Department of Psychology
Falmer
Brighton
BN1 9QG
United Kingdom
Role in project
WP1, a collaboration between the Universities of Cambridge and Sussex, aims to identify behavioural traits in rodents, such as impulsivity, that predict a predisposition to high rates of drug and alcohol self-administration, and to study the genetic basis of such traits. Within the work package, Sussex is responsible for establishing methodologies in mice, identifying inbred mouse strains with behavioural traits of likely interest, and correlating these with propensity to self-administer cocaine and alcohol, allowing subsequent genetic analysis.|
Professor Dr. Dai Stephens Phone: +44 (1273) 678638 Fax: +44 (1273) 976619  Contact |
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Dr. Sarah King: Lecturer |
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Dr. Tamzin Ripley: Lecturer |
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Dr. Yolanda Pena: Research Fellow |
The University of Sussex was founded in 1961. Its attractive campus is located within a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the edge of the designated South Downs Natural Park, but only minutes away from the vibrant city of Brighton. The University is organised into seven Schools of Study, including the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and the School of Life Sciences in which the Psychology Department is housed.
The Psychology department at Sussex is one of the largest in the UK, with broad-ranging research interests across the discipline. The Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience group within the department has interests in learning and cognition, especially within the context of drug and alcohol abuse and dependence, cognitive neuroscience and drug-modelling of normal and abnormal cognitive processes, and in the neurobiology of motivation. There is a close inter-relationship of animal, human, and clinical work encouraging high quality translational research. The group is especially strong in behavioural genomics, with considerable experience in the behavioural analysis of genetically manipulated mice.
Summary of experience relevant to IMAGEN
The Behavioural Neuroscience group at Sussex has interests in rodent models of drug addiction, especially in studying alcohol dependence and in the neurobiology of motivational processes involved in drug abuse, typically using cocaine as the model drug. The group has been especially successful in translating complex behavioural tasks, established as rat analogues of human neuropsychological tests, for use in mice. There is a growing expertise within the group in genomic approaches to addiction.
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