Laura Ornelas

Assistant Professor

Photo: Laura Ornelas
Email: 
lco21@unm.edu
Office: 
Logan Hall
Education: 
Ph.D., Baylor University; Postdoctoral Training: Center for Alcohol Studies at UNC Chapel Hill

Research Area/s:

Cognition, Brain and Behavior

Research Interests:

  • Neurobiology of PTSD and Alcohol Use Disorders
  • Neurophysiological properties associated with maladaptive stress coping and alcohol drinking
  • Behavioral and neurobiological consequences of prenatal alcohol and cannabinoid exposure

Profile:

Dr. Ornelas is accepting students for the Fall 2025. 

 

Please contact me via email if you are interested in obtaining undergraduate research experience or pursuing graduate studies in my laboratory.

 

The Ornelas lab investigates the neurobiology of traumatic stress and alcohol use disorders. Current research in the lab focuses on utilizing predator odor stress models to induce traumatic stress in rats and investigate the role of corticolimbic circuitry and the endocannabinoid system in regulating maladaptive stress coping behaviors and alcohol drinking. The lab utilizes a combination of behavioral and neuroscience techniques including chemogenetics, pharmacological manipulations and whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology.

 

Selected Publications

  • Ornelas, L. C., & Besheer, J. (2024). Predator Odor Stress Reactivity, Alcohol Drinking and the Endocannabinoid System. (Accepted; In press). Neurobiology of Stress.
  • Ornelas, L. C., Fish, E. W., Dooley, J. C., Carroll, M., Parnell, S. E., & Besheer, J. (2024). The impact of prenatal alcohol, synthetic cannabinoid and co-exposure on behavioral adaptations in adolescent offspring and alcohol self-administration in adulthood. Neurotoxicology and teratology, 102, 107341.
  • Ornelas, L. C., & Besheer, J. (2024). Predator Odor Stressor, 2,3,5-Trimethyl-3-Thiazoline (TMT): Assessment of Stress Reactive Behaviors During an Animal Model of Traumatic Stress in Rats. Current protocols, 4(1), e967.
  • Ornelas, L. C., Van Voorhies, K., & Besheer, J. (2021). The role of the nucleus reuniens in regulating contextual conditioning with the predator odor TMT in female rats. Psychopharmacology, 238(12), 3411-3421.
  • Ornelas, L. C., Tyler, R. E., Irukulapati, P., Paladugu, S., & Besheer, J. (2021). Increased alcohol self-administration following exposure to the predator odor TMT in active coping female rats. Behavioural brain research, 402, 113068.

Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/laura.ornelas.1/bibliography/public/