Psychology Department

Sara B. Taylor, Ph.D


2014 -  Assistant Professor of Psychology
Ph.D., University of Maryland Baltimore, '11
B.S., The Ohio State University, '05

taylor@hendrix.edu
DW Reynolds Center for Life Science
Office #109
501-505-1504 (phone)
501-450-4547 (fax)


Courses I currently teach:


Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 110)

Introduction to Psychopharmacology (PSYC 280)    

Research Methods (PSYC 295)

Behavioral Endocrinology (PSYC 366)


 


Research interests: 


Stress vulnerability and resilience

Animal models of addiction and psychiatric disorders

Individual and sex differences 

Neuroplasticity


 


Recent Student Presentations (*undergraduate student researcher):

  • Dobry, D.J.*, Huynh, M.L.*, McIntyre, W.A.*, Ratliff, C.T.*, Taylor, S.B. (2015).Characterizing the role of the kappa opioid receptor system in chronic stress. Central Arkansas Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium. Little Rock, AR.
  • Dobry, D.J.*, Huynh, M.L.*, Taylor, S.B. (2015). Toward a novel treatment to prevent stress-induced anxiety and depression. Arkansas Symposium for Psychology Students. Conway, AR.
  • McIntyre, W.A.*, Ratliff, C.T.*, Taylor, S.B. (2015). Caffeine and Ethanol: A slippery slope to risky behavior or media sensationalism? Arkansas Symposium for Psychology Students. Conway, AR.
  • Paode P.R.*, Anglin J.M.*, Riggert A.G.*, Lapitan F.L.*, Tang T.T.*, Conrad C.D., Taylor S.B. (2014). Chronic Stress-induced neuronal restructuring in the striatum may contribute to addiction vulnerability. School of Life Sciences Undergraduate Research Symposium. Tempe, AZ.
  • Anglin J.M.*, Riggert A.G.*, Paode P.R.*, Tang T.M.*, Olive M.F., Conrad C.D., Taylor S.B.  (2014). Chronic stress-induced habits may pave the road to addiction. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Chicago, IL.
  • Paode P.R.*, Anglin J.M.*, Riggert A.G.*, Lapitan F.L.*, Tang T.T.*, Conrad C.D., Taylor S.B. (2014). Chronic Stress-induced neuronal restructuring in the striatum may contribute to addiction vulnerability. The National Collegiate Research Conference at Harvard. Cambridge, MA.
  • Anglin J.M.*, Riggert A.G.*, Paode P.R.*, Tang T.M.*, Olive M.F., Conrad C.D., Taylor S.B.  (2013). Chronic stress-induced habits may pave the road to addiction. Carnegie Mellon Workshop for Undergraduate Women in Computer Science. Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Krigbaum A.*, Taylor S.B., Olive M.F., Conrad C.D. (2012). Acute stress effects on spatial versus habitual strategies in a dual solution T-maze task. Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium. Tempe, AZ. Arizona State University. 


 


Peer Reviewed Publications (*undergraduate student researcher):

  • LaCrosse A.L., Taylor S.B., Nemirovsky N.E., Gass, J.T., Olive M.F. (2015). mGluR5 positive and negative allosteric modulators differentially affect dendritic spine density and morphology in the prefrontal cortex. CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets, 14.
  • Ortiz J.B., Taylor S.B., Hoffman A.N., Campbell A.N., Lucas L.R., Conrad C.D. (2015). Sex-specific impairment and recovery of spatial learning following chronic unpredictable restraint stress: Potential relevance of limbic GAD.  Behavioral Brain Research, 282, 176-184.
  • LaCrosse, A.L., Burrows, B.T., Angulo, R.M., Conrad, P.R., Himes, S.M., Mathews, N., Wegner, S.A., Taylor, S.B., Olive, M.F. (2015). mGluR5 positive modulation and its effect on MK-801 induced set-shifting impairments in a rat operant delayed matching/non-matching-to-sample task. Psychopharmacology. 232(1), 251-258.
  • Taylor S.B., Paode P.R.*, Anglin J.A.*, Riggert A.G.*, Olive M.F., Conrad C.D. (2014). Chronic stress-induced neuronal restructuring in the striatum may contribute to addiction vulnerability. Neuroscience, 280, 231-232.
  • Taylor S.B., Lewis C.R., Olive M.F. (2013). The neurocircuitry of illicit psychostimulant addiction: Acute and chronic effects in humans. Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, (4), 29-43.
  • Taylor S.B., Taylor A.R., Koenig J.I. (2013). The interaction of disrupted Type II Neuregulin 1 and chronic adolescent stress on adult anxiety- and fear-related behaviors. Neuroscience: Special Issue: Stress and the Adolescent brain, 249, 31-42.
  • Taylor S.B. †, Taylor A.R. †, Koenig J.I. (2012). The involvement of Type II Neuregulin-1 in rat visuospatial learning and memory. Neuroscience Letters, 531 (2), 131-5. †Equal contributors
  • Taylor S.B., Markham J.A., Taylor A.R., Kanaskie B.Z., Koenig J.I. (2011). Sex-specific neuroendocrine and behavioral phenotypes in hypomorphic Type II Neuregulin 1 rats. Behavioural Brain Research, 224 (2), 223-32.
  • Taylor S.B., Taylor A.R., Markham J.A., Geurts A.M., Kanaskie B.Z., Koenig J.I. (2011). Disruption of the Neuregulin 1 gene in the rat alters HPA axis activity and behavioral responses to environmental stimuli. Physiology and Behavior, 104 (2), 205-14.
  • Taylor A.R., Markham J.A., Taylor S.B., Brady-Bell D., Koenig J. (2010). Characterization of the cognitive impairments induced by prenatal exposure to stress in the rat. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, (4), 173.

Book Chapters:

  • Taylor S.B., Conrad C.D., Olive M.F.  (2015) Stress and Maze Performance in Rodents. Bimonte-Nelson HA, Editor. The Maze Book: Your Guidebook to Theories, Practice, and Protocols for Testing Rodent Cognition. (pp.211-258) New York City: Humana Press.
  • Kufahl P.R., Taylor S.B. (2014) Therapeutic potential of mGluR agents on substance abuse and mood disorders: role of stress reactivity during abstinence and drug withdrawal. Olive MF, Editor, Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors: Molecular Mechanisms, Role in Neurological Disorders, and Pharmacological Effects. (pp. 177-226). Hauppauge: Nova Science Publishers.