Chana K. Akins

Research Interests:
Etiology of drug and alcohol abuse
Alcohol and drug-associated cues and relapse
Alcohol Abuse
About the Lab & Research

About the Lab

Note: The Akins Lab WILL NOT be considering additional undergraduate students for the fall semester of 2024. Thank you for your interest. 

The research in our laboratory is focused on investigating how drugs of abuse and alcohol alter behavioral and cognitive functioning in humans  We use a crowdsource platform to recruit subjects and various assessment tools and tasks to assess and measure behavior.  Foe example, in a recent experiment, we used a modified "go-no go" task to compare the the ability to inhibit responding to alcohol cues between heavy and light drinkers.  We found that heavy drinkers failed to inhibit responding in the presence of alcohol cues suggesting that heavy drinking may lead to greater behavioral and cognitive dysfunctions.  Future studies will be focused on using visual search tasks to determine whether heavy drinkers are more sensitive to alcohol-related visual cues.

Undergraduate students who work in the lab have the opportunity to be involved in a wide range of research activities including reviewing and discussing the literature, data collection, data analysis, presenting the findings at local conferences, writing up the findings for possible publication, and co-authoring a manuscript.  Other potentially acquired skills:  learn to work with crowdsourcing platforms (e.g., Prolific), data collection software (e.g., Gorilla), and statistical software (e.g., SPSS); improve written and oral communication, and enhance scientific inquiry (critical thinking).

For Interested Graduate Students: 

Note: Dr. Akins is currently only considering taking graduate students if they will receive their Master's Degree by the end of spring of 2025.

Graduate students in my laboratory have an opportunity to acquire an intensive and enriched experience in basic behavioral and cognitive research in a closely-mentored setting. While in my laboratory, students can expect to gain a strong background in the fundamentals of psychopharmacology and cognitive and behavioral assessments, a solid foundation of experimental design, and the establishment of a solid publication record. Emphasis on these basic skills is aimed to help students be more competitive on the job market upon graduation or for those who want to transition into a post-doctoral position.  

Brief Bio

B.S., Texas Tech University, 1987

M.S., Texas Tech University, 1989

Ph.D., University of Texas, 1994

Lyman T. Johnson Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Kentucky, 1994-1996

Past President, American Psychological Association Division 6

American Psychological Association Fellow, Divisions 3, 6, and 28

Midwestern Psychological Association Fellow

American Council on Education Fellow

Mellon Carnegie Academic Leadership Mentor (Associated Colleges of the South)

Recent co-authored book for children

Selected Publications:

* graduate students **undergraduate students

*Bolin, B.L. & Akins, C.K. (2009).  Chronic preexposure to methamphetamine decreases sexual motivation but not sexual performance in male Japanese quail.  Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 17, 10-20.

**Rosine, B.J., *Bolin, B.L. & Akins, C.K. (2009).  Chronic methylphenidate cross-sensitizes methamphetamine in male Japanese quail.  Behavioural Pharmacology, 20(4), 352-5.

*Bolin, B.L. & Akins, C.K. (2012).  Chronic pre-exposure to methamphetamine following 31 days of withdrawal impairs sexual performance but not sexual conditioning in male Japanese quail. Behavioural Processes, 91(2),177-83.38) 

*Bolin, B.L.,**Cornett, H.L.,**Barnes, A.F., *Gill, K.E., and Akins, C.K. (2012). Nicotine induces a conditioned place preference in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). Physiology & Behavior, 107, 364-367.

*Bolin, B.L., **Singleton, D.L., & Akins, C.K. (2014).  Pavlovian discriminative stimulus effects of methamphetamine in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica).  Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 102(1), 126-38.

*Gill, K.E., *Rice, B.A., & Akins, C.K. (2015).  Cocaine induces state-dependent learning of sexual conditioning in male Japanese quail.  Physiology and Behavior, 138, 150-153.

*Gill, K.E., Madison, F.N., & Akins C.K. (2015). Cocaine-induced sensitization correlates with testosterone in male Japanese quail but not with estradiol in female Japanese quail.  Hormones and Behavior, 67, 21-27.

