# Behavioral Neuroscience Research Core

> **NIH NIH P20** · KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $310,764

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY: BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE CORE
The Behavioral Neuroscience (BN) Core will support the overarching goals of the Cognitive and
Neurobiological Approaches to Plasticity (CNAP) Center through the provision of resources, equipment, and
technical support to enhance the research capabilities of CNAP primary projects and programs. The BN Core,
housed within the Department of Psychological Sciences at Kansas State University, is the only dedicated BN
core in Psychology in the state of Kansas. In Phase 2, the BN Core facility will be modernized and augmented
through the addition of major equipment items to expand the capabilities of the facility and provide additional
technical support. The BN Core will directly support two of the proposed Phase 2 primary projects (Diehl and
Hall), the pilot grant and Scientific Exchange Network (SEN) programs, and the current community of users in
the behavioral neuroscience program. The proposed modernization of the facility will promote the growth of
behavioral neuroscience into exciting and innovative research areas that incorporate state-of-the-art
techniques that will improve the research infrastructure for animal neuroscience research at K-State. Upgrades
will allow the BN Core to introduce extracellular electrophysiological recordings coupled with optogenetics into
research programs and will increase support for a range of biochemical assays, fluorescence microscopy, and
Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs). The expansion of core facilities will
also support CNAP programs by providing an excellent training environment for SEN partners. The Core
Director and Core Technician will supply expertise in neuroscience and behavioral techniques to CNAP
members with laboratories housed outside of the core facility. The comprehensive goal of the BN Core is to
promote the ability of CNAP researchers to compete for extramural funding by incorporating technologies that
are needed to answer the most challenging questions facing modern neuroscience researchers. The core is
directed by Dr. Charles Pickens, a nationally known researcher in behavioral neuroscience in neural circuits of
decision-making in animal models. Additional training and mentoring will be supplied by the CNAP mentoring
team, External Advisory Committee members, and members from the BN collaborative network at K-State. A
full-time Animal Care Technician will provide daily facility cleaning and maintenance and will meet the animal
care and husbandry needs of facility users. Overall, the BN Core will support the attainment of the CNAP
overarching aims by contributing to the success and growth of animal models of cognitive and neural plasticity,
a central component of CNAP.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10496507
- **Project number:** 2P20GM113109-06
- **Recipient organization:** KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Charles Lee Pickens
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $310,764
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2017-07-15 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10496507

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10496507, Behavioral Neuroscience Research Core (2P20GM113109-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10496507. Licensed CC0.

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