David Cooper
Pronouns: he/him
Research Mentor(s): James Penner-Hahn
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Chemistry and Biophysics / LSA
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Authors: Cherry Meyer, Kylie Rice, Lior Cooper
Abstract
Research in the Flagel Lab examines the neural mechanisms that determine how individuals interact with and respond to stimuli or cues in their environment. It is postulated that the way an individual responds to stimuli in their environment may be a key determinant of psychopathology, like addiction. In this study we are assessing if knockdown of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in a specific brain circuit affects the way an individual responds to a reward-associated cue. The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is primarily known for the role it plays in the stress response. However, research suggests that glucocorticoids, via their actions at GR, interact with dopamine to mediate the response to rewards and reward-associated stimuli in the environment. The objective of this project is to determine if GR knockdown in a cortico-striatal circuit affects the dopamine-dependent attribution of incentive motivational value to reward cues. We are using transgenic rats with CRISPR-cas-9 gene editing that allow us to knockdown GR in a circuit specific manner using a dual viral vector approach. The first aim of this research is to confirm that this approach results in knockdown of GR, and the second is to determine if this manipulation affects how individual rats respond to reward-associated cues. Preliminary findings will be presented.
