Authored by
Doug Matthews
Title

Douglas Matthews

Placeholder for titles
Professor
Content type
College of Arts and Sciences
Psychology Department

Contact Information

Office
Hibbard Hall 270
Email
Hours
I am typically in my office from 7 am to about 8:30 am. That said, the best way to set a meeting with me is via a meeting invitation through my outlook calendar.
ID
Laboratory Website Personal Website Editor-in-Chief, Alcohol
Biography

Biography

I am a Behavioral Neuroscientist that is focused on investigating the impact of addictions primarily centered on investigating alcohol use and misuse.  My laboratory typically uses animal models to study the effect of alcohol exposure on behavior and the underlying neurobiology.  To date, the laboratory has published 98 manuscripts and has been awarded almost $3.0 million in various internal and external funds.  In addition, I am currently the Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Alcohol.

At UW - Eau Claire I work exclusively with undergraduate research students.  In addition, the laboratory collaborates with various laboratories around the country.  Students in the laboratory work directly on research projects and typically graduate with multiple co-authorships on scientific publications.  In addition, many students earn paid summer research internships at various R1 universities, and are admitted to graduate school to study for the PhD or medical school to study medicine.

The laboratory is heavily involved in the Mayo Biomedical Innovator program and our research is currently funded by Mayo Healthcare.  We are grateful for the ongoing support for our work.

For additional information concerning our ongoing research into the impact of alcohol in aged animals or our work on sex differences in response to alcohol, please see the laboratories website here:  http://wiaddictionresearc.wixsite.com/wiaddictionresearch

Education

Education

Undergraduate - Southwest Missouri State University

Ph.D. -                  Miami University

Post Doc -            University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Teaching and Research Interests

Teaching and Research Interests

Introduction to Psychology
Statistics
Psychology of Addictions
Neuroscience

Biochemical and behavioral consequences of alcohol use and abuse.

Published Research

Published Research

Recent publications.  

For full listing please see google scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QAbnitQAAAAJ&hl=en

  1. Matthews, D.B. (2024). Who you follow is important…. Alcohol, 114, 41-42.
  2. Matthews, D.B., Rossmann, G., Matthews, S.J., Zank, A., Shult, C., Turunen,A. & Sharma, P. (2024). Increased anxiolytic effect in aged female rats and increased motoric behavior in aged male rats to acute alcohol administration: Comparison to younger animals. Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior, 239, 173770.
  3. Matthews, D.B. & Kerr, E. (2024). Interaction of age and sex as factors in understanding the anxiolytic effects of alcohol: Unasked questions limiting the understanding of a critical health issue. Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior, 245:1173881 doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2024.173881.
  4. Mwendwa-Karinge, C., Matthews, D.B. & Mucherah, W. (2024). Gender and risk-taking behaviors: The “Generation Z” college risk-taker in a Kenyan university. African Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol 6.
  5. Hartwig, J., Kendrick, J., Ahmad, G., Cook, J., Matthews, D.B. & Sharma, P. (2025). Exploring User Experiences with Amanita Muscaria: A thematic analysis of Reddit online forum discussions. Substance Use and Misuse. Doi: 10.1080/10826084.2025.2476141
  6. Matthews, D.B., Kerr, E., Zank, A, Hartwig, J., Garscia, A., Stumo, S. & Sharma, P. (2025). Recent Investigations Designed to Unravel the Interaction of Age and Alcohol on Behavior and Cognition: Potential Neurobiological Mechanisms. In: Valenzuela, C.F., Linsenbardt, D.N., Weiner, J.L. (eds) Effects of Alcohol on the Brain across the Lifespan. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1473. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81908-7_11
  7. Kerr EL, Garscia A, Hartwig J, Stumo S, Crippen A, Sharma P, Matthews DB. Alcohol produces sex differences in ataxia but not nonspatial cognition in aged rats compared to younger rats. Alcohol Alcohol. 2025 Jul 16;60(5):agaf049. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agaf049. PMID: 40755268.
  8. Kendrick, J., Ahmad, G., Wood, A., Stumo, S., Sehgal, A., Matthews, D.B. & Sharma, P. (2026). Real-world ketamine use in self-described therapeutic context: A thematic analysis of Reddit posts. Behavioral Sciences, 16(4), 480, https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16040480.
  9. Sharma, P., Kendrick, J., Stumo, S.M., Garscia, A. & Matthews, D.B. (2026). From monotherapy to sequential models: An updated scoping review on Ibogaine’s role in treatment for psychiatric disorders. Journal of Psychopharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811261443674
  10. Matthews, D.B., Riley, A., Staebell, L., Kendrick, J., Hartwig, J., Feller, S., Sharma, P. (2026). Aged female and male C57BL/6J mice have reduced alcohol self-administration and altered acute alcohol withdrawal compared to younger animals. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
  11. Matthews D.B., Schroeder M, Korger K, Schrandt O, Tommarello II M, Johnson K, Sobania A and Sharma P (2026) Aged rats have sex-dependent hypothermic effects but not spatial memory impairments following acute alcohol administration. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 20:1904796. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2026.1904796