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.
Callahan, Lauren (2006). The Effects Of Isolation Rearing In Adolescence On Behavioral Sensitization To Methamphetamine In Adulthood.
Mentor: Dr. Anne Marie Brady
Abstract
Environmental stress has been shown to play a significant role in addictive behavior in both animal models and in humans. The present study investigates whether the stress of social isolation in adolescence increases measures of behavioral sensitization to methamphetamine in adult rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were reared either in isolation (n=11) or housed two to a cage (n=12) beginning in adolescence. At the onset of adulthood, rats were randomly assigned to receive either methamphetamine (n=15) or saline (n=8), and locomotor activity was measured in activity chambers at baseline, over five chronic days, and at a later test day. Results reveal that rats reared in isolation in adolescence do not exhibit higher levels of sensitization to methamphetamine than non-isolated rats. In conclusion, the current study does not show that isolation rearing increases sensitization to methamphetamine.
Read the paper (pdf format,260KB)
