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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@husky.neu.edu

• See curriculum vitae (pdf)

Advisor: Jay McLaughlin

Research

I am a fifth year graduate student in Professor Jay McLaughlin's lab working toward my PhD in Psychology and specializing in behavioral neuroscience research. My dissertation focuses on the role of HIV-encoded Tat protein in the development of central nervous system pathology and behavioral impairment observed in HIV infection. Specifically, I am testing the hypothesis that HIV-Tat protein induces neurodegeneration and learning and memory deficits. Reductions in volume and the integrity of white matter axonal tracts will be evaluated in brain regions considered essential for intact learning and memory using anatomical and diffusion tensor MRI in transgenic mice with inducible and brain-selective Tat protein expression. Also, the performance of mice expressing Tat will be evaluated in behavioral assays designed to assess various types of learning and memory. Additionally, I am involved in projects examining the mediation of stress-induced maladaptive behaviors by the kappa opioid system.