Joseph A. Schroeder

Joseph Schroeder has a diverse background in psychology, neuroscience, cell biology, neuropathology and pharmacology. Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of behavior has been the unifying theme of his research interests from the beginning of his career.

He believes in adopting a multi-level approach to unlocking the secrets of animal behavior, stressing the importance of employing molecular, cellular, neural systems and whole animal methodologies in the lab.

Schroeder helped define the feline model of Parkinson's disease as his doctoral thesis and went on to examine changes in cell signaling pathways following chronic cocaine administration in animal models of psychostimulant abuse.

He emphasizes the importance of this approach to his student collaborators who regularly present the results of their work at regional and national conferences. Currently, he and his students work with several rodent behavioral pharmacology models of psychostimulant and opioid addiction and heavy metal neurotoxicity. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop economical, worthwhile behavioral pharmacology animal models that can be easily adapted and that are especially interesting to undergraduate students.

Schroeder is the recipient of the 2011 John S. King Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, established to recognize teacher-scholars with high standards of teaching excellence and concern for students.

Professor Schroeder teaches Behavioral Neuroscience, Sensation and Perception, The Neurobiology of Disease, Cognitive Brain Imaging, Evolutionary Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychology of Sleep, Introduction to Psychology and two first-year seminars titled Genius, Creativity and the Brain, and Toxins and the Nervous System, Global Environmental Justice Issues.

Visit Joseph Schroeder's homepage 

View the neuroscience website.

Majoring in neuroscience.

"Like the entomologist in search of colorful butterflies, my attention has chased in the gardens of the grey matter cells with delicate and elegant shapes, the mysterious butterflies of the soul, whose beating of wings may one day reveal to us the secrets of the mind." -Santiago Ramon y Cajal

"Whenever possible, I try to impart to students the importance tackling a neuroscience concept from molecular, physiological and behavioral levels. A multidisciplinary, multiplaned approach is the best avenue for understanding the complexities of brain and behavior." -Joseph Schroeder