Research Interests

Laurel Pritchard conducts research in the areas of behavioral neuroscience and psychopharmacology. 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 neural development, physiological psychology and psychopharmacology.

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.