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Amanda Carey
Graduate Student
Department of Psychology, 125-NI
Northeastern University
Boston, MA 02115 USA
(617) 373-7983 (office)
(617) 373-8714 (fax)
carey.a@neu.edu

• See curriculum vitae (pdf)

Advisor: Jay McLaughlin

Research

I am a second year graduate student in Professor Jay McLaughlin's lab. I will receive my Master's degree this summer and will then begin working toward my PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience. My research primarily focuses on the behavioral consequences of HIV-Tat expression and its involvement in 'NeuroAIDS', a term used to describe the neuropathology associated with HIV infection. HIV-associated proteins, like Tat, have been implicated in this neuropathology. Current projects Iam working on examine the hypothesis that expression of Tat protein, expressed selectively in brain, can potentiate the rewarding effects of reinforcing psychostimulants. To test this hypothesis, I use the conditioned place preference paradigm to examine drug seeking behavior and craving in a novel mouse model wherein Tat expression is regulated by an inducible promoter found only in brain astrocytes. Moreover, I am investigating a possible mechanism underlying this potentiation; MAP kinase activation. Future studies will continue to investigate the interactions between psychostimulants and Tat protein and will also concentrate on the role of Tat in other NeuroAIDS-affected behavior, such as cognition, depression, and anxiety.