Techniques
These types of experiments help researchers observe how animals learn, remember and respond to reward.
What are Behavioral Experiments?
When an expected reward is removed, this event can change motivation and behavior.
What is reward loss?
This cognitive system temporarily stores information needed for planning and reasoning.
What is working memory?
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Who is Habiba?
These tools allow researchers to measure neural activity during reward‑related tasks.
What are electrophysiological recordings?
This cortical region integrates motivation with decision‑making and helps guide reward‑based choices.
What is the prefrontal cortex?
This brain structure helps maintain and update spatial information, especially in tasks like delayed alternation.
What is the hippocampus?
This lab member did an internship abroad in the university of Jaen in Spain?
Who is Dana?
This approach combines behavioral tasks with neural recordings to understand cognition.
What is systems neuroscience research?
This neurotransmitter released from the VTA to the nucleus accumbens is central to reward‑seeking and motivated behavior.
What is dopamine?
In this task, a rodent must choose the opposite arm from the previous trial after a delay, relying on prefrontal‑dependent working memory to earn a reward
What is a delayed alternation task?
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Who is Regina?
This lab technique uses antibodies to label and visualize specific types of cells or proteins in brain tissue.
What is immunohistochemistry?
This inhibitory neurotransmitter shapes reward circuits by controlling the firing of dopamine neurons.
What is GABA?
This cortical region contains grid cells and provides spatial information to the hippocampus, supporting working memory for location.
What is the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC)?
This Lab member is a CS and Neuroscience double major
Who is Priyanshi
This method uses a thymine look-alike molecule to label dividing cells, allowing researchers to measure new neuron growth in the brain.
What is BrdU labeling?
This reduced ability to experience pleasure can emerge after repeated reward loss or disrupted reward signaling.
What is anhedonia?
This continuous‑running spatial task requires a rodent to navigate a looping track while remembering recent left–right turns, making it a strong test of working memory during ongoing movement.
What is the figure‑8 maze?
This Lab member is a figure skater
Who is Mimi?