Motivated behaviors in chronically stressed and unstressed mice
Motivated behaviors in chronically stressed and unstressed mice
Madeline Rahilly ’24, Psychology major
Arianna Gordon ’25, Biology major
Francesca Schaub ’26, Biology and Psychology major
Facutly Mentor: Dr. Ryan Post, Neuroscience
Poster Presentation: Wednesday, April 24, 1:30 – 3 p.m.
Mood disorders like depression are characterized in part by a decrease in motivation.
Behavioral neuroscience allows us to use animal models to explore the neural circuits that contribute to this loss of motivation. To begin this research in the Post lab, I piloted and developed an analysis pipeline for common measures of motivation in mice. By rigorously analyzing behavior on a frame-by-frame basis, we can lay the groundwork to gain some insight into how these neural circuits are involved in the loss of motivation.
