Behavioral Neuroscience PhD Program

Mark Kristal, Ph.D.
Behavioral Neuroscience Area Head

Program Highlights

  • Advantages:

    • individualized programs
    • flexible admissions
    • fellowships and assistantships
    • excellent placement of graduates
    • affiliated with university-wide neuroscience program
    • diversity of research interests
    • small size encourages development of close professional relationships with faculty

  • Behavioral Neuroscience at UB is:

    • primarily a doctoral program
    • neural basis of cognitive filtering and attention
    • brain mechanisms of sexual and maternal behavior
    • psychobiology of analgesia
    • neural control of social behavior
    • EEG correlates of human brain lateralization and dysfunction
    • Neurochemistry of emotion
    • sound perception and acoustic communication
    • neural and biochemical basis of food, water, and salt intake
    • neurobiology of learning and memory
    • brain mechanisms of addiction and drug abuse
    • supervision of MA students in the context of some faculty research programs

  • Facilities -- laboratories include:

    • surgical suite
    • histology lab
    • microdialysis and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
    • brain self-stimulation
    • immunocytochemistry
    • radioimmunoassay
    • microinjection
    • Western blotting
    • quantitiative polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
    • operant techniques and psychopharmacology
    • behavioral testing

Program Faculty

Faculty who may be accepting graduate students for the upcoming academic year are indicated by an asterisk (*).

  • Michael Bozarth, (PhD, Concordia University, 1983), Associate Professor: biological basis of appetitive motivation and reward, specifically psychomotor stimulant and opioid effects; other interests include drug addiction and motivational theory.
  • *Derek Daniels, (PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 2001), Assistant Professor: Neural and biochemical basis of ingestive behavior; neural circuits and intracellular signaling involved in the regulation of food, water, and salt intake by centrally acting peptides; maintenance of body fluid and energy homeostasis.
  • *Micheal Dent, (PhD, University of Maryland, 2002), Assistant Professor: The perception of complex sounds and auditory illusions in birds and small mammals, acoustic communication, and animal cognition.
  • *Jan Hastrup, (PhD, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1977), Associate Professor: stress and genetic factors in the etiology of physical and psychological disorders and neuropsychological correlates of problem solving.
  • *Eduardo Mercado III, (PhD, University of Hawaii, 1998), Assistant Professor: Neural processing of auditory information, cortical plasticity, neurobiology of learning and memory, cognitive and computational neuroscience.
  • *Mark Kristal, (PhD, Kansas State University, 1971), Professor: physiological bases of motivated behavior (especially reproduction and ingestion); neural and endocrine basis of maternal behavior in mammals; functions of the hypothalamus; opioid systems and maternal behavior, parturition, and antinociception.
  • *David Shucard, (PhD, University of Denver, 1969), Professor: cognitive processes (e.g., attention and working memory) in normal adults, children, and clinical populations (MS, SLE) using electrophysiology, neuropsychology, and neuroimaging; animal models are also studied.
  • *Scott Wersinger, (PhD, Boston University, 1996), Assistant Professor: molecular basis of motivation and emotion, molecular genetics, behavioral neuroendocrinology.
  • Charles J. Smith, (PhD, McGill University, 1954), Associate Professor Emeritus: role of the midbrain tectum and anterior thalamus in visually guided behavior, including spatial orientation and attention.

Affiliated Faculty:

  • Robert Burkard, (PhD, University of Wisconsin, 1983), Professor, Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences. Hearing and deafness, auditory perception and cognition. (Research Professor of Psychology)
  • Peter Butera, (PhD, Purdue University, 1985), Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology, Niagara University.  Hormonal control of ingestive behavior and meal patterns, neural mechanisms of estrogen action, cytokines and disease anorexia.  (Research Professor of Psychology)
  • Jean DiPirro, (PhD, University at Buffalo, 2001), Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Buffalo State College. Neurochemistry and neuropharmacology of opioid systems, pain, analgesia, and anxiety. (Research Assistant Professor of Psychology)
  • *Jerry Richards, Jerry Richards, (PhD, Emory University, 1988), Senior Research Scientist, Research Institute on Addictions: Roles of dopamine and serotonin in control of impulsivity. (Research Associate Professor of Psychology)
  • Richard Salvi, (PhD, Syracuse University, 1975), Professor, Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences. Central and peripheral auditory physiology and behavior; regeneration of hair cells. (Research Professor of Psychology)
  • Roh-Yu Shen, (PhD, Wayne State University, 1989), Senior Research Scientist, Research Institute on Addictions. Electrophysiology, neurochemistry, neuropharmacology, brain development and addiction. (Research Associate professor of Psychology)
  • *Alexis Thompson, (PhD, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1992), Research Scientist, Research Institute on Addictions: The roles of stress and neuropeptides in analgesia, drug addiction, and maternal behavior. (Research Associate Professor of Psychology)

 

An Overview of the Program...

Apply Online

*Please note: Online applications will be available for the Fall 2009 semester for the Behavioral Neuroscience PhD Program on August 1, 2008.