معرفی
Mary Cain is a Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Kansas State University, leading the Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Approaches to Plasticity (CNAP). Her research investigates the neural mechanisms of reward processing and addiction, focusing on how early environmental conditions influence drug-taking behavior and relapse in adulthood.
- Current affiliations: Kansas State University, Department of Psychological Sciences
- Laboratory focus: Environmental, behavioral, and neurobiological factors in drug use
Research interests span neurobiology of reward, addiction mechanisms, and behavioral pharmacology. Her work employs differential rearing paradigms (isolation vs. enrichment) in rodent models to study changes in glutamate transmission and hedonic processing. Recent projects examine cue-induced relapse to amphetamine and cannabinoid effects on reward valuation.
Recent publications show thematic focus on substance abuse neurobiology, with keywords including addiction neuroscience, behavioral pharmacology, and neuroimaging. Sub-fields span psychostimulant relapse, glutamate homeostasis, taste reactivity, and environmental modulation of reward circuits.
Students in her lab gain hands-on experience with
- Stereotaxic surgery
- Self-administration protocols
- Western blot analysis
- Taste reactivity assays
- Grant writing
- Data publication
