Dr. Setlow is an alumnus of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. Much of the research in my laboratory concerns interactions between decision-making processes and drugs of abuse. In some of this research, we investigate the long-term effects of chronic exposure to drugs of abuse on cognitive outcomes, with a particular focus on different types of decision-making processes (for example, risky and impulsive decision-making) and the neural mechanisms underlying drug-induced alterations in such processes. In other research, we investigate how individual differences in risky and impulsive decision-making predict propensity for future drug use. In all of this research, we use a variety of techniques (e.g., behavioral/cognitive testing, behavioral pharmacology, biochemistry, optogenetics, in vivo electrophysiology) to identify mechanisms that mediate relationships between decision-making and drug abuse, with the ultimate goal of identifying therapeutic targets for both maladaptive decision-making and addiction.
Key Research Areas:
Addiction, diazepam, neurobiology, neuroscience, nicotine
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