About The Author
M.A. “Matt” Lambeth was born & raised in the Piedmont (“foot of the mount”) region of North Carolina. He is a licensed professional counselor, clinical addictions specialist, and Christian writer. As a child, some of Matt’s fondest memories were formed while sitting on the floor of his grandparent’s house, listening to the “elders” spin their tales about the good ole days—the names & places seemed almost magical to an impressionable & imaginative young boy. Continuing in the tradition of what he considers to be “the greatest storytellers that ever were”, Labratology packages meaningful lessons in a captivating & fantastical story that is sure to inspire and get the imagination ginning.
Matt has himself been in recovery since December 8, 2005 & is a self-described “P rat.”
A Word about the P rat
References to the P rat occur throughout Labratology. Here’s a little more information on this unsung hero of science…
“The alcohol-preferring, P, rat was developed by selective breeding to study ethanol drinking behavior and its consequences…the P rat meets all of the criteria put forth for a valid animal model of alcoholism, and displays, relative to their alcohol-non-preferring, NP, counterparts, a number of phenotypic traits associated with alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Behaviorally, compared with NP rats, P rats are less sensitive to the sedative and aversive effects of ethanol and more sensitive to the stimulatory effects of ethanol…paralleling the clinical literature, genetically selected P rats display levels of ethanol intake during adolescence comparable to that seen during adulthood. Overall, these findings indicate that the P rat can be effectively used in models assessing alcohol-preference, a genetic predisposition for alcohol abuse and/or alcoholism, and excessive drinking using protocols of binge-like or relapse-like drinking.” [1]
[1] REVIEW: The alcohol-preferring P rat and animal models of excessive alcohol drinking (pages 270-278); Richard L. Bell, Zachary A. Rodd, Lawrence Lumeng, James M. Murphy and William J. McBride; Version of Record online: 4 SEP 2006.
About the Illustrator
Matt collaborated with Gerry O’Neill to conceptualize illustrations for Labratololgy. Gerry’s creative interpretation of the story’s themes & characters integrate nicely into the book & provide well-placed “imagination boosters” for the reader. Gerry O’Neill is an illustrator and landscape painter based in North Carolina. His websites are www.gerryoneill.com and www.goncpainter.com
