The Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychopharmacology (BNP) area of concentration is designed to train students in the general theoretical principles and technical approaches used to investigate the neuroanatomical, behavioral, and cognitive mechanisms of alcohol and drug abuse.
Research programs in this area emphasize the use of psychopharmacologically-based methods for understanding basic principles of learning, memory, and cognition. BNP faculty have expertise in both pre-clinical and clinical research models and receive funding from several agencies, including the National Institute of Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Research topics of individual faculty are ideally suited for graduate training of students with a wide range of interests.
Topics in behavioral pharmacology and behavioral neuroscience are approached from a broad range of levels of analysis, including cell culture models and neurochemical assays of cellular functioning, behavioral teratology and toxicology, classical and operant conditioning of drug effects, analysis of comorbid psychopathology in drug abuse, and examination of cognitive processes underlying self-regulation, craving, and attentional-bias towards drugs.
Students may receive a concentrated laboratory experience working with animal models (e.g., quail, mice, rats) or models using human subjects (e.g., adults and adolescents with histories of drug abuse). Students will receive in depth training in at least one level of analysis, although training that integrates more than one level of analysis is strongly encouraged.
Click here for a student handbook on the Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychopharmacology program.
Core Faculty Members
- Akins, Chana K., University of Texas, 1994; Associate Professor
- Bardo, Michael, Iowa State University, 1980; Professor
- Barron, Susan, State University of New York (Albany), 1987; Associate Professor
- Fillmore, Mark, University of Waterloo, 1993; Professor
- Kelly, Thomas (Behavioral Science), University of Minnesota, 1983; Professor
- Prendergast, Mark, University of Nebraska, 1994; Associate Professor
- Rush, Craig (Behavioral Science), University of Vermont, 1992; Professor
Faculty Members with Related Interests