Smart Control Modules

The purpose of this acquisition is to procure smart control modules and accessories to be used for animal behavioral procedures which approximate learning, memory, and drug-taking in humans.

The NIDA IRP BNNS laboratory is interested in the neural circuits mediating associative learning and decision making and how
alterations in those circuits contribute to maladaptive behaviors in neuropsychiatric disorders such as addiction. The BNNS uses rats as a model system to study behaviors and neural circuits that are believed to have direct relevance to understanding the
human brain. Areas of particular interest include the orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, striatum, and midbrain dopamine system. The laboratory uses behavioral tasks based on principles derived from learning theory, combined with single unit recording, lesions,
pharmacological and genetic manipulations to test hypotheses. The BNNS hypotheses are lifted from the rich traditions of animal learning theory, computational neuroscience, and economics.