Prof. Daniel Miller publishes research in Frontiers in Psychiatry, Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Avoidance is a key symptom in anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Enhanced associative learning appears to be important in the development of avoidance behavior in these disorders. Behaviorally inhibited Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats model learning vulnerabilities seen in these disorders.
Prof. Miller’s research demonstrated that WKY rats show enhanced avoidance learning, even when the learning conditions have been degraded and do not support robust learning. Their behavior can be seen as an overreaction towards the possibility of aversive events occurring and parallels findings seen in humans with stress vulnerabilities. The WKY rat model has been used to teach research methods and statistical analysis to Carthage neuroscience majors since 2007.
SPONSORING DEPARTMENT, OFFICE, OR ORGANIZATION:
Neuroscience and Biology