Auburn University
David Haste is a graduate student working in a behavioral neurotoxicology lab at Auburn University under the guidance of Dr. Christopher Newland. His thesis is designed to evaluate the effects of chronic risperidone exposure during adolescence on reversal learning and delay discounting in adulthood in mice. After being given risperidone daily during the adolescent period (about 21 to about 60 days old), mice will undergo a spatial discrimination reversal procedure where one of two levers remains the reinforcing lever until stable responding occurs, then the side the reinforcing lever is on is switched. This procedure looks at perseverative responding and how long it takes for responding to switch over. Once this is complete, impulsive choice will be tested using a delay discounting procedure where one lever gives a small reinforcer after no delay and the other lever gives a larger reinforcer after a longer delay. David’s interest is in how a drug prescribed to children and adolescents might affect their behaviors in the future, even after they are no longer taking it.
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