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Full-Text Articles in Biological Psychology
Competitive And Facilitative Interactions Between Pavlovian Cues In Human Associative Learning: A Behavioral And Neural Analysis, Fahd Alhazmi
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Learning to anticipate significant events accurately is a crucial element of survival for all species. The process by which animals acquire this knowledge has been a central question of psychological research. A fundamental assumption of many learning theories is that the predictive value assigned to cues is not simply determined by their probability of reinforcement but rather by their ability to compete with other cues present during learning. The assumption of cue competition has significantly contributed to the development of behavioral and neuroscience research for decades, as it has opened the door to new empirical and theoretical advances on the …
Learning To Feel Safe: A Translational Study Of The Influence Of Safety Learning On Anxiety-Related Overgeneralized Fear, Hyein Cho
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health diagnoses, affecting about a third of the population in their lifetime. However, approximately a third of individuals with anxiety do not respond to current treatment approaches, highlighting the need to identify additional potential therapeutic mechanisms. Safety learning is one such mechanism, but methodological challenges and a dearth of research have prevented the field from advancing the understanding of the role of safety learning in the etiology and remediation of anxiety disorders. Animal research, using single-cued safety learning paradigms, has yielded promising early findings, demonstrating that safety learning directly reduces anxiety-related behaviors …
Sex Differences In The Anxiety Effects Of Cannabinoids, Helen T. French
Sex Differences In The Anxiety Effects Of Cannabinoids, Helen T. French
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Aim: Anxiety disorders are twice as common among women, and those with anxiety disorders are 2-3 times more likely to have a substance abuse disorder than the general populace. However, little data exists on the sexually dimorphic effects of cannabinoids. In male humans and rodents, low acute doses of cannabinoids are anxiolytic while high and/or chronic doses are anxiogenic. In the dose response curve (DRC), we examined whether the biphasic effects of cannabinoids observed in males are also present in females. In the CB1R antagonism study, CP55,940-induced CB1R activation was antagonized via the CB1R-selective antagonist rimonabant to test the hypothesis …