Thursday, Feb. 17 • 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.   (more info.)

Dr. Pierce is Professor of Sociology at the University of Alberta, Graduate Fellow of the Canada Council, and is supported post-graduate by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. He was appointed as honorary Fellow of the American Psychological Association in recognition of outstanding and unusual contributions to the science and profession of Psychology, and received the Research Award of the Faculty of Arts in 2000 for extraordinary research accomplishments while at the rank of Professor. He is the Director of the Behavioural Research Unit at the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Research Laboratory. Dr. Pierce has published more than 100 scientific articles, abstracts, books and book chapters. He has given numerous invited presentations at a variety of professional meetings and his research has been published in JEAB, The Behavior Analyst, and recently in the journals of Obesity (formerly Obesity Research) and Behavioural Processes. His research on activity anorexia and obesity has received coverage by the media, including the Canadian Press, BBC News and Time Magazine. Dr. Pierce is actively involved in research on anorexia and obesity, and is currently funded by a grant from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

Surviving Activity Anorexia: Interplay of Behavioral Contingencies, Genotype and Neural Processes
Activity anorexia (AA) occurs when rats are placed on food restriction and provided with the opportunity to run. The initial effect is that food intake is reduced, body weight declines and wheel running increases. These elements form a vicious cycle which intensifies over days resulting in extreme emaciation and death (Epling & Pierce, 1992; Epling, Pierce & Stefan, 1983; Pierce, 2002; Pierce et al., 2010; Routtenberg & Kuzensof, 1967; Routtenberg, 1968).) Our early research showed that the key variables for AA involved both food deprivation and physical activity, a multiplier effect (Epling, Pierce & Stefan, 1983). Rats exposed only to food restriction or access to running wheels did not show AA and adapted to the environmental challenge. My presentation concerns the interplay of behavioral contingencies, genotype and neural processes as factors that activate, maintain and change the AA cycle. A new model of AA is proposed that emphasizes deprivation stress, motivation and neural reward pathways. I also detail new studies from our laboratory on prevention and treatment of AA, using liquid food to reduce dehydration and enhance palatability of the diet. Finally, I show that combining biology, behavior and neural processes provides a more complete account of AA, suggesting new types of application.