In my laboratory we study neural mechanisms of cocaine and opiate addiction, binge eating, reward, and motor skill learning in the mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopamine systems in rat models of behaviors involving dopamine transmission. We analyze behavioral measures and activity of single neurons in conjunction with the animal's affective state measured via ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) that rats emit. One USV frequency range signals positive affect, whereas another signals negative affect. USVs provide new insights into what rats are experiencing, sometimes surprisingly at odds with what experimenters presume.
Prerequisite: E-mail a description of your background, and why you’re interested in this particular research. Also name any related courses you’ve taken, and give a brief description of your long-range educational and career goals.
Psychology Building
Undergraduate Advising at Tillett Hall