Dr. Laura Rosen

Assistant Professor

Phone: 519-433-3491
Email: lrosen3@uwo.ca

Dr. Rosen’s research focuses on individuals’ motives for engaging in substance use, and how those motives relate to the risk of developing substance use disorders and addictions. She is particularly interested in understanding how cannabis use motives have evolved since the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada. Dr. Rosen also carries out research on substance use education and perceptions of substances. Her methods include surveys, cue reactivity paradigms, basic psychophysiology, and qualitative methods (e.g., semi-structured interviews). Dr. Rosen’s teaching and research activities are informed by both her graduate work on the neurobiology of reward signaling in addiction and her community-based research with non-profit and government organizations.

Education

• PhD (Neuroscience), Western University, 2017
• MSc (Neuroscience), Queen’s University, 2012
• BScH (Psychology), Queen’s University, 2010

Teaching

• Psych 2021: Addictive Behaviours
• Psych 2115: Introduction to Sensation and Perception
• Psych 2990: Applications of Psychology
• Psych 3992: Special Topics in Psychology: Behavioural Pharmacology

Research

• Substance use, addiction, cannabis, substance use motives, reward learning and memory

Selected Publications

How Much is Enough? The Impact of Low Incomes on Households and Communities in Perth and Huron Counties (2019) Research Report for the Social Research and Planning Council of the United Way of Perth-Huron.

Rosen, L.G., Rushlow, W.J. & Laviolette, S.R. (2017). Opiate exposure controls dopamine D3 receptor and cdk5/calcineurin signaling in the basolateral amygdala during reward and withdrawal aversion memory formation. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 79(B): 59-66.

Renard, J., Rosen, L., Rushlow, W.J. & Laviolette, S.R. (2016). Role of the Prefrontal Cortex in Addictive Disorders. The Cerebral Cortex in Neurodegenerative and Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Experimental Approaches to Clinical Issues. Eds. David Cechetto and Nina Weishaupt. Elsevier. 289-309. Print and eBook.

Renard, J., Rosen, L.G., Loureiro, M., De Oliveira, C., Schmid, S. Rushlow, W.J. & Laviolette, S.R. (2016). Adolescent Cannabinoid Exposure Induces a Persistent Sub-Cortical Hyper-Dopaminergic State and Associated Molecular Adaptations in the Prefrontal Cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 27(2): 1297-1310.

Rosen, L.G., Zunder, J., Renard, J., Fu, J., Rushlow, W. & Laviolette, S.R. (2016). Opiate Exposure State Controls a D2-CaMKIIα-Dependent Memory Switch in the Amygdala-Prefrontal Cortical Circuit. Neuropsychopharmacology. 41: 847-857.