Seminars & Events
Monday, February 11, 2013: Dr. Daphne Soares (University of Maryland College Park) will speak on "The Sensory World of Cavefishes" at 4:45 pm in Goodpaster Hall 195.
Monday, March 4, 2013: Dr. Joe Cheer (University of Maryland Baltimore) will speak on "Endogenous Cannabinoids and the Pursuit of Reward" at 4:45 pm in Goodpaster Hall 195.
Friday, April 12, 2013: Dr. Jill McGaughy (University of New Hampshire) will speak on "The Role of Cortical Norepinephrine in the Ontogeny of Executive Function" at 3:00 pm in Schaefer Hall 106.
Alumni Highlight
Dr. Erin Johnson '02 recently received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and was inducted as an alumni member of Nu Rho Psi.
SMP Spotlight
Ron Saul, "Chronic activation of the substantia nigra nociceptin/orphanin receptor induces motor deficits similar to Parkinson's disease," 2008. Saul, the 2008 winner of the Neuroscience Award, infused a drug into the substantia nigra of rats and measured the resulting motor behaviors, mood disturbances, and cognitive abilities.
Blackwell, Robert (2008). Cognitive Deficits in Beta-Catenin Knockout Mice: An Endophenotype Approach to Modeling Bipolar Disorder
Mentor: Dr. Anne Marie Brady
Abstract
Lithium is currently the only novel pharmacological treatment for bipolar disorder. Developing novel medications is inhibited by the lack of a valid animal model for bipolar disorder. At therapeutic concentrations, lithium inhibits GSK-3, disinhibiting beta-catenin. Beta-catenin overexpression decreases immobility in the forced swim test (correlated with depressive behavior) and amphetamine induced hyperlocomotion (correlated with manic behavior), suggesting beta-catenin is involved in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder. A progressive beta-catenin knockout increased immobility time in the tail suspension test, but had no effect on immobility time in the forced swim test or hyperactivity, in male mice. The present study attempted to determine the validity of the progressive beta-catenin knockout model in female mice. Subjects had increased immobility time in the tail suspension test, but there was no effect of knockout on the forced swim test, baseline activity, or spatial working memory.
