(CIT): Dr. Akil's laboratory is focused on understanding the neurobiology of emotions, including pain, anxiety, depression and substance abuse. Early on, her research focused on the role of the endorphins and their receptors in pain and stress responsiveness. Her group provided the first physiological evidence for a role of endogenous opioids in the brain; and showed that endorphins are activated by stress and cause pain inhibition, a phenomenon termed stress-induced analgesia. They defined how the postranslational processing of opioid precursors is modulated by stress, and demonstrated the coordinate actions of the neuropeptide products on behavior. NIH neuroscience seminar series.