2 Colchester Avenue
John Dewey Hall, Rm 302
Burlington, VT 05405-0134
United States
- B.S. Concordia University, 1992
- M.S. Concordia University, 1994
- Ph.D. McGill University, 1999
Biobehavioral Psychology
BIO
My lab uses rodent models to study sex differences and hormone effects in the stress response, learning and memory systems, and emotional behavior. Recently, we have found a striking sex difference in the development of habit, such that female rats develop habitual responding with markedly less operant training than male rats (if you are interested check out-Schoenberg et al., 2019). Maladaptive habits are implicated in a range of psychopathologies including; addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and dysregulated fear responses like those present in post-traumatic stress disorder. Thus, understanding sex differences in habit formation and expression is important from a biological, evolutionary, as well as a human health perspective. Currently, we are working to characterize the physiology underlying this sex difference utilizing behavioral, pharmacological, and viral vector techniques.
Publications
Bio
My lab uses rodent models to study sex differences and hormone effects in the stress response, learning and memory systems, and emotional behavior. Recently, we have found a striking sex difference in the development of habit, such that female rats develop habitual responding with markedly less operant training than male rats (if you are interested check out-Schoenberg et al., 2019). Maladaptive habits are implicated in a range of psychopathologies including; addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and dysregulated fear responses like those present in post-traumatic stress disorder. Thus, understanding sex differences in habit formation and expression is important from a biological, evolutionary, as well as a human health perspective. Currently, we are working to characterize the physiology underlying this sex difference utilizing behavioral, pharmacological, and viral vector techniques.