In the Cofresí lab, we use experimental behavioral conditioning procedures to model learning and memory about rewards like foods, drinks, and drugs in the human laboratory. We use psychophysiological methods, especially EEG and fMRI, to study and localize the neurocognitive correlates of reward learning and memory as well as reward anticipation and consumption, including the post-ingestive consequences of drugs like alcohol.

Our work is grounded in preclinical non-human animal model-based neuroscience frameworks and theories. Ultimately, we aim to translate and verify basic and intervention-related findings from preclinical addiction neuroscience laboratories into the human laboratory and bridge the gap to clinical applications and testing.

A current major goal of the Cofresí lab is to delineate the role of conditioned cue reactivity and incentive salience in eating, drinking, and drug use with a focus on alcohol use.

Our research is funded by the NIH (the National Institutes of Health) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

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