Pritchard

Faculty

Laurel M. Pritchard, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Program:

Experimental

Email:

laurel.pritchard@unlv.edu

Phone:

(702) 895-4759

Accepting Gratuate Students 2008-2009: YES

Research Interests

Laurel Pritchard conducts research in the areas of behavioral neuroscience and psychopharmacology. Specifically, her research uses rodent models of child neglect to investigate the effects of adverse early life experience on vulnerability to substance abuse. She also has ongoing interests in the neural bases of individual differences in reactivity to novel stimuli and stimulant drugs, and hormonal influences on behavioral responses to stimulants. She teaches courses in physiological psychology and psychopharmacology and is seeking graduate students interested in helping to develop new laboratory modules for these courses.

Dr. Pritchard's 2004 Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Cincinnati investigated the role of the D3 dopamine receptor in rodent behavioral responses to novelty and psychostimulants.

Selected Publications

Pritchard, L. M., Newman, A. H., Logue, A. D., Welge, J. A., Xu, M., Zhang, J., & Richtand, N. M. (2007) D3 dopamine receptor antagonist NGB 2904 increases basal and amphetamine-stimulated locomotion. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 86, 718-726.

Pritchard, L. M., Logue, A. D., Taylor, B. C., Ahlbrand, R., Welge, J. A., Tang, Y., Sharp, F. R. & Richtand, N. M. (2006). Relative expression of D3 dopamine receptor and alternative splice variant D3nf mRNA in high and low responders to novelty. Brain Research Bulletin, 70, 296-303.

Richtand, N. M., Pritchard, L. M., & Coolen, L. (2005) Dopamine receptor alternative Splicing. In Schmidt, W. J. & Reith, M. A. (Eds.) Dopamine and Glutamate in Psychiatric Disorders. (pp. 45-62). Totowa, NJ: The Humana Press.

Sah, R., Pritchard, L. M., Richtand, N. M., Eaton, K., Sallee, F. R. & Herman, J. P. (2005) Expression of the Glucocorticoid Induced Receptor (GIR) mRNA in rat brain. Neuroscience, 133, 281-292.

Pritchard, L. M., Logue, A. D., Hayes, S., Welge, J. A., Xu, M., Zhang, J., Berger, S. P., & Richtand, N. M. (2003) 7-OH-DPAT and PD 128907 selectively activate the D3 dopamine receptor in a novel environment. Neuropsychopharmacology, 28, 100-107.

Wang, D., Herman, J. P., Pritchard, L. M., Spitzer, R. H., Ahlbrand, R. L., Kramer, G. L., Petty, F., Sallee, F. R., & Richtand, N. M. (2001) Cloning, expression and regulation of a glucocorticoid-induced receptor in rat brain: effect of repetitive amphetamine. Journal of Neuroscience, 21, 9027-9035.

Hagan, M. M., Rushing, P. A., Pritchard, L. M., Schwartz, M. W., Strack, A. M., Van der Ploeg, L. H. T., Woods, S. C., & Seeley, R. J. (2000) Long-term orexigenic effects of AgRP-(83-132) involve mechanisms other than melanocortin receptor blockade. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 279, R47-R52.