Cheryl Conrad is a professor of psychology and has been with ASU since 1997. Her research interests include studies on the neurobiology of chronic stress, sex differences in neuroplasticity following chronic stress, and links between stress and depression or anxiety disorders.
The ultimate goal of her research program is to investigate the mechanisms by which stress influences brain plasticity and resilience. The stress response is key to organism survival: It is highly conserved across vertebrate species because it allows organisms to respond to environmental change. However, a stress response that persists or is repeatedly activated can have substantial negative consequences on brain plasticity and resilience. A reduction of brain plasticity is thought to contribute to many psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD) and Alzheimer’s disease. Consequently, studying conditions that attenuate or accentuate brain plasticity are essential to understanding the mechanisms of adaptation and many neurological disorders.
The ultimate goal of my research program is to investigate the mechanisms by which stress influences brain plasticity and resilience. The stress response is key to organism survival: It is highly conserved across vertebrate species because it allows organisms to respond to environmental change. However, a stress response that persists or is repeatedly activated can have substantial negative consequences on brain plasticity and resilience. A reduction of brain plasticity is thought to contribute to many psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD) and Alzheimer’s disease. Consequently, studying conditions that attenuate or accentuate brain plasticity are essential to understanding the mechanisms of adaptation and many neurological disorders.
In my laboratory’s research, we use a chronic stress model to investigate brain plasticity and resilience. When rats are chronically stressed, they express physiological and behavioral symptoms consistent with depression, including changes in body weight, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, sleep, motivation, anhedonia and cognition. Breakthroughs in mechanisms revealed with our chronic stress rat model will likely have applications in understanding and treating depression, as well as other psychological conditions.
Questions we are currently pursuing:
1) What are the mechanisms by which chronic stress alters neuronal morphology and function and what underlies the process to improve or recover when chronic stress ends?
2) What factors contribute to one’s susceptibility to chronic stress? How does gender influence the effects of chronic stress on brain morphology and function?
3) How does the emotional salience of a learning task influence cognitive function following chronic stress?
For the most up-to-date listing of published work, please use the following link:
Summer 2022 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
PSY 792 | Research |
Spring 2022 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
PSY 384 | Psych Undergrad Teaching Asst |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
MBB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
NEU 494 | Special Topics |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 792 | Research |
PSY 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2021 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
PSY 325 | Physiological Psychology |
PSY 384 | Psych Undergrad Teaching Asst |
NEU 394 | Special Topics |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
MBB 493 | Honors Thesis |
MBB 495 | Undergraduate Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 792 | Research |
PSY 799 | Dissertation |
Summer 2021 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
Spring 2021 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
MBB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 790 | Reading and Conference |
PSY 792 | Research |
Fall 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
MBB 493 | Honors Thesis |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
MBB 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 790 | Reading and Conference |
PSY 792 | Research |
Summer 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
Spring 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
PSY 325 | Physiological Psychology |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
MBB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 790 | Reading and Conference |
PSY 792 | Research |
PSY 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
MBB 493 | Honors Thesis |
MBB 495 | Undergraduate Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 790 | Reading and Conference |
PSY 792 | Research |
PSY 799 | Dissertation |
Summer 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
Spring 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
MBB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 568 | Stress and the Brain |
BIO 568 | Stress and the Brain |
Fall 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
MBB 493 | Honors Thesis |
MBB 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
Summer 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
Spring 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
PSY 325 | Physiological Psychology |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
MBB 492 | Honors Directed Study |
BIO 493 | Honors Thesis |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
Fall 2017 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
VIP 194-PSY | Special Topics |
VIP 294-PSY | Special Topics |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 492 | Honors Directed Study |
MBB 493 | Honors Thesis |
MBB 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |