Date of Award
4-2023
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Psychology
Advisor/Committee Chair
Annalisa Scimemi
Abstract
Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by obsessions (uncontrollable and recurring thoughts), and compulsions (behaviors that one has the urge to repeat several times). One of the genes carrying non-functional mutations in OCD is Slc1a1, the gene that encodes the neuronal glutamate transporter EAAC1. However, we still have an incomplete understanding of how EAAC1 contributes to the onset of compulsivity in OCD-like behaviors. EAAC1 is abundantly expressed in the striatum, the input nucleus of the basal ganglia implicated with compulsivity and reward. Here, we use a series of behavioral assays to determine whether and how reward-based behaviors vary between wild type and EAAC1-/- mice. We found that EAAC1-/- mice have an increased propensity to engage in reward-based behaviors. Together, these findings suggest that EAAC1 may be critical to limit hyperactivity in the striatum and its ability to integrate reward and sensory information.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Yong, Jaci, "Neuronal Glutamate Transporters Mediate Stereotypic Reward-Based Behaviors" (2023). Psychology. 48.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/honorscollege_psych/48