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Jennifer Quinn
Associate Professor
Psychology, Center for Animal Behavior, Center for Neuroscience and Behavior

Jennifer Quinn

Contact Info

513-529-3611
110 Psychology Building
Quinn Lab

Education

Ph.D. Psychology, UCLA, 2004

Teaching Interests

My teaching interests focus on foundational and advanced courses in biopsychology, including the neurobiology of learning and memory and applied neuroscience. I also utilize course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and approaches such as team-based learning.

  • PSY 112 | Foundational Experiences in Psychology
  • PSY 159 | Seminar in Neuroscience
  • PSY 251 | Introduction to Biopsychology
  • PSY 252/352/452 | Structured Research Experience in Neuroscience
  • PSY 294 | Writing and Advanced Research Methods in Psychology
  • PSY 351 | Advanced Biopsychology
  • PSY 456/556 | Advanced Biological Bases of Behavior
  • PSY 458 | Neuroscience Capstone

Research Interests

I am interested in how both associative and non-associative emotional memories are formed, retrieved, and used to guide future behavior. Specifically, I investigate how the brain initially stores and subsequently stabilizes, updates, and forgets long-term memories. I explore parallel brain systems that often represent aspects of the same experience. In addition, I look at how early adverse experience (e.g., acute or chronic stress, perinatal opioid exposure) impacts processing of threat and reward later in life. My research employs behavioral, neuroanatomical, neurochemical and molecular techniques in addressing these questions. I use both rats and mice in aversive and appetitive conditioning procedures.

Prospective graduate students who are interested in working in the Quinn lab should contact Dr. Quinn via email.

Professional Recognition

  • Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate Instruction and Mentoring, Miami University, 2024
  • “Outstanding Professor” Award nomination, Associated Student Government, Miami University, 2024
  • Howe Award for Excellence in Disciplinary Writing Instruction, Miami University, 2022
  • “Top 100” Faculty Commendation, Center for Teaching Excellence, Miami University, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022
  • Student Recognition of Teaching Excellence Award, 2020
  • “Outstanding Professor” Award nomination, Associated Student Government, Miami University, 2012
  • “Professor of the Year” Award, Department of Psychology Psi Chi, Miami University, 2009

Selected Publications

  • Reichert ANG, Riddle CAU, Quinn JJ*. (in press). Social buffering of acute early life stress sex-dependently ameliorates maladaptive fear incubation in adulthood. Developmental Psychobiology.
  • Perry TWU, Carvour HMU, Reichert ANG, Sneddon EAG, Roemer CAEGU, Gao YYU, Schuh KMU, Shand NAU, Quinn JJ, Radke AK*. (2025). Early life stress paired with adolescent alcohol consumption reduces two-bottle choice alcohol consumption in mice. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, 49: 678-691.
  • Minshall BLG, Wasylyshyn CFU, Brand KMU, Bartoszek CMU, Seipel KAU, Booms MMU, Chappell LCU, Reichert ANG, Dowell JRG, Buck ALU, Beckett HTU, Lowry CA, Quinn JJ*. (2024). 5-HT2C receptors in the BNST modulate contextual fear conditioning without affecting acute ELS-enhanced fear learning in adult rats. Brain Sciences, 14: 1287. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/brainsci14121287
  • Minshall BLG, Peguero AZU, Scheive KM1, Wasylyshyn CF1, Claflin DI2, Quinn JJ*. (2024). Acute early life stress alters threat processing in adult rats. Behavioral Neuroscience. doi: 10.1037/bne0000608 [received Editor’s Choice recognition]
  • Minshall BLG, Skipper RAU, Riddle CAU, Wasylyshyn CFU, Claflin DI, Quinn JJ*. (2024). Sex differences in acute early life stress-enhanced fear learning in adult rats. Developmental Psychobiology, 66(5): e22511. doi: 10.1002/dev.22511.
  • East BSG, Brady LRU, Quinn JJ*. (2022). Differential effects of lateral and medial entorhinal cortex lesions on trace, delay and contextual fear memories. Brain Sciences, 12: 34. Doi: 10.3390/brainsci12010034.
  • Claflin DI*, Gallimore DM U, Koraym A U, Costello A U, Hennessy MB, Quinn JJ. (2021). Social buffering of plasma corticosterone and amygdala responses of young rats following exposure to periorbital shock: Implications for eye-blink conditioning development. Behavioral Neuroscience, 135I(5): 622-628.
  • Campbell TL U, Kochli DEG, McDaniel MA U, Myers MK U, Dunn ME U, Diana VA U & Quinn JJ*. (2021). Using extinction-renewal to circumvent the memory strength boundary condition in fear memory reconsolidation. Brain Sciences, 11(8): 1023. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11081023.
  • Sneddon EAG, Riddle CA U, Schuh KM U, Quinn JJ, Radke AK*. (2020). Selective enhancement of fear learning and resistance to extinction in a mouse model of acute early life trauma. Learning & Memory, 28(1):12-16. doi: 10.1101/lm.052373.120.
  • Radke AK, Held IT U, Sneddon ES G, Riddle CA U & Quinn JJ*. (2020). Additive influences of acute early life stress and sex on vulnerability for aversion-resistant alcohol drinking. Addiction Biology, 25(6):e12829.

Funding

  • R21 Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Sex-specific effects of infant trauma on alcohol drinking: Role of amygdala intercalated neurons, $367,893, 2021-2023 (Co-I; PI Radke)
  • R15 Academic Research Enhancement Award, National Institute of Mental Health, Prediction error in contextual fear memory reconsolidation, $401,121, 2013-2017 (PI)
  • Miami University’s CELTUA Major Teaching Project for Individual or Small Groups of Faculty Grant: Broadening Undergraduate Research Participation in Behavioral Neuroscience, 2012-214 (PI)