My Research
My research interests include addiction, specifically regarding marijuana, cocaine, nicotine and methamphetamine. I am interested in the structural changes that result from addiction, as well as the behavioral outcomes that result from addictive behavior.
Project Title: Effects of chronic cannabis use on delayed discounting in aged rats
PI: Dr. Barry Setlow
Institution and Department: University of Florida College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry
Time in the lab: 1.5 years (started in December 2022)
Research Focus: My current project investigates the impulsivity and motivation of aged rats after chronic cannabis exposure. Cannabis will be administered in the form of THC-infused gelatin and their behavior will be measured through a peer-reviewed protocol known as delayed discounting. Delayed discounting incrementally increases the amount of time the animals must wait to receive their food pellet reward. The overall goal is to explore how the use of drugs can modify common behavioral practices in the aged rat population.
Project Responsibilities: In this project, my roles include preparation and administration of pharmaceutical-grade THC-infused gelatin, running of delayed discounting behavioral protocols, and finally data analysis to determine common trends in behavioral patterns. I will be dedicating about 10 hours weekly to this project and plan to examine existing research in the field in order to best supplement my understanding of drug research.
This figure, which can be found in Dr. Nicholas Simon's paper, "Effects of chronic cannabis use on delayed discounting in aged rats," provides context to my research project. As seen in the graph, aged animals are significantly more likely to wait longer to receive larger rewards. This illustrates that on delayed discounting protocols, they are typically less impulsive. Given this information, I am excited to investigate how THC administration can affect this data.
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Source: Simon, N. W., LaSarge, C. L., Montgomery, K. S., Williams, M. T., Mendez, I. A., Setlow, B., & Bizon, J. L. (2008). Effects of chronic cannabis use on delayed discounting in aged rats. Neurobiology of Aging, 31, 853–862.