Ilene L. Bernstein

ileneb@u.washington.edu
Professor, Department of Psychology

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Research in the Bernstein lab investigates the neural basis of learned associations, motivation/appetite, and the impact of alcohol consumption on decision making/learning. A particular focus of our work is on conditioned taste aversions (CTAs) as a model of neural plasticity and the role of dopamine in reward/aversion and decision making. Current projects in the lab include:

1. visualization of the neuroanatomical substrates underlying aversion learning
2. multi -unit recording of dopaminergic ensembles during taste processing and CTA learning
3. the effects of early alcohol consumption on classical/operant conditioning and decision making.