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.
Tracy, Megan (2011). Investigating the efficacy of antipsychotic drug treatment on an animal model of schizophrenia. (Mentor: A. Bailey)
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a disease that is difficult to study and understand due to its variety of symptoms and difficulty to fully treat. The most common treatment for the symptoms of schizophrenia is psychopharmaceutical therapy. Olanzapine is an atypical antipsychotic that is often prescribed for schizophrenia in adults and adolescents. Fifty-six long evans rats were used to test the effects of adolescent olanzapine administration in the NVHL animal model of schizophrenia. The animals’ play behavior was tested during adolescence while they were receiving either olanzapine or vehicle in their drinking water. In adulthood, the rats were tested for disrupted sensory gating and hyperlocomotion. The animals did not show significant differences in the prepulse inhibition task or the hyperlocomotion task. These results suggest that a different dose of olanzapine is necessary to see differences between the animal groups. There were significant differences seen during the adolescent play behavior, showing significantly increased play behavior in the control animals.
