Ricardo Pautassi, PhD

I have always been interested in understanding the psychobiology of drug disorders. Over the course of my career, I became more and more focused on how early experiences with drugs, well before adulthood, can determine life-long trajectories of involvement in alcohol and other drugs. Although my original training mainly led to the mastering of behavioral techniques (including the thorough and painstaking acquisition of skills for analyzing operant-self administration of ethanol in immature rats), subsequent experiences have enabled me to develop considerable expertise in performing epidemiological, pharmacological and molecular studies involving human subjects or animal models. While my primary interests have stayed within the realm of addictive disorders, I am also highly interested in understanding the acquisition of early taste and food preferences, and have spent a considerable amount of time investigating personality and cognitive factors involved in pathological (e.g., addiction) and normal, including educational, processes.