I am a full professor of Psychobiology at Universitat Jaume I (UJI, Spain) and the principal investigator of Addiction and Neuroplasticity research group. My research is focused on the neurobiological mechanisms of addiction and in particular those related to the role of the cerebellum. The primary goal of our studies is to evaluate the involvement of the cerebellum in the causal mechanisms of addiction using technical approaches at all levels of analysis: molecular, anatomical and behavioral.

My academic career began in 1991 after my PhD in The University of Valencia. I have been lecturing on behavioral neuroscience and the neurobiology of drug addiction in national and international undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs since then. Currently, I coordinate the Research on Brain and Behaviour Master program in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Original communications in reviewed journals (Last 15 years)

Zornoza, T; Cano-Cebrian, MJ; Miquel, M; Aragon CMG ; Polache, A ; Granero, L. (2005) Hippocampal dopamine receptors modulate the motor activation and the increase in dopamine levels in the rat nucleus accumbens evoked by chemical stimulation of the ventral hippocampus. Neuropsychopharmacology 30: 843-852.

Sanchis-Segura C; Correa M; Miquel, M; Aragon CMG. (2005) Catalase inhibition in the Arcuate nucleus blocks ethanol effects on the locomotor activity of rats. Neuroscience Letters 376: 66 -70.

Manrique MH; Miquel, M; Aragon CMG. Brain catalase mediates potentiation of social recognition memory produced by ethanol in mice (2005). Drug and Alcohol Dependence 79: 343- 350.

Font L, Miquel, M; Aragon CMG. Prevention of ethanol-induced behavioral activation by acute d-penicillamine, a sequestering agent for acetaldehyde. (2005) Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 29: 1156- 1164.

Pastor R; Miquel, M; Aragon CMG. (2005) Habituation to test procedure modulates the involvement of dopamine D2-, but not D1-receptors in ethanol-induced locomotor stimulation. Psychopharmacology 182: 436-446.

Font L; Aragon CMG; Miquel, M. (2006) Ethanol-induced conditioned place preference, but not aversion, is blocked by treatment with D-penicillamine, an inactivation agent for acetaldehyde. Psychopharmacology 184: 56-64.

Manrique H; Miquel, M; Aragon CMG. (2006) Acute Administration of 3-Nitropropionic Acid, a Reactive Oxygen Species Generator, Boosts Ethanol-Induced Locomotor Stimulation. A New Support for the Role of Brain Catalase in the Behavioural Effects of Ethanol. Neuropharmacology 51: 1137- 1145.

Font L; Aragon CMG; Miquel, M. (2006) Voluntary ethanol consumption decreases after the inactivation of central acetaldehyde by D-pencillamine. Behavioral Brain Research 171: 78- 86.

Serrano E, Pozo OJ, Beltran J, Hernandez F, Font L, Miquel M, Aragon CM. (2007) Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry determination of (4S,2RS)-2,5,5-trimethylthiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid, a stable adduct formed between D-(-)-penicillamine and acetaldehyde (main  biological metabolite of ethanol), in plasma, liver and brain rat tissues. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 21: 1221- 1229. 

Herrera-Meza G, Aguirre-Manzo L, Coria-Avila G Manzo J, Lopez-Meraz ML, Toledo-Cardenas R, Manzo J, García LI, Miquel M (2014) Beyond the Basal Ganglia: cFOS expression in the cerebellum in response to acute and chronic dopaminergic alterations. Neuroscience 267: 219- 231.                         

Carbo-Gas M, Vazquez-Sanroman D, Gil-Miravet I, De Las Heras-Chanes J, Sanchís-Segura C, Miquel M (2014) Cerebellar hallmarks of conditioned preference for cocaine. Physiology & Behavior 132: 24-36.

Paredes-Ramos P, McCarthy M M, Bowers M; Miquel M, Manzo J, Coria-Avila GA (2014) Brain activation by an olfactory stimulus paired with juvenile play in female rats. Physiology & Behavior 133: 39- 44.                    

