Addiction is the Topic of July 30 USU Sunrise Session
- What: USU Sunrise Session Research Breakfast, “Understanding Addictions: Animal Lessons for Human Health”
- Speaker: Tim Shahan, associate professor of psychology
- When: Friday, July 30, 7:30-9 a.m.
- Where: Little America Hotel, 500 S. Main, Salt Lake City
Whether it be the morning caffeine fix, buying a weekly lottery ticket or something far more serious such as drugs or alcohol, most people are faced with addiction on some level. Famous golfer Tiger Woods recently reminded the public just how devastating an addiction can become.
Utah State University psychology professor Tim Shahan will discuss his research on investigating clues from animal behavior to find answers to the human problems of addiction and dependence. The ability of humans and other animals to predict important environmental events and to learn about the consequences of their actions are critical survival skills, said Shahan.
By studying how basic behavior processes contribute to adaptive and maladaptive behaviors, Shahan’s team is studying human nature in hopes of reducing the human-health and economic costs associated with addictive and self-destructive behavior.
Shahan will demonstrate how people engage in a variety of addictive, shortsighted, self-destructive behaviors despite serious negative consequences and a stated desire to quit.
By studying how basic behavior processes contribute to adaptive and maladaptive behaviors, Shahan’s team is studying human nature in hopes of reducing the human-health and economic costs associated with addictive and self-destructive behavior.
Shahan will demonstrate how people engage in a variety of addictive, shortsighted, self-destructive behaviors despite serious negative consequences and a stated desire to quit.
“Even after a successful attempt to quit, people often relapse and return to the self-destructive behavior,” said Shahan.
Shahan received his doctorate in psychology from West Virginia University in 1998. As a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Vermont, he studied how basic learning processes contribute to cigarette smoking and drug abuse. He joined the faculty at USU in 2003. Shahan’s research program has generated millions of dollars of funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
USU’s Sunrise Sessions is a breakfast lecture series held quarterly and designed to highlight timely and cutting-edge research conducted at Utah State University. The lecture is sponsored by Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah and is free and open to the public.
To RSVP, call 801-961-1340 or respond online.
Shahan received his doctorate in psychology from West Virginia University in 1998. As a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Vermont, he studied how basic learning processes contribute to cigarette smoking and drug abuse. He joined the faculty at USU in 2003. Shahan’s research program has generated millions of dollars of funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
USU’s Sunrise Sessions is a breakfast lecture series held quarterly and designed to highlight timely and cutting-edge research conducted at Utah State University. The lecture is sponsored by Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah and is free and open to the public.
To RSVP, call 801-961-1340 or respond online.
Researcher Tim Shahan will discuss his research on investigating clues from animal behavior to find answers to the human problems of addiction and dependence at the USU Sunrise Session, July 30, in Salt Lake City.
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