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CS92PROD
Lab in Gambling, Drugs, and Junk Food

PSYC 399
Spring 2017
Section: 01  
This course may be repeated for credit.
Crosslisting: NS&B 399
Course Cluster: Health Studies

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, they will also be given the opportunity to 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 versus those that 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.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: NSM PSYC
Course Format: Laboratory CourseGrading Mode: Student Option
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (NS&B)
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available

Last Updated on OCT-07-2024
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