Cain Lab
Dr. Cain's lab focuses on environmental, behavioral, and neurobiological basis of drug use using a rodent model. Our research is attempting to determine the neuronal mechanisms that contribute to drug taking behavior in order to develop methods to decrease drug use using both behavioral and neurobiological techniques.
We use a differential rearing paradigm where we can isolate rats; live alone in a smaller cage with no toys; or enrich the rats lives; live in bigger group of rats, have toys, and exercise available. We use a variety of behavioral tasks including: self-administration, locomotor activity, brain microinfusions, and taste reactivity. Our lab is also trained on many molecular biology analytical techniques, such as immunohistochemistry and western blots, to determine brain areas and individual proteins that contribute to drug use.
Student Involvement
Undergraduate and graduate students working in the lab are involved in all aspects of the research process. Depending upon the students' interest, they can learn small animal stereotaxic surgery, Pavlovian and operant conditioning models, intravenous self-administration, brain microinfusions, western blots and histology. Students will learn how to design projects, write grants to fund the projects, analyze the data, and will be given the opportunity to contribute to the publication of the results.
