News & Announcements

Greg Pearson won a Trainee Professional Development Award!

Greg Pearson (3rd year PhD student in the Karatsoreos Lab) has won a Trainee Professional Development Award (TDPA) to attend the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) conference in San Diego. The competitive TPDA recognizes undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who demonstrate scientific merit and excellence in research.

We are also excited that Greg's SfN abstract, exploring how the circadian clock alters the impact of viral inflammatory stimuli that access the brain via the intranasal route, was chosen for a NanoString Technologies Travel Grant. Congratulations Greg!

NSB graduate students publication expected to lead to a more precise understanding of the neuronal activity underlying patterns of drinking behavior which may play a role in the detrimental effects on mental health that differ by sex.

NSB Graduate Students, Annabelle Bonilla Flores and Andy Silva-Gotay, members of the Richardson Lab have a recent publication in Biology of Sex Differences. To learn more about this research, see Annabelle Flores-Bonilla’s Student Spotlight featured in The Initiative on Neurosciences (IONs) and Flores-Bonilla A, De Oliveria B, Silva-Gotay, A, Lucier KW, Richardson HN (2021). Shortening time for access to alcohol drives up front-loading behavior, bringing consumption in male rats to the level of females. Biology of Sex Differences.

Graduate Students Organize the UMass Amherst SACNAS Fall 2021 Kick-off Event

The SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science) chapter at UMASS Amherst held their first kick-off event of the fall! Chapter officers were excited to share the group's goals and meet with interested students of all years, staff, and faculty. The event was organized by Miriam Hernandez-Romero (PB), Estefany Argueta (OEB), Natasha de la Rosa-Rivera (NSB), Leah Travis-Taylor (GeoSci), and Nadia Fernandez (ECO).

If you want to be in the loop about how to support BIPOC students on campus and get info on future events, connect with us here:

Interested in learning more about SACNAS?

Visit our blog: https://blogs.umass.edu/sacnas-umass/

Visit our Campus pulse page: https://umassamherst.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/sacnasumassamherst

Join our Slack channel: https://join.slack.com/t/umass-amherst-sacnas/shared_invite/zt-jbipjxdy-xf2Ck6d6IHfo4So2B7WrTA

Learn about the national society: https://www.sacnas.org/

UMass, Amherst, NSB Graduate Program Research Pinpoints Role of Dopamine in Songbird's Brain Plasticity

New Research from NSB Alumn Matheus Macedo-Lima and senior researcher, Luke Remage-Healey published in Journal of Neuroscience. The finding that dopamine drives plasticity in the auditory pallium of zebra finches lays new groundwork for advancing the understanding of the functions of this neurotransmitter in an area of the brain that encodes complex stimuli. Read More

Nicole (Nikki) Lee PhD Dissertation Defense

Friday, June 4, 2021
10:00 AM
Zoom Link: Please contact to be included on the email list for this announcement
Dissertation Title: "The role of reward in prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) peer relationships"
Abstract: Relationships between same-sex peers are central to life in social groups. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) are widely studied for their reproductive pair bonds, but individuals also demonstrate selective preferences for familiar same-sex peers. The mechanisms underlying reproductive pair bonds in this species may differ from those underlying peer relationships, as reproductive partnerships and parental behaviors are highly motivated but peer relationships appear to be behaviorally less rewarding. Differences in the role of dopamine signaling in the formation and maintenance of same-sex and opposite-sex social preferences suggest that reproductive bonds are mediated differently from non-reproductive ones, and thus that peer relationships need to be investigated separately from pair bonds to fully elucidate mechanisms of social behavior.

Advisor: Annaliese Beery

Jessica Caballero-Feliciano PhD Public Dissertation Defense

Friday, May 28, 2021
10:00 AM
Zoom Link: Please contact to be included on the email list for this announcement
Dissertation Title: "Role of prefrontal cortex in reward seeking behaviors"
Advisor: David Moorman

Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship Awarded to NSB doctoral student, Mélise Edwards

Congratulations to Mélise Edwards for being awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship. Mélise is 2nd year PhD student in the Hormones & Cognition lab at UMass Amherst and the founder of MUSE Mentorship. She interested in age-related cognitive decline and the role of hormones like estrogen in cognition and cell signaling.

Len Jacob PhD Dissertation Defense

Monday, March 1, 2021
9:30 AM
Zoom link: Please contact to be included on the email list for this announcement
Dissertation Title: "The Two Sides of Neural Habituation in Visual Processing: Enhanced Novelty Detection Versus Repetition Deficits"
Advisor: David Huber

Dan Vahaba as a recent UMass NSB alum!

NSB alumnus, Daniel Vahaba, has been featured in the UMass Initiative on Neurosciences (IONs) newsletter highlighting recent publications. Dr. Vahaba published research in collaboration members of the Healey Lab in the Nature of Scientific Reports. Read more

UMass Amherst Life Sciences Junior Fellows Seminar with Dr. Jeffrey Karp

The Junior Fellows program has invited Dr. Jeffrey Karp to give a talk on Thursday, November 12, 2020.

Title: Towards Accelerated Medical Innovation.
Time: 5-6PM

To register to attend, please click HERE

Neuroscience & Behavior Graduate Program

Welcome to the Neuroscience & Behavior Program