Edward Levin

Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Edward Levin
Edward Levin

Overview

Dr. Levin is Chief of the Neurobehavioral Research Lab in the Psychiatry Department of Duke University Medical Center. His primary academic appointment is as Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He also has secondary appointments in the Department Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke. His primary research effort is to understand basic neural interactions underlying cognitive function and addiction and to apply this knowledge to better understand cognitive dysfunction and addiction disorders and to develop novel therapeutic treatments.

The three main research components of his laboratory are focused on the themes of the basic neurobiology of cognition and addiction, neurobehavioral toxicology and the development of novel therapeutic treatments for cognitive dysfunction and substance abuse. Currently, our principal research focus concerns nicotine. We have documented the basic effects of nicotine on learning memory and attention as well as nicotine self-administration. We are continuing with more mechanistic studies in rat models using selective lesions, local infusions and neurotransmitter interaction studies. We have found that nicotine improves memory performance not only in normal rats, but also in rats with lesions of hippocampal and basal forebrain connections. We are concentrating on alpha7 and alpha4beta2 nicotinic receptor subtypes in the hippocampus, amygdala , thalamus and frontal cortex and how they interact with dopamine D1 and D2 and glutamate NMDA systems with regard to memory and addiction. I am also conducting studies on human cognitive behavior. We have current studies to assess nicotine effects on attention, memory and mental processing speed in schizophrenia, Alzheimer's Disease and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In the area of neurobehavioral toxicology, I have continuing projects to characterize the adverse effects of prenatal and adolescent nicotine exposure. Our primary project in neurobehavioral toxicology focuses on the cognitive deficits caused by the marine toxins. The basic and applied aims of our research complement each other nicely. The findings concerning neural mechanisms underlying cognitive function help direct the behavioral toxicology and therapeutic development studies, while the applied studies provide important functional information concerning the importance of the basic mechanisms under investigation.

Positions

Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine

2021 School of Medicine

Director, Integrated Toxicology Program in the School of Medicine

1995 School of Medicine

Professor in the Environmental Sciences and Policy Division in the Nicholas School of the Environment

2015 Nicholas School of the Environment

Associate Professor of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology in the School of Medicine

1998 School of Medicine

Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience in the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

2013 Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences in the Institutes and Provost's Academic Units

2008 Institutes and Provost's Academic Units

Affiliate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society in the Institutes and Provost's Academic Units

2014 Institutes and Provost's Academic Units

Member of the Duke Cancer Institute in the School of Medicine

1989 School of Medicine

Education

Ph.D. 1984

1984 University of Wisconsin - Madison

Publications, Grants & Awards

Offices & Contact

323 Foster St
Durham, NC
27701
Box 104790
Durham, NC
27710