Seminars & Events
Monday, February 11, 2013: Dr. Daphne Soares (University of Maryland College Park) will speak on "The Sensory World of Cavefishes" at 4:45 pm in Goodpaster Hall 195.
Monday, March 4, 2013: Dr. Joe Cheer (University of Maryland Baltimore) will speak on "Endogenous Cannabinoids and the Pursuit of Reward" at 4:45 pm in Goodpaster Hall 195.
Friday, April 12, 2013: Dr. Jill McGaughy (University of New Hampshire) will speak on "The Role of Cortical Norepinephrine in the Ontogeny of Executive Function" at 3:00 pm in Schaefer Hall 106.
Alumni Highlight
Dr. Erin Johnson '02 recently received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and was inducted as an alumni member of Nu Rho Psi.
SMP Spotlight
Ron Saul, "Chronic activation of the substantia nigra nociceptin/orphanin receptor induces motor deficits similar to Parkinson's disease," 2008. Saul, the 2008 winner of the Neuroscience Award, infused a drug into the substantia nigra of rats and measured the resulting motor behaviors, mood disturbances, and cognitive abilities.
Cole, Trey (2010). The Effects of Adolescent Stress on Adult Working Memory and Susceptibility to Drug Addiction in a Neurodevelopmental Animal Model of Schizophrenia. Mentor: Dr. Anne Marie Brady
Abstract
Schizophrenic patients experience significant amounts of stress during their daily lives. Also, schizophrenics suffer from impaired working memory and increased rates of drug addiction. Chronic stress produces similar effects. A current neurodevelopmental animal model of schizophrenia involves neonatal ventral hippocampus excitotoxic lesions (NVHL), which produce an array of schizophrenic-like symptoms in adulthood. The current study investigated the effects of the NVHL and 6-hr daily restraint stress for 3 wks during adolescence on working memory in the novel object recognition test and drug-seeking behaviors in the conditioned place preference test. Results showed that restraint stress impaired working memory performance, but the NVHL did not. Neither variables affected conditioned-place preference performance. NVHL + restraint combined to increase locomotor activity in the conditioned place preference task. Possible explanations for the non-effects of NVHL are discussed. Implications include the need to reduce adolescent stress, especially when there is evidence of early insult to the hippocampus.
