The primary focus of this laboratory is to develop novel procedures for assessing the performance-toxic effects of abused drugs on sensory, motor and cognitive functioning. Drugs of abuse affect behavior and neurophysiology both acutely (e.g., intoxication) and chronically (e.g., addiction). While there has been much research on the acute effects of abused drugs, there is still a need for research on the long-term after effects of these chemicals both in terms of continued neurodevelopment and neuro-aging. A secondary focus of this laboratory is to develop methods for assessing behavioral function in different types of genetically controlled and modified mice. The purpose of which is to produce standardized automated behavioral procedures in which to quantify behavioral differences in between mice types and their reaction to acute and chronic drug exposure. The scientific goal of this research is to define and quantify the relation between drug exposure, genetic predisposition and the consequences on functional performances for biologically relevant reinforcers. More simply, our goal is to discover the relation between drugs, genes, and behavior in order to develop therapies for the treatment of symptoms related to drug use and addiction.

McKerchar TL, Zarcone TJ, and Fowler SC. 2006. Use of a force-plate actometer for detecting and quantifying vertical leaping induced by amphetamine in BALB/cJ mice, but not in C57BL/6J, DBA/2J, 129X1/SvJ, C3H/HeJ, and CD-1 mice. J Neurosci Methods. May 15;153(1):48-54.

McKerchar TL, Zarcone TJ, and Fowler SC. 2005. Differential acquisition of lever pressing in inbred and outbred mice: comparison of one-lever and two-lever procedures and correlation with differences in locomotor activity. J Exp Anal Behav. Nov;84(3):339-356.

Kelly TH, Hienz RD, Zarcone TJ, Wurster RM, and Brady JV. 2005. Crewmember performance before, during, and after spaceflight. J Exp Anal Behav. Sep;84(2):227-241.

Crosland KA, Zarcone JR, Schroeder S, Zarcone T, and Fowler S. 2005. Use of an antecedent analysis and a force sensitive platform to compare stereotyped movements and motor tics. Am J Ment Retard. May;110(3):181-192.

Zarcone TJ, Chen R, and Fowler SC. 2004. Differential acquisition of food-reinforced disk pressing by CD-1, BALB/cJ and C57BL/6J mice. Behav Brain Res. Jun 4;152(1):1-9.

Crosland KA, Zarcone JR, Lindauer SE, Valdovinos MG, Zarcone TJ, Hellings JA, and Schroeder SR. 2003. Use of functional analysis methodology in the evaluation of medication effects. J Autism Dev Disord. Jun;33(3):271-279.

Fowler SC, Birkestrand B, Chen R, Vorontsova E, and Zarcone T. 2003. Behavioral sensitization to amphetamine in rats: changes in the rhythm of head movements during focused stereotypies. Psychopharmacology (Berl). Nov;170(2):167-177

Hienz RD, Weed MR, Zarcone TJ, and Brady JV. 2003. Cocaine’s effects on detection, discrimination, and identification of auditory stimuli by baboons. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. Jan;74(2):287-296.

Fowler SC, Zarcone TJ, Vorontsova E, andChen R. 2002. Motor and associative deficits in D2 dopamine receptor knockout mice. Int J Dev Neurosci. Jun-Aug;20(3-5):309-321.

Fowler SC, Zarcone TJ, Chen R, Taylor MD, and Wright DE. 2002. Low grip strength, impaired tongue force and hyperactivity induced by overexpression of neurotrophin-3 in mouse skeletal muscle. Int J Dev Neurosci. Jun-Aug;20(3-5):303-308.

Hienz RD, Weed MR, Zarcone TJ, and Brady JV. 2002. Cocaine’s effects on the discrimination of simple and complex auditory stimuli by baboons. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2002 Jul;72(4):825-833.

Zarcone TJ, and Fowler SC. 2001. Digital measurement of operant disk press force maintained in CD-1, BALB/c, and C57BL/6 mice. Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput. Aug;33(3):415-421.

Fowler SC, Birkestrand BR, Chen R, Moss SJ, Vorontsova E, Wang G, and Zarcone TJ. 2001. A force-plate actometer for quantitating rodent behaviors: illustrative data on locomotion, rotation, spatial patterning, stereotypies, and tremor. J Neurosci Methods. May 30;107(1-2):107-124.