Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Gearing up for January research!

This fall a group of students completed their senior research thesis project examining the influence of benzodiazepines on intake of caloric and non-caloric sweeteners.  They assessed rat licking patterns in both long-term (1 hr) and brief-access (30-60 s) duration tests.  Benzodiazepines continue to affect rat consumption patterns in ways that appear to indicate enhanced palatability of the tastants.  We are currently planing for experiments in January 2013 that will begin to examine potential targets for benzodiazepine actions in the brain.