Animal models:

• Neonatal quinpirole model of Schizophrenia.
• Neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine model of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
• Social defeat stress model of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).
• Cerebral ischemia (Through collaboration with Chanfu Li, Quillen College of Medicine, on campus).

Behavior:

Equipment: AnyMaze Behavioral scanning software (Stoetling Co, Wood Dale, IL).

• Cognitive testing: Morris water maze (including place and match-to-place versions testing reference and working memory abilities), Eight-arm Radial arm maze, T-maze, including spontaneous alternation.
• Addictive behaviors: Locomotor sensitization, conditioned hyperactivity, conditioned place preference (both 2 and 3 chamber available).
• Sensory/Motor functioning: Single-pellet reaching, Pole test, Corner test, Adhesive test, Tail suspension.
• Impulsivity: Marble burying

Neurochemical:

Equipment: BioTek Plate Reader ELx800 microplate reader, HPLC (ESA Chelmsford, MA) with autosampler and software, MCID Elite 7.0 software for density analysis.

• ELISA (Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay). Brain –derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Nerve growth factor (NGF), and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). Have recently collected data on both Glial cell derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and phospho-CREB (pCREB).

• High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC): Characterization of catecholamines, including dopamine and its metabolites, norepinephrine, and serotonin.
• Western Blot
• Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for genetic expression of protein (in collaboration with ETSU Quillen Coll of Medicine Molecular Biology core facility).

Surgical:

Equipment: Completely equipped surgical suite for rodents including two stereotaxic instruments, surgical drill press, isoflurane anesthesia machine is used in conjunction with ketamine/xylazine cocktail anesthesia.  

• Microdialysis
• Electrolytic and neurochemical brain lesioning techniques available