Heilig Lab

Preclinical and clinical research groups at the intersection of addiction, stress, and affect led by Markus Heilig. Part of @CSAN_LiU at @liu_universitet

[Neuropsychopharmacology @npp_journal]

#TWiNPP

Lofberg et al. evaluate the neurobiological cravings signature (NCS), an fMRI-based machine learning marker, as a predictor of outcomes in alcohol use disorder🧠 / @NeuroIP @Heilig_Lab @CSAN_LiU

https://t.co/zWcwrER1g5

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

Translational Research In Psychiatry Lab Basic Science - the 2026 edition✨

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

🔬 Excited to share our latest review on GABAB receptor dysfunction in #AUD and how #TMS can detect related neurophysiological changes!
https://t.co/7AXysexMQs
Thanks to our amazing team! Stay tuned for our upcoming study! 🚀

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

🏆 Chiara Montemitro @mon_chiara wins the #ECNP2025 Poster Award for our #TMS study on #GABAB receptors and #alcohol use!
Huge honour for our work on novel biomarkers for alcohol addiction. @ecnptweets

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

Another reason to celebrate! Rebecca Böhme @RebeccaBoehme receives the Eric K. Fernström Prize 2025 for young, particularly promising and successful researchers at Linköping University @CSAN_LiU . Congratulations!!

https://t.co/QpLdaT7JhL

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

Happy birthday to us! Ten years of great science @CSAN_LiU. We are celebrating in the best possible way during our anniversary retreat: with sharing science, fantastic presentations, and cake! 🥳

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

Warm congratulations to the
extraordinary Ida Fredriksson @CSAN_LiU for her #EBPS2025 Early Career Award! 👏☀️ @EurBehavPharm

[Neuropsychopharmacology @npp_journal]

#ThisWeekInNPP

Studies in animal models & healthy humans suggested that increasing the eCB ligand AEA (via FAAH inhibition) may be a novel PTSD treatment - but did it work? Find out in this recent paper from @MayoOnTheBrain @canna_brain @Heilig_Lab & co

https://t.co/xhYfnjyllD

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

And there is more to celebrate! 🥳 The @EurBehavPharm Early Career Award was awarded to Ida Fredriksson @CSAN_LiU! Grattis Ida!

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

Markus Heilig receives the 2025 Distinguished Researcher Award @RSAposts!
From the report: "Dr. Heilig is clearly an international leader who has done outstanding bench-to-bedside research that has had a huge impact on AUD research and on our society." Congrats from the lab!!

[The Mathison Centre @MathisonCentre]

A huge thank you to all of our speakers and attendees for making "The Intersection of Stress and Addiction" such a success!

[The Mathison Centre @MathisonCentre]

Our final keynote speaker, Dr. Markus Heilig @Heilig_Lab, delivered a thought-provoking talk on “Deconstructing alcohol addiction in search of druggable molecular mechanisms”!

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

Congratulations to our newest doctor @SanneToivainen! Last Friday she brilliantly defended her thesis "Compulsive Alcohol Self-Administration in Rats: Neural Mechanisms and Sex Differences".

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

She nailed it! @SanneToivainen

A Swedish classic: the spikning of the thesis. Looking forward to Sanne's PhD defense on April 11th!

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

🧠 Exciting news at @CSAN_LiU

We just wrapped up the last session for our #TMS study about #GABAB receptors in #alcohol consumption.
Special thanks to all our participants!
Stay tuned for outcomes and insights, and check out our preregistration: https://t.co/OOCJmgpi6F.

[Olivier George @brainaddiction]

Why do some heavy drinkers keep choosing alcohol over other rewards, even when it costs them? An interesting paper from the @Heilig_Lab looks into how drinking severity influences choice when alcohol competes with natural reward.

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

Congratulations to the newly minted doctor doctor @KChanthongdee! He successfully defended his thesis on epigenetic mechanisms underlying fear memories and alcohol relapse @CSAN_LiU, co-supervised by @EstelledBarbier. Interesting discussions with opponent Howard Becker @MedUnivSC

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

Whilst there are numerous transgenic mouse lines, rat lines are sparse. Now, we can target PKCdelta neurons in rats too! Our paper on the generation and characterisation of the PKCdelta-cre knock-in rat in JNeurosci @SfNJournals

[SfN Journals @SfNJournals]

#JNeurosci: Toivainen, Petrella et al. generated and characterized a novel PKCδ-Cre knock-in rat model that offers novel opportunities for functional studies of PKCδ-expressing neurons in behaviors relevant to human conditions. @liu_universitet
https://t.co/WUmRhCFD2G

[SfN Journals @SfNJournals]

#JNeurosci: Toivainen, Petrella et al. generated and characterized a novel PKCδ-Cre knock-in rat model that offers novel opportunities for functional studies of PKCδ-expressing neurons in behaviors relevant to human conditions. @liu_universitet
https://t.co/WUmRhCFD2G

[Heilig Lab @Heilig_Lab]

Lab retreat with the preclinical research group. A day full of wonderful science, great discussions and new ideas!