Green, Kenneth F.
Recent work has focused on the conditioned place preference paradigm in rats as a model of the learning processes that may be involved in the development of cravings, particularly in drug addicts, but also seen in people who have trouble giving up cigarettes, sweets, and so on. There is a large literature on drugs that block the acquisition of cravings, but virtually no literature on drugs that block an established craving. It is the latter problem that I am addressing. Sidelights include individual differences defined according to taste preferences and other measures that may reflect differential activity in opioid and dopaminergic reward systems. I am developing an interest in examining the significance of taste reactivity in humans.
Courses typically taught: 141 Psychobiology, 332 Cognition, 333 Learning, 341 Neuropsychology, 441/541 Research in Physiological Psychology, 444/544 Cognitive Neuroscience, and 631 Seminar in Physiological Psychology.