Research Interests:

• Behavioral and neurobiological consequences of prenatal ethanol exposure
• Neurobiology of learning and memory
• Social behavior
• Spatial navigation
• Synaptic plasticity and structural plasticity

Profile:

Selected Publications

• Hamilton, D.A., Silasi, G., Magcalas, C.M., Pellis, S.M., & Kolb, B.E. (2020). Social and olfactory experiences modify neuronal morphology of orbital frontal cortex. Behavioral Neuroscience, 134, 59-68.
• Frost, M.E., Peterson, V.L., Bird, C. W., McCool, B.A., & Hamilton, D. A. (2019). Effects of Ethanol Exposure and Withdrawal on Neuronal Morphology in the Agranular Insular and Prelimbic Cortices: Relationship to Withdrawal-Related Structural Plasticity in the Nucleus Accumbens. Brain Sciences, 9, 180.
• Rodriguez, C. I., Davies, S., Calhoun, V., Savage, D.D., & Hamilton, D. A. (2016). Moderate prenatal ethanol exposure alters functional connectivity in the adult rat brain. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, in press.
• Hamilton, D.A., & Brigman, J.L. (2015). Behavioral flexibility in rats and mice: Contributions of distinct frontocortical regions. Genes, Brain, and Behavior, 14, 4-20.
• Bird, C.W., Candelaria-Cook, F.T., Magcalas, C.M., Davies, S., Valenzuela, C.F., Savage, D.D., & Hamilton, D.A. (2015). Moderate prenatal alcohol exposure enhances GluN2B containing NMDA receptor binding and ifenprodil sensitivity in rat ventrolateral frontal cortex.  PLoS ONE, 10(3):e0118721.
• Hamilton, D.A., Barto, D., Rodriguez, C.I., Magcalas, C., Fink, B.C., Rice, J.P., Bird, C.W., Davies, S., & Savage, D.D. (2014). Effects of moderate prenatal ethanol exposure and age on social behavior, spatial response perseveration errors and motor behavior. Behavioural Brain Research, 269, 44-54.
• Knierim, J.J., & Hamilton, D.A. (2011). Framing spatial cognition: Neural representations of proximal and distal reference frames and their role in navigation.  Physiological Reviews, 91, 1245-1279.

Courses Taught

• Psychology 240 : Brain and Behavior

• Psychology 260 : Psychology of Learning and Memory

• Psychology 347/547 : Drugs and Behavior

• Psychology 391-392 / 491-492 Junior/Senior Honors

• Psychology 540 : Biological Bases of Behavior

Lab

Graduate Students:

The role of glutamatergic receptors in frontal cortex function and related behaviors.

Breannan Howell
Affect and learning/memory.

Monica Goncalves-Garcia
Prenatal alcohol exposure, learning, and synaptic plasticity.

If you are interested in pursuing graduate studies with Dr. Hamilton please contact him by email.  He will be considering a student for 2021.