Craig Berridge
Professor, Department of Psychology
Ph.D. 1988, University of Florida
Email:
berrdige@wisc.edu
My research focuses on the actions of certain neurotransmitters in the regulation of behavioral state and state-dependent cognitive processes (working memory, attention). Specifically, we are interested in the catecholamine (i.e. dopamine, norepinephrine) and certain peptide neurotransmitters (CRF, hypocretin) and their actions under normal and high-arousal (i.e. stress) conditions. Currently there are 4 main themes: 1) Neurobiology of Waking; 2) Neural Mechanisms of Amphetamine-Induced Arousal; 3) Neurobiology of Low-Dose Methylphenidate (Ritalin); Relevance to ADHD; 4) Neurobiology of stress and coping. Recent work begins to examine the actions of low-dose methylphenidate, hypocretin and CRF on prefrontal cortex-dependent cognition and prefrontal cortical neuronal activity. These latter studies utilize multiple single-unit electrophysiological recordings in freely-moving animals (rats). We take a multidisciplinary approach
in which a variety of methods are utilized, including pharmacological, electrophsyiological, anatomical, and neurochemical techniques.
