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Neuroscience Professor Deanne Buffalari and Alumnus Anthony Sloan '15 Publish Research

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Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2017

Dr. Deanne Buffalari, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, and Anthony Sloan ‘15 were recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. Their research paper, "Effects of concomitant methylphenidate and ethanol administration on working and reference memory in rats," details how drugs can interact to affect memory.

Stemming from the results of Sloan’s neuroscience senior capstone project, under the direction of Buffalari, Sloan examined how exposure to varied combinations of ethanol and methylphenidate affect the reference and working memory in rats. Sloane tested what effect Ritalin has on different types of memory, what effect alcohol has, and what effect they have when combined.

“Increasing numbers of college students, a population that tends to abuse alcohol, are also using Ritalin recreationally,” says Buffalari. “Yet, we have a limited understanding of how those two drugs, when combined, affect cognitive functions such as memory. This study tries to fill a gap in that knowledge.”

Buffalari served as Sloan’s advisor and former Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Robin McGovern, was also a co-author on the project.

Sloan is currently working as a laboratory technician in a neuroscience laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh, while applying to graduate programs in neuroscience.

A link to the journal article is available here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091305716301861.

For more information, contact Dr. Deanne Buffalari at 724-946-7358 or buffald@westminster.edu.