Annabelle Flores Bonilla Neuroscientist and Science Communicator

Research

I am a PhD candidate in the Neuroscience and Behavior Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Under the mentorship of Dr. Heather Richardson, my current research focuses on the effects of alcohol binge drinking on oligodendroglial lineage cells and on circuits that undergo myelination during adolescent development.

As a neuroscientist, I am interested in the neurobiology of resilience. To do this, I aim to understand the cellular and circuit adaptations in response to stress and addiction. Individual differences in adaptations may elucidate differential mechanisms underlying the maladaptive reward and stress behaviors that induce pathological conditions such as alcohol binge drinking, drug addiction, and eating disorders.

Keywords: Addiction, Alcohol, Stress, Reward, Neuropeptides, Behavior

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Publications

Shortening time for access to alcohol drives up front-loading behavior, bringing consumption in male rats to the level of females. Annabelle Flores-Bonilla, Barbara De Oliveira, Andrea Silva-Gotay, Kyle W. Lucier, Heather N. Richardson.(2021). Biology of Sex Differences.

Sex Differences in Neurobiology of Alcohol Use Disorder. Annabelle Flores-Bonilla, Heather N. Richardson. (2020). Alcohol Research Current Reviews.

News

March 5, 2025 - Abstract accepted at Research Society on Alcohol

August 1, 2024 - Awarded the SFN Trainee Professional Development Award

March 6, 2024 - Presentation at Neuroscience and Behavior Seminar Series

September 21, 2023 - Neuroscience PhD candidate