Welcome to the Addiction and Memory Lab!

PI: Ryan T. LaLumiere

Our laboratory is part of the Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Area in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Iowa and part of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. Our lab investigates the neural circuits mediating behavior with a focus on two related areas: The neurobiology of learning and memory and the neurobiology of drug addiction.

Our work focusing on learning and memory centers on the neural systems involved in the memory consolidation for different types of learning. In particular, with the recent development of optogenetic techniques that enable us to control activity in specific neural pathways, our goal is to determine which connections between structures are critically involved in the consolidation of learning for different types of information. As part of this work, we use different types of behavioral tasks that enable us to tease apart the neural systems underlying different forms of cognitive learning.

In studying drug addiction, we are particularly interested in the neural circuits and systems underlying drug-seeking behavior in rats. We use a model of drug-seeking that incorporates drug self-administration followed by extinction training and reinstatement testing. We then manipulate specific brain structures and/or systems to understand their role during extinction and reinstatement.

See our Research page for more information on both areas of research as well as other parts of this site to learn more about our lab.

News

Welcome to our newest graduate student Shion Kabasele!