Dr. Bo Chen's primary research focus is the neural circuit mechanisms underlying sleep and addiction. His work aims to uncover how specific neural circuits contribute to addictive behaviors and how sleep patterns can modulate them, providing a foundation for non-pharmacological interventions. Dr. Chen's research has demonstrated  time-dependent adaptive changes in the amygdala during addiction and to reveal the role of specific sleep states in regulating drug-seeking behavior, offering novel therapeutic insights. His findings have been published in international journals including Molecular Psychiatry, Journal of Neuroscience, Neuropsychopharmacology.

The neural circuit mechanisms underlying sleep and addiction.

1. Jiang S, Lai S, Jing H, Wu X, Li F, Chen B, Bao J, Wang L, Chen G, Zhu Y. High-fat diet disrupts a septal control on feeding to promote obesity in male mice. Nat Commun. 2025 Dec 27;17(1):1248. 
2. Guo R, Wang Y, Yan R, Chen B, Ding W, Gorczyca MT, Ozsoy S, Cai L, Hines RL, Tseng GC, Allocca G, Dong Y, Fang J, Huang YH. Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Engages Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Neurons to Reduce Cocaine Seeking. Biol Psychiatry. 2022 Dec 1;92(11):880-894. 
3. Hou G, Jiang S, Chen G, Deng X, Li F, Xu H, Chen B, Zhu Y. Opioid Receptors Modulate Firing and Synaptic Transmission in the Paraventricular Nucleus of the Thalamus. J Neurosci. 2023 Apr 12;43(15):2682-2695. 
4. Wang Y, Guo R, Chen B, Rahman T, Cai L, Li Y, Dong Y, Tseng GC, Fang J, Seney ML, Huang YH. Cocaine-induced neural adaptations in the lateral hypothalamic melanin-concentrating hormone neurons and the role in regulating rapid eye movement sleep after withdrawal. Mol Psychiatry. 2021 Jul;26(7):3152-3168. 
5. Chen B, Wang Y, Liu X, Liu Z, Dong Y, Huang YH. Sleep Regulates Incubation of Cocaine Craving. J Neurosci. 2015 Sep 30;35(39):13300-10. 

Dr. Chen has obtained research grants from Guangdong Province and Shenzhen Municipality, and has contributed to major initiatives including the national STI 2030 "Brain Science and Brain-Like Intelligence"Project and the Guangdong Provincial Outstanding Young Team Project.