Robert Leaton
Professor
Ph.D., Yale University, 1963
Office: (603) 646-3183, 264 Moore
Lab: (603) 646-0057
robert.leaton@dartmouth.edu
Interests
Brain mechanisms underlying behavioral change, especially the change associated with habituation and conditioning.
Two major areas of research focus:
- Acoustic startle response: long-term habituation, associated cardiovascular changes, sensitization, and the modulating effects of fear conditioning.
- Assessment of medial cerebellar damage with particularly attention to the "emotional" changes associated with cerebellar damage.
Selected publications
- Leaton, R. N. News and Comment: Fear and the Cerebellum. Molecular Psychiatry, 2003, 8, 461 - 462
- Leaton, R. N. Electrolytic, but not neurotoxic, lesions to the lateral tegmental tract increase acoustic startle amplitude and reduce startle stimulus-induced freezing. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 2003,79, 89-98.
- Borszcz, G. B., and Leaton, R. N. The effect of amygdala lesions on conditional and unconditional vocalizations in rats, Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 2003, 79, 212-225.
- Leaton, R. N., and Brucato, F. H. Startle amplitude and fear in an acoustic startle paradigm: Lesions to the brachium of the inferior colliculus or the lateral tegmental tract. Behavioral Neuroscience, 2001,115, 477-492.
- Leaton, R. N., and Kelso, J. M. The auditory pathways: Startle amplitude and fear in an acoustic startle response paradigm in rats. Psychobiology, 2000, 28, 492-506.
- Pilz, P. K. D. and Leaton, R. N. Short-term and long-term habituation of the acoustic startle response as a function of stimulus rise time in rats. Psychobiology, 1999, 27, 402-414.
