in addiction and behaviour during these periods.