Recent advances in neuroscience have revolutionized current theories of animal learning and cognition. In addition, advances in neuroscience and psychopharmacology have provided new insights into the neurochemical factors that regulate behavior and thought. Unfortunately, undergraduate curricula in psychology and neuroscience often has had to struggle to keep abreast of these advances. The Psychology Department at Washington College has implemented a new concentration in behavioral neuroscience, revised the general psychology requirements, and is in need of updating the laboratory experiences available to majors in both components of the curriculum. This proposal requests automated operant systems and an acoustic startle platform that will be used by students to investigate contemporary issues in animal learning and cognition, and in behavioral psychopharmacology. The equipment will enable us to make significant revisions to our operant learning laboratory - eliminating or revising laboratory exercises that have changed very little from the 1970's and adding new exercises that utilize paradigms which examine current theories of animal cognition. The equipment will also be used to expand the laboratory experiences that are components of a new course in behavioral psychopharmacology - one of three core courses in our new behavioral neuroscience concentration. The automated systems will be used in exercises that are modeled on standard protocols employed by investigators conducting both basic and applied drug research. These systems will also be useful to students conducting independent research and their senior thesis project that is required for graduation.
