Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
I am interested in understanding the mechanisms by which oxytocin and oxytocin-like compounds work in the brain to reduce the rewarding effects and abuse potential of licit and illicit drugs. This is to investigate whether oxytocin could be used as a pharmacological treatment.
I am also interested in how early life trauma can disrupt the oxytocin system and the impact this has on mental health and susceptibility for drug addiction later in life. Importantly, I want to identify those who are more vulnerable, or more resilient, to later-life mental illness following early life trauma, and characterise these two populations so that targeted treatment can be developed for those most vulnerable.
Teaching
- ANTH106: Drugs Across Cultures
- PSY236: Biopsychology and Learning
- PSY354: Clinical and Experimental Neuroscience
- PSY461: Advanced Topics in Physiological Psychology
Research student supervision
I supervise students in the following research areas:
- Understanding the neural mechanisms of drug addiction
- Examining the impact of early life stress on later-life vulnerability for mental illness
- Understanding the role of oxytocin as a treatment for drug addiction
External positions
Visiting Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University
17 Feb 2017 → 30 Jun 2017Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney
1 Jul 2015 → 15 Jan 2017Fingerprint Fingerprint is based on mining the text of the person's scientific documents to create an index of weighted terms, which defines the key subjects of each individual researcher.
- 3 Similar Profiles
Oxytocin
Medicine & Life Sciences
Methamphetamine
Medicine & Life Sciences
Subthalamic Nucleus
Medicine & Life Sciences
Nucleus Accumbens
Medicine & Life Sciences
Oxytocin Receptors
Medicine & Life Sciences
Self Administration
Medicine & Life Sciences
Reward
Medicine & Life Sciences
Substance-Related Disorders
Medicine & Life Sciences
Network
Recent external collaboration on country level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots.
Projects 2016 2018
MQRIS Small: Enhancing electrochemical recording techniques in the animal research facility
Cornish, J., Baracz, S., McMullan, S., Goodchild, A., Barron, A. & Hildreth, C.
1/01/18 → 31/12/18
Project: Other
Assessing the effects of SOC-1 on fixed ratio responding for oxycodone in male sprague dawley rats- Oxycodone Study
1/12/17 → 18/07/18
Project: Consultancy › Faculty Grant (FBE and FoHSC ONLY)
Research Output 2012 2018
The neurocircuitry involved in oxytocin modulation of methamphetamine addiction
Baracz, S. J. & Cornish, J. L. 1 Oct 2016 In : Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology. 43, p. 1-18 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
Methamphetamine
Oxytocin
Subthalamic Nucleus
Substance-Related Disorders
Drug Therapy
Oxytocin in the nucleus accumbens core reduces reinstatement of methamphetamine-seeking behaviour in rats
Baracz, S. J., Everett, N. A., McGregor, I. S. & Cornish, J. L. 1 Mar 2016 In : Addiction Biology. 21, 2, p. 316-325 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Methamphetamine
Nucleus Accumbens
Oxytocin
Oxytocin Receptors
Reward
Adolescent pre-treatment with oxytocin protects against adult methamphetamine-seeking behavior in female rats
Hicks, C., Cornish, J. L., Baracz, S. J., Suraev, A. & McGregor, I. S. 1 Mar 2016 In : Addiction Biology. 21, 2, p. 304-315 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Methamphetamine
Oxytocin
Reinforcement Schedule
Self Administration
Therapeutics
The L-type calcium channel blocker, isradipine, attenuates cue-induced cocaine-seeking by enhancing dopaminergic activity in the ventral tegmental area to nucleus accumbens pathway
Addy, N. A., Nunes, E. J., Hughley, S. M., Small, K. M., Baracz, S. J., Haight, J. L. & Rajadhyaksha, A. M. 2018 In : Neuropsychopharmacology. 43, p. 2361–2372 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Isradipine
L-Type Calcium Channels
Ventral Tegmental Area
Nucleus Accumbens
Calcium Channel Blockers
The impact of early life stress on the central oxytocin system and susceptibility for drug addiction: applicability of oxytocin as a pharmacotherapy
Baracz, S. J., Everett, N. A. & Cornish, J. L. 1 Jan 2018 (Accepted/In press) In : Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Oxytocin
Psychological Stress
Substance-Related Disorders
Drug Therapy
Social Behavior
Prizes
Press / Media
How childhood trauma changes our hormones, and thus our mental health, into adulthood
17/10/17
1 media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment