Our research aims to identify the neurobiological mechanisms underlying stress and addiction. We focus on adolescent drinking as a risk factor for addiction later in life. Rodent models are used in combination with biochemical, neuroanatomical, and behavioral approaches to answer these questions. Current projects include investigating the differential effect of alcohol on myelination of corticolimbic circuitry in males and females, and the role of modulatory factors such as gonadal and stress hormones in this process.