Biography
Jean Lud Cadet is a Haitian American psychiatrist that is credited with the co-authoring of over 300 writings on the effects and mechanisms of addiction on the brain. Upon graduation from Columbia University and after his completion of his residency at the Columbia and the Mount Sinai Health System, Jean Lud Cadet became part of the NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) where he became the National Institutes of Health Chief of the Molecular Neuropsychiatry Research Branch. His research began with connecting drug addiction to memory and has now completed a wide range of research and studies focused on drug addiction’s effects and impacts on the inner workings of the mind.
Education
Born in Haiti, Jean Lud Cadet attended a private high school, College Notre Dame, before moving to the United States. At a young age, he moved to New York City to continue his educational career. He attended the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons where he received a degree in medicine in 1979. He completed a residency in both the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia and the Department of Neurology at Mount Sinai Medical Center.
Career
Jean Lud Cadet has worked in many places in the field of psychiatry. He first went through a residency at Columbia University and the Neuroscience department of Mount Sinai hospital. Upon obtaining his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Cadet worked at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital, and New York State Psychiatric Institute as a psychiatrist. Then, in 1992, Dr. Cadet began working for the National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program in Baltimore, Maryland, where he is still employed at present. He is now the Chief of the Molecular Neuropsychiatry Research Branch of the NIDA IRP.
Research
Most of Jean Lud Cadet’s scientific/research ventures have occurred during his employment in Maryland, where his lab has overseen the research of drug abuse and addiction. Dr. Cadet can be quoted as saying “The purpose of my research is to identify cellular and molecular mechanisms that underpin methamphetamine addiction” in his Curriculum Vitae (Cadet Curriculum Vitae, 2021). Through this study he determined that rats could be separated into groups of addicts or no longer using methamphetamines based on a shock administered to their feet. In another study, Dr. Cadet found that some foods show similar impacts on the brain as drug abuse, and the findings of this study showed that in rats, an increase in sugar intake sensitizes D-1 and mu-1 receptors, which is a similar pattern of brain effects often seen in those dependant on drug use (Neuroreport, November 16, 2001). Another of Dr. Cadet’s notable studies is one in which he determined the effect of cocaine usage on the orbitofrontal cortex. It found that cocaine users experienced less activation in the right OFC while completing the Iowa Gambling Task which measures the ability to weigh short-term rewards against long-term losses. A better score on this test was positively correlated with higher activation in the OFC, and higher cocaine dosage per use was negatively correlated with OFC activation. This shows the impact of cocaine on the brain’s ability to make decisions, as they were seen to have functional abnormalities in prefrontal neural networks that take part in decision-making. This can be linked to the difficulty of breaking addiction, as the use of substances even 25 days prior still has an impact on your decision-making (NeuroImage, Volume 19, Issue 3, 2003, Pages 1085–1094).
Contributions To The Field
Through various studies and research papers, Dr. Cadet has provided insight on the presence of a relationship between compulsive drug taking versus abstinence/halted drug taking in light of epigenetic changes. He has also shown the difficulty of breaking addictive cycles, as the use of hard drugs has been shown to alter decision-making processes in the brain.
Connection
Jean Lud Cadet’s page on the Intramural Research Project detailing his research goals states that his research is geared towards the molecular and cellular aspects of the brain when faced with drug addiction. This connects to our unit on drugs in which we also looked at the molecular workings of drugs on the brain. We talked about both drugs that act as receptor agonists and receptor antagonists in class, and Dr. Cadet’s research looks at both these kinds of drugs, and how the sustained replacement of the natural neurotransmitters with drugs can impact the brain. Dr. Cadet’s studies are currently looking at how stimulants like oxycodone can cause epigenetic changes in the brain, and we discussed in class that the epigenome is heavily affected by one’s environment, like having a drug addiction.
References
Bolla, K. I., Brown, K., Eldreth, D., Tate, K., & Cadet, J. L. (2002, November 12). Dose-related neurocognitive effects of marijuana use. Neurology. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://n.neurology.org/content/59/9/1337
Bolla KI;Eldreth DA;London ED;Kiehl KA;Mouratidis M;Contoreggi C;Matochik JA;Kurian V;Cadet JL;Kimes AS;Funderburk FR;Ernst M; (n.d.). Orbitofrontal cortex dysfunction in abstinent cocaine abusers performing a decision-making task. NeuroImage. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12880834/
Colantuoni, C.1,2; Schwenker, J.1; McCarthy, J.1; Rada, P.1; Ladenheim, B.4; Cadet, J.-L.4; Schwartz, G. J.3; Moran, T. H.3; Hoebel, B. G.1, CA. Excessive sugar intake alters binding to dopamine and mu-opioid receptors in the brain. Neuroreport: November 16, 2001 — Volume 12 — Issue 16 — p 3549–3552
DemFractalsYo. (2022, September 18). Image of Agonist vs. Antagonist Drugs. PsychonautWiki. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Antagonist
Image of Columbia University. Admissions | Columbia University in the City of New York. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.columbia.edu/content/admissions
Psychology, 1D. of. (n.d.). Excessive sugar intake alters binding to dopamine and… : Neuroreport. LWW. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://journals.lww.com/neuroreport/fulltext/2001/11160/excessive_sugar_intake_alters_binding_to_dopamine.35.aspx
The Trustees of Princeton University. (n.d.). Jean Lud Cadet | Pan-African Scientific Research Council. Princeton University. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://pasrc.princeton.edu/members/individuals/jean-lud-cadet
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Principal investigators. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://irp.nih.gov/pi/jean-cadet
Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, October 7). Jean Lud Cadet. Wikipedia. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Lud_Cadet
