PSYC 399
Fall 2019 not offered
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| This course may be repeated for credit. |
| Crosslisting:
NS&B 399 |
| Course Cluster: Health Studies, Service Learning |
This intensive laboratory course provides in-depth training on the experimental methods of behavioral neuroscience of motivation and reward and provides students with HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE WITH ANIMAL RESEARCH USING RODENT MODELS. The capstone of the course is to give students the opportunity to carry out an independent group ANIMAL RESEARCH PROJECT in the lab, which may require a heavier time commitment for the duration of the experiment (including some research over the weekends). Students will LEARN HOW TO HANDLE RATS in a behavioral neuroscience research setting and how to measure reward and motivation using diverse apparatuses such as operant (Skinner) boxes or conditioned place preference chambers; students will also develop their writing and presentation skills. In addition, we will review contemporary studies with a particular focus on gambling, diet-induced obesity, and drug addiction. Some of the models examined in more detail will focus on the role of reward uncertainty and decision-making in gambling, the individual differences in the attraction to reward cues in subjects prone to obesity vs. those who are resistant (with a particular emphasis on prenatal and developmental exposure to high-fat diets), and, finally, the individual differences in the resistance to adverse consequences in models of intense desire and addiction. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
NSM PSYC |
| Course Format: Laboratory Course | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (NS&B) |
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