*Gill, K.E., *Reynolds, A.R., Prendergast, M.A., & Akins, C.K. (2016).  Female Japanese quail with high levels of estradiol demonstrate cocaine-induced conditioned place preference.  Experimental & Clinical Psychopharmacology, 24(3), 185-92.

*Rice, B.A., *Tariq, R., Akins, C.K. (2017).  Intramuscular route of administration increases potency in eliciting cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization.  Current Psychopharmacology, 6(1), 36-42.

Akins, C.K., *Gill, K.E., *Reinhardt, E., and *Bolin, B.L. (2017).  Cocaine increases resistance to extinction of sexual conditioning in male Japanese quail.  Learning & Behavior, 45(3), 313-322.

Akins, C.K., *Eaton, S.E., & Bolin, B.L. (2017). Conditioned place preference. In Vonk, J. & Shakelford, T.K. (Eds), Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. New York, NY: Springer.

*Rice, B.A., *Eaton, S.E., Prendergast, M.A., & Akins, C.K. (2018).  Effects of a stress hormone antagonist in reducing drug addiction behaviors.  Experimental & Clinical Psychopharmacology, 26(4), 329-334.

*Rice, B.A., Saunders, M.A., *Jagielo-Miller, J.E., Prendergast, M.A., & Akins, C.K. (2019).  Repeated subcutaneous administration of PT150 has dose-dependent effects on sign tracking in male Japanese quail.  Experimental & Clinical Psychopharmacology, 27(6), 515-521.

*Eaton, S.E., Pauly, J.R., Hopkins, D.M., Akins, C.K. (2021). Autoradiographic localization of [3H]-Nisoxetine binding sites in the CNS of male and female Japanese quail. Journal of Basic and Applied Zoology, 39, 82.

*Eaton SE, *Jagielo-Miller JE, Prendergast MA, Akins CK. (2022).  Sex differences in alcohol dehydrogenase levels (ADH) and blood ethanol concentration (BEC) in Japanese quail. Poultry Science, 101(5), 101790.

*Eaton, S.E., **Dzvala, S., **Robinson, L.E., *Radevski, M.E. & Akins, C.K. (2023).  Ethanol induces a dose-dependent place preference and conditioned place aversion in Japanese quail.  Experimental & Clinical Psychopharmacology, 31(1), 1-6.

*Radevski, M.E., Prendergast, M.A., Bardo, M.T., & Akins, C.K. (2023). PT150 Blocks the Rewarding Properties of Ethanol and Attenuates Ethanol-induced Reduction of Egg Laying in Coturnix Quail. Psychopharmacology, 240(2), 295-301.

