Summary Research Opportunity in Behavioral Neuroscience:
Dr. Meg Waraczynski

What do we study?

My lab is devoted to tracing the neural circuitry underlying rewarding electrical brain stimulation. We believe that this is the same circuitry that is activated when an animal encounters natural rewards, such as food for a hungry animal or shelter for a cold animal. It also appears to be the circuitry underlying the rewarding effects of addictive drugs. Thus, our work is directed towards understanding brain mechanisms of reward and positive motivation with the hope that what we learn can help others intervene against behavioral problems such as drug addiction and compulsive consumption. We have recently made many promising discoveries in our search and this summer looks to be equally productive. This summer we will focus on investigating the effects on rewarding brain stimulation of temporarily shutting down certain target brain areas by using drugs that inhibit neural activity.

What will student researchers do?

I rely on students to do many different and critical tasks. Perhaps most important is the daily behavioral testing of our rat subjects. Each day, rats with previously implanted stimulating electrodes are placed in operant chambers and allowed to press a lever to produce rewarding stimulation of a brain structure called the medial forebrain bundle. The testing procedure is completely computer automated, but students are responsible for making the computerized system work properly. Student researchers also analyze the data resulting from daily test sessions and make sure that the rats return home to clean cages stocked with fresh food and water.

Depending on skill level and interest, students may also assist with injecting drugs into the rats' brains prior to behavioral testing. There is always a need for someone to make new supplies called injector tips for this procedure, and for someone to help catalog and further analyze the extensive data sets collected from each rat. Students can also learn techniques for examining brain tissue. This summer there may even be an opportunity to work on a new electrophysiological system for recording neural activity from conscious, freely moving rats.

What is it like to work with rats?

The rats in our lab are extraordinarily friendly and easy to handle. Because we study reward they enjoy their work. However, please be aware that these animals are not pets and that we need to examine their brains when our studies are done. This may be a difficult issue for some potential workers and I am glad to discuss it before anyone commits to working in my lab.

What kind of skills and knowledge will I take from this experience?

All students will become familiar with proper rat handling techniques and the ethical treatment of research animals. Students will also learn new computer skills, data analysis techniques (maybe even a little statistics!), and manual skills for the fabrication of stimulation and injection supplies. Although it is not possible for me to train summer workers in the neurosurgical techniques of electrode implantation, students are welcome to observe these procedures. Students will learn about topics such as psychophysical techniques for quantifying subjective perceptions, functional neuroanatomy, basic neurophysiology, and hot issues in the study of reward and motivation. I also rely on students to become keen observers of rat behavior who can take good notes on what the rats are doing during testing.

Perhaps most important, this in an opportunity to observe the research process as it unfolds in the real world, not in an artificial classroom setting where experiment outcomes are known beforehand, or are at least predictable and without much practical application. Students should come away with an appreciation for how difficult it can be to generate answers to complex, important questions and how ambiguous those answers often are. I hope that this experience helps students become educated consumers of research and informed citizens who often must play a part in policy decisions based on or relevant to the conduct of research in a democracy.