Dayna Hayes

Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
M.A., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
B.S., Pennsylvania State University

Behavioral Neuroscience

Dr. Hayes earned dual B.S. degrees in Biology and Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She conducted post-doctoral research in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Kentucky prior to joining the faculty at Radford University in 2013. Her research interests broadly focus on what happens to the brain as a result of drug abuse and/or stress with specific emphasis on understanding alcohol consumption, addiction, and recovery. She typically teaches Biological Foundations of Behavior (Psyc 628) as well as introductory psychology, statistics, research methods, senior research, brain and behavior, psychopharmacology, and principles of learning at the undergraduate level. Her free time is spent hanging out with her husband and their two rescue dogs, Jordan and Pippa.

Selected Publications or Presentations

McClafferty, S.R., Paniagua-Ugarte, C., Hannabass, Z.M., Jackson, P.A., & Hayes, D.M. (2024). Comparing the effects of infant maternal and sibling separation on adolescent behavior in rats. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0308958

Hayes, D.M., Nickell, C.G., Chen, K.Y.,McClain, J.A., Heath, M.M., Deeny, M.A., & Nixon, K. (2018). Activation of neural stem cells from quiescence drives reactive hippocampal neurogenesis after alcohol dependence. Neuropharmacology, 133, 276-288. 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.01.032

Hayes, D.M., Deeny, M.A., Shaner, C.A., & Nixon, K. (2013). Determining the threshold for alcohol-induced brain damage: New evidence with gliosis markers. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37(3), 425-34. 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2012.01955.x

McClain, J.A., Hayes, D.M., Morris, S.A., & Nixon, K. (2011). Adolescent binge alcohol exposure alters hippocampal progenitor cell proliferation in rats: Effects on cell cycle kinetics. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 519(13), 2697-710. 10.1002/cne.22647

Hayes, D.M., Knapp, D.J., Breese, G.R., & Thiele, T.E. (2005). Comparison of basal NPY and CRF levels between the high ethanol drinking C57BL/6J and low ethanol drinking DBA/2J inbred mouse strains. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 29(5), 721-9. 10.1097/01.ALC.0000164375.16838.F3

Hayes, D.M., Braud, S., Hurtado, D.E., McCallum, J., Standley, S., Isaac, J.T.R., & Roche, K.W. (2003). Trafficking and surface expression of the glutamate receptor subunit, KA2. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 310(1), 8-13. 10.1016/j.bbrc.2003.08.115

Courses taught in the Psychology Department

• PSYC 774 – Psychopharmacology (Graduate)
• PSYC 628 – Biological Foundations of Behavior (Graduate)
• PSYC 410 – Psychopharmacology
• PSYC 378 – Brain and Behavior
• PSYC 333 – Principles of Learning
• PSYC 302 – Research Methods
• PSYC 301 – Analysis of Psychological Data