PubMed Publications*: 
  • CK Akins"Time will tell: Temporal processing in the sexual behavior system."Learning & behavior(2022):Details. Full text
  • SE Eaton; S Dzhala; LE Robinson; ME Radevski; CK Akins"Ethanol induces a dose-dependent conditioned place preference and conditioned place aversion in Japanese quail."Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology(2022):Details.
  • CK Akins"Novel flexibility of social learning in dog puppies."Learning & behavior46.4(2018):331-332.Details. Full text
  • CK Akins; BL Bolin; KE Gill"Cocaine preexposure enhances sexual conditioning and increases resistance to extinction in male Japanese quail."Learning & behavior45.3(2017):313-322.Details. Full text
  • KE Gill; AR Reynolds; MA Prendergast; CK Akins"Female Japanese quail with high levels of estradiol demonstrate cocaine-induced conditioned place preference."Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology24.3(2016):185-92.Details. Full text
  • KE Gill; BA Rice; CK Akins"Cocaine induces state-dependent learning of sexual conditioning in male Japanese quail."Physiology & behavior138.(2015):150-3.Details. Full text
  • KE Gill; FN Madison; CK Akins"Cocaine-induced sensitization correlates with testosterone in male Japanese quail but not with estradiol in female Japanese quail."Hormones and behavior67.(2015):21-7.Details. Full text
  • Levi Bolin; DL Singleton; CK Akins"Pavlovian discriminative stimulus effects of methamphetamine in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)."Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior102.1(2014):126-38.Details. Full text
  • BL Bolin; HL Cornett; AF Barnes; KE Gill; CK Akins"Nicotine induces a conditioned place preference in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)."Physiology & behavior107.3(2012):364-7.Details. Full text
  • BL Bolin; CK Akins"Chronic pre-exposure to methamphetamine following 31 days of withdrawal impairs sexual performance but not sexual conditioning in male Japanese quail."Behavioural processes91.2(2012):177-83.Details. Full text
  • BL Bolin; CK Akins"Methamphetamine impairs sexual motivation but not sexual performance in male Japanese quail."Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology17.1(2009):10-20.Details. Full text
  • BJ Rosine; Levi Bolin; CK Akins"Chronic preexposure to methylphenidate cross-sensitizes methamphetamine in male Japanese quail."Behavioural pharmacology20.4(2009):352-5.Details. Full text
  • CK Akins; EH Geary"Cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization and conditioning in male Japanese quail."Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior88.4(2008):432-7.Details. Full text
  • EH Geary; CK Akins"Cocaine sensitization in male quail: temporal, conditioning, and dose-dependent characteristics."Physiology & behavior90.5(2007):818-24.Details. Full text
  • W Sun; CK Akins; AE Mattingly; GV Rebec"Ionotropic glutamate receptors in the ventral tegmental area regulate cocaine-seeking behavior in rats."Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology30.11(2005):2073-81.Details. Full text
  • CK Akins; N Levens; R Prather; B Cooper; T Fritz"Dose-dependent cocaine place conditioning and D1 dopamine antagonist effects in male Japanese quail."Physiology & behavior82.2-3(2004):309-15.Details. Full text
  • N Levens; CK Akins"Chronic cocaine pretreatment facilitates Pavlovian sexual conditioning in male Japanese quail."Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior79.3(2004):451-7.Details. Full text
  • CK Akins; N Levens; H Bakondy"The role of static features of males in the mate choice behavior of female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)."Behavioural processes58.1-2(2002):97-103.Details. Full text
  • CK Akins; ED Klein; TR Zentall"Imitative learning in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) using the bidirectional control procedure."Animal learning & behavior30.3(2002):275-81.Details.
  • N Levens; CK Akins"Cocaine induces conditioned place preference and increases locomotor activity in male Japanese quail."Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior68.1(2001):71-80.Details. Full text
  • DD Mace; PJ Kraemer; CK Akins"Conditioned place preference in 12-day-old Japanese quail."Developmental psychobiology31.4(1997):245-54.Details. Full text
  • CK Akins; M Domjan"The topography of sexually conditioned behaviour: effects of a trace interval."The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. B, Comparative and physiological psychology49.4(1996):346-56.Details.
  • CK Akins; TR Zentall"Imitative learning in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) using the two-action method."Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983)110.3(1996):316-20.Details. Full text
  • LL Crawford; CK Akins; M Domjan"Stimulus control of copulatory behavior in sexually naive male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica): effects of test context and stimulus movement."Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983)108.3(1994):252-61.Details. Full text
  • CK Akins; M Domjan; G Gutiérrez"Topography of sexually conditioned behavior in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) depends on the CS-US interval."Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes20.2(1994):199-209.Details. Full text
  • LL Crawford; CK Akins"Stimulus control of copulatory behavior in male Japanese quail."Poultry science72.4(1993):722-7.Details. Full text
  • BA Rice; R Tariq; CK Akins"Intramuscular Route of Administration Increases Potency in Eliciting Cocaine-Induced Behavioral Sensitization."Current psychopharmacology6.1(0):36-42.Details.
* Publications are automatically pulled from pubmed.gov based on a user-specific query. Results may include incorrect citations. See: Tutorial on improving PubMed results.