Department of Psychology

Chris Newland received a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University in 1972. After discovering that engineering was not for him, he enrolled in the graduate program in Experimental Psychology at Georgia Tech where he took a double minor in Neurobiology and Mathematics. In 1982, he began a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Rochester in Environmental Health Sciences. Dr. Newland has been at Auburn since 1988. He is interested in ways in which experimental psychology, and especially the experimental analysis of behavior, can contribute to an understanding of drugs, toxic substances, and nutrients that influence neural development and that act on behavior. He currently has funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to examine the behavioral consequences of methylmercury, omega 3 fatty acids, and selenium in the diet during early development and during aging.

Recent and Ongoing Research Projects:

• Effects of methylmercury exposure during gestation.
• Aging and neurotoxicant exposure.
• Nutrition, development and aging.
• Operant behavior in fish as a measure of ecotoxicology
• Using stimulus equivalence to teach drug names
• Quantitative analysis of behavior.
• Laboratory automation.

• 1972, B.E.E., Auburn University
• 1982, Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology
• 3, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester

• Rasmussen, E.B. and Newland, M.C. (2008) Asymmetry of reinforcement and punishment in human choice. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. 89, 157-167.
  PDF Version
• Reed, M. N., Banna, K. M., Donlin, W. D., & Newland, M. C. (2008). Effects of gestational exposure to methylmercury and dietary selenium on reinforcement efficacy in adulthood. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 30, 29-37.
  PDF Version
• Paletz, E. M., Day, J. J., Craig-Schmidt, M. C., & Newland, M. C. (2007). Spatial and visual discrimination reversals in adult and geriatric rats exposed during gestation to methylmercury and n - 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. NeuroToxicology, 28(4), 707-719.
  PDF Version
• Reed, M.N. and Newland, M.C. (2007) Prenatal methylmercury exposure increases responding under clocked and unclocked fixed interval schedules of reinforcement. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 29, 492-502.
  PDF Version
• Newland, M.C., Donlin, W.D., Paletz, E.M., Banna, K.M. Developmental Behavioral Toxicity of Methylmercury: Consequences, Conditioning, and Cortex. In E. D. Levin and J.J. Buccafusco (Eds). Animal Models of Cognitive Impairment. CRC Press (2006).
  PDF Version
• Newland, M.C., Reed, M.N., LeBlanc, A., Donlin, W.D. (2006) Brain and blood mercury and selenium after chronic and developmental exposure to methylmercury. NeuroToxicology, 27, 710-720.
  PDF Version
• Reed, M.N., Paletz, E.M., Newland, M.C. (2006) Gestational exposure to methylmercury and selenium: Effects on a spatial discrimination reversal in adulthood. NeuroToxicology, 27, 721-732.
  PDF Version
• Paletz, E.M., Craig-Schmidt, M.C., Newland, M.C. (2006) Gestational exposure to methylmercury and n-3 fatty acids: Effects on high- and low-rate operant behavior in adulthood. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 28, 59-73
  PDF Version
• Day, J., Reed, M., & Newland, M. C. (2005). Neuromotor Deficits in Aging Rats Exposed to Methylmercury and n-3 Fatty Acids. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 27, 629-642
  PDF Version
• Newland, M. C., Reile, P. A., Sartin, E. A., Hart, M., Craig-Schmidt, M., Mandel, I., Mandel, N. (2005). Rodent urolithiasis associated with a dl bitartrate form of choline in a purified diet. Comparative Medicine, 55(4), 354-367
  PDF Version
• Newland, M.C., Donlin, W.D., Paletz, E.M., Banna, K.M. Developmental Behavioral Toxicity of Methylmercury: Consequences, Conditioning, and Cortex. In E. D. Levin and J.J. Buccafusco (Eds). Animal Models of Cognitive Impairment. CRC Press (2006).
  PDF Version
• Newland, M.C., Reile, P.A. (1999) Learning and behavior change as neurotoxic endpoints. In H. A. Tilson and J. Harry (Eds) Target Organ Series: Neurotoxicology. New York: Raven Press. Pp 311-338.
  PDF Version
• Newland, M.C. (1997) Neural, behavioral, and measurement considerations in the detection of motor impairment. In Reuhl, K.R., and Lowndes, H.E. (Eds). Comprehensive Toxicology: Vol 11: Nervous System and Behavioral Toxicology. Elsevier pp 247-269.
• Newland, M.C. and Shapiro, S.K. (1996) Studying the neurotoxicity of indoor air with nonhuman species: issues in experimental design and interpretation. In B. A. Berven and R. B. Gammage (Eds) Indoor Air and Human Health Revisited. Chelsea, MI: J. Lewis Press. pp
• Newland, M.C. (1995) Motor function and the physical properties of the operant: screening and advanced applications. In Chang, L.W., and Slikker, W. (Eds) Neurotoxicology: Approaches and Methods. San Diego, Academic Press. pp 265-300.
  PDF Version

Content is not available at this time.