Lab
Carol Barnes
Lab Website
http://www.nsma.arizona.edu/
Rotation Labs
Bruce McNaughton, Katalin Gothard
Minor
Psychology
Research Summary
In general, my research interests lie in investigating the plasticity of the nervous system and elucidating the mechanisms of learning and memory. Specifically, I am interested in exploring reward-based learning by studying the characteristics of the dopamenergic neurons found in the ventral tegmental area and how these may change during normal aging. By utilizing high density recording ensembles as well as molecular techniques and computational modeling, I hope to gain a greater understanding of not only the systems level response to reward in young animal models, but also to gain insights into the processes that underlie age-related cognitive decline.
Recent Publications
(1) DeCoteau WE, Hoang LT, Huff L, Stone A, and Kesner RP (2004). “Effects of
Hippocampus and Medial Caudate Nucleus Lesions on Memory for Direction Information in Rats.” Behavioral Neuroscience. 188(3):540-5.
(2) Hoang LT & Kesner RP (2008). “Dorsal Hippocampus, CA3, and CA1 Lesions Disrupt
Temporal Sequence Completion.” Behavioral Neuroscience 122(1):9-15. |