Ledesma JC, Miquel M, Pascual M, Guerri C, Aragon CMG (2014) Induction of brain cytochrome P450 2E1 boosts the locomotor-stimulating effects of ethanol in mice. Neuropharmacology 85:36-44.

Vazquez-Sanroman D; Leto K; Cerezo-Garcia M; Carbo-Gas M; Sanchis-Segura C; Carulli D; Rossi F†; Miquel M. (2015) The cerebellum on cocaine: plasticity and metaplasticity. Addiction Biology, 20: 941-955.

Vazquez-Sanroman D; Leto K; Cerezo-Garcia M; Carbo-Gas M; Sanchis-Segura C; Carulli D; Rossi F†; Miquel M. (2015) Cocaine-induced plasticity in the cerebellum of sensitised mice. Psychopharmacology 232: 4455-4467.

Perez-Pouchoulen M, Miquel M, Saft P, Brug B, Toledo R, Hernandez ME, Manzo J. (2016) Prenatal exposure to sodium valproate alters androgen receptor expression in the developing cerebellum in a region and age specific manner in male and female rats. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience 53: 46-52.

Carbo-Gas M; Moreno-Rius J; Guarque-Chabrera J; Vazquez-Sanroman D; Gil-Miravet I; Carulli D; Hoebeck F; De Zeeuw C; Sanchis-Segura C; Miquel M. (2017). Cerebellar perineuronal nets in cocaine-induced pavlovian memory: site matters. Neuropharmacology, 125: 166-180.

Gil-Miravet I; Guarque-Chabrera J; Olucha-Bordonau F; Carbo-Gas M; Miquel M (2018) The role of the cerebellum in drug-cue associative memory: functional interactions with the medial prefrontal cortex. European Journal of Neuroscience (Special Issue on Addiction), doi: 10.1111/ejn.14187

Traver VJ; Pla F; Miquel M; Carbo-Gas M; Gil-Miravet I; Guarque-Chabrera (2018) Cocaine-induced preference conditioning: a machine vision perspective. Neuroinformatics, doi.org/10.1007/s12021-018-9401-1

Gil-Miravet I, Melchor-Eixea I, Arias-Sandoval E, Vasquez-Celaya L, Guarque-Chabrera J, Olucha-Bordonau F, Miquel M (2019) From Back to Front: A Functional Model for the Cerebellar Modulation in the Establishment of Conditioned Preferences for Cocaine-Related Cues. Addiction Biology, e12834. doi: 10.1111/adb.12834

Reviews

Miquel M; Toledo R; García LI; Coria-Avila GA; Manzo J. (2009) Why should we keep the cerebellum in mind when thinking about addiction? Current Drug Abuse Reviews 2: 26-40.

Coria-Avila GA, Manzo J, Garcia LI, Carrillo P, Miquel M, Pfaus JG (2014) Neurobiology of social attachments. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 43: 173-182. 

Miquel M; Vazquez-Sanroman D; Leto K; Carbo-Gas M; Isis Gil-Miravet; Sanchis-Segura C; Carulli D; Manzo J; Coria-Avila GA. (2016). Have we been ignoring the elephant in the room? Seven arguments for considering the cerebellum as a part of the addiction circuitry. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 60: 1-11.

Sorg BA; Berretta S; Blacktop J; Fawcett J; Kitagawa J; Kwok J; Miquel M (2016) Casting a Wide Net: Role of Perineuronal Nets in Neural Plasticity.  Journal of Neuroscience 36:11459-11468.

Moreno-Rius J; Miquel M (2017) The cerebellum in craving. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 173: 151-158.

Miquel M; Nicola SN; Gil-Miravet I; Guarque-ChabreraJ; Sanchez-Hernandez A. A working hypothesis for the role of the cerebellum in impulsivity and compulsivity. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 13: 1-14 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00099