Research Contributions

Aponte’s lab focuses on the rewarding associations of food and drugs by using mice and rats as the model system. The purpose of her research is to bring light to the ways in which both substance abuse and eating disorders work in the brain to bring about treatment and/or other ways of eradicating those ailments (NIDA IRP - Yeka Aponte, ph.D.. 2023). Aponte’s research was completed primarily through the use of both electrophysiology, two- and single-photon fluorescence endomicroscopy, and through the behavioral analysis of the basic survival behaviors such as feeding and pain (NIDA IRP - Yeka Aponte, ph.D.. 2023). Aponte says that “understanding the mechanisms regulating food intake and the rewarding and addictive nature of food will enhance our ability to battle disorders such as obesite, diabetes, anorexia, addiction, etc. (NIDA IRP - Yeka Aponte, ph.D.. 2023).

Image citation

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022, June 27). National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program - neuronal circuits and behavior unit. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved April 10, 2023, from https://irp.nida.nih.gov/organization/cnsb/ncbs/