The Emotional Brain: Role in Depression and Addiction
to
Huda Akil, Ph.D.
Research Professor, Michigan Neuroscience Institute
Gardner C. Quarton Distinguished University Professor of Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry
Michigan Neuroscience Institute; University of Michigan
Huda Akil is a neuroscientist whose research has contributed to the understanding of the neurobiology of emotions, including pain, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. Akil and her colleagues are best known for providing the first physiological evidence for a role of endorphins in the brain and demonstrating that endorphins are activated by stress and can cause pain inhibition. Akil is a Gardner C. Quarton Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School. She previously served as co-director of the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience institute and the University of Michigan node of the Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Consortium with her husband, Stanley Watson. Akil is also one of seven leading scientists that comprise the Hope For Depression Research Task Force, whom developed a research plan that combines the currently most advanced knowledge in genetics, epigenetics, molecular biology, electrophysiology, and brain imaging in an effort to accelerate cutting-edge scientific research pertaining to depression and its related mood and emotional disorders. Throughout her career, she has been honored with numerous awards and membership to various societies, most notably she served as a past President of the Society for Neuroscience, the largest neuroscience organization in the world.
Summary
In spite of great advances in neuroscience and related fields, we are confronting a global mental health crisis with sharp increases in depression, anxiety disorders and addiction- all disorders triggered and exacerbated by stress. This presentation will ask: How can neuroscience help?
The talk will highlight the interplay between genes, environment and experience in shaping stress responsiveness, and describe strategies for predicting stress-related disorders in both animal models and human studies. It will discuss neurobiological mechanisms of resilience and the importance of prevention strategies in confronting the mental health crisis.
Learning Objectives:
- The interplay of genetic and non-genetic mechanisms in shaping stress responses that contribute to depression, anxiety and addictive behaviors.
- Resilience as a complex and active process with neurobiological mechanisms that are being uncovered
- Prevention in the context of the mental health crisis- Framework and approaches.
This page was last updated on Friday, January 16, 2026