Missions

The candidate will be in charge of performing and analyzing pharmacological tests on non-human primates (NHPs) who perform behavioral tasks addressing approach and food avoidance. He/she will be responsible for the processing of behavioral data as well as multimodal PET (positron emission tomography) imaging and MRI performed on these animals.

Activities

The agent's main activity will be to supervise the performance of intramuscular and intracerebral injections of pharmacological agents on the NHP and to measure the behavioral effects on a food preference task. He/she will therefore have to supervise a set of experimental procedures:
- He/she will have to perform stereotactic, intracerebral injections in the NHP, in different territories of the Striatum compared to injections made by systemic route (intramuscular injection).
- He/she will have to perform brain imaging examinations (PET-MRI) on anesthetized animals.
- He/she will be in charge of the analysis of behavioral results as well as imaging on the NHP.
- In general, he/she will be in charge of the statistical processing of the acquired data and of bringing them to the scientific publication stage.

Skills

The candidate must have:
- general knowledge of the anatomy of the brain of HNPs and/or humans,
- knowledge of the cognitive processes underlying food intake and the avoidance behaviours that characterise anxiety disorders,
- skills to work with HNPs, ideally validated by previous experience.
- skills in the acquisition and statistical processing of behavioral and imaging data.
- Ability to work in a team on a multimodal and translational project from animal to patient

Work Context

The Pathophysiology of the Basal Ganglia team is specialized in the study of neurological (Parkinson's disease) and psychiatric (impulsivity, anxiety and eating disorders) disorders resulting from dysfunctions of these subcortical structures. This team is part of the Marc Jeannerod Institute of Cognitive Sciences, which is located in Bron on the Vinatier site. This laboratory has access to the CERMEP brain imaging platform, located a 5-minute walk from the Institute. This project on the theme of behavioral neuroscience and the neural basis of motivational and decision-making disorders is carried out as part of a translational research project funded by the French National Research Agency. The contract is for a period of 6 months. Normal working hours.
The position is located in a sector under the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST), and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival be authorized by the competent authority of the MESR.

Constraints and risks

Since the project involves the manipulation of radiotracers injected during positron emission tomography (PET) imaging examinations, the risk of exposure to radioactivity, although very low, is present.