Behavior from the brain

The Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience at Cal State L.A., established in 2006 by Alicia Izquierdo, focuses on the brain regions and mechanisms that help us make decisions.

More specifically: How are we able to modify our behavior when given new information?

The lab’s current projects are seeking answers on two main fronts:

The neural basis of adaptive decision-making

The effects of drugs of abuse on flexible behavior

Izquierdo is the first Cal State L.A. researcher with the Drug Enforcement Agency license and registration required for research that uses controlled substances, such as methamphetamine.

How rat model might help

A recently established rat model may help scientists understand the mechanisms behind diminished decision-making ability among humans using methamphetamines.

But just how much alike are the brains of rats and of humans?

Decades of research have established many solid, clear correlations, said Alicia Izquierdo, director of The Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience at Cal State L.A.

“The animal model has informed us about neurobiological mechanisms of disease. This is true not only for addiction but for a multitude of diseases. This is possible because we can empirically test the effects of (for example) drugs on brain anatomy and chemistry. We therefore learn about what the neural circuitry does to support behavior.”

“There’s a lot of overlap,” she said. “Once you have a model in the rat, you can begin to theorize how it would work in humans.”

Why she studies cognitive flexibility

Alicia Izquierdo summarizes the reasons for studying the effect of methamphetamine on cognitive flexibility, (adapted from her National Institute of Drug Abuse grant abstract):

Methamphetamine (mAMPH) is a highly addictive psychostimulant and a growing public health concern, with a record of nearly 1.4 million people over the age of 12 using methamphetamine in the United States in 2005. In many regions of the United States, it is surpassed only by alcohol and marijuana as the most frequently used drug, often outpacing both heroin and cocaine abuse. Those addicted to methamphetamine make poor, disadvantageous choices and relapse often.

The long-term goal of this project is to provide knowledge about the effects of methamphetamine on decision-making and the brain.

Despite an increased number of studies recently devoting attention to measuring mAMPH effects on learning and memory, no systematic investigation has been conducted on mAMPH's impact on cognitive flexibility in either an animal model or in humans. Cognitive flexibility is of vital importance to the success of an organism and refers to the ability to shift strategy given a new set of circumstances....

We propose to study the effects of mAMPH on flexible cognition using a touch screen-based operant procedure sensitive to pharmacological manipulation in rodents....

Our long-term goal is to reconcile our understanding of the neural circuitry that subserves flexible cognition with the pathological effects of drugs of abuse....

Results arising from this project will enhance our understanding of the impact of mAMPH on flexible cognitive processes and increase our ability to identify therapeutic targets to ameliorate the poor decision-making arising from mAMPH abuse.