Seminars & Events
Monday, September 19, 2011: Dr. R. Christopher Pierce (University of Pennsylvania) will speak on "Epigenetic Inheritance of a Cocaine Resistance Phenotype" at 4:45 pm in Goodpaster 195.
Friday, November 4, 2011: Dr. Paul Shepard (University of Maryland Baltimore) will speak at 3:00 pm in Schaefer Hall 106.
Friday, November 11, 2011: Dr. Mark Bouton (University of Vermont) will speak at 3:00 pm in Goodpaster Hall 195.
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.
Konka, K.G., and Bailey, A.M. (2010, November). Investigation of the effects of pup postnatal exposure to fluoxetine on adult rat emotional and motor behavior.
Poster presented at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
Abstract
Women diagnosed with post-partum depression are often treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). SSRIs can readily pass through the mother’s breast milk to the infant during breast feeding. We aimed here to examine the long-term neurobehavioral and developmental effects of SSRI exposure to infants during lactation. In the present study, dams were given 12 mg/kg of fluoxetine per day in crushed food pellets. Male rat pups were exposed to fluoxetine through dam’s milk from post-natal day (PD) 8 to PD 21. Rats were allowed to mature undisturbed until adulthood ( > PD65) when they underwent behavioral and emotional testing. Fluoxetine exposed rats spent significantly less time in the closed arms of an elevated plus maze than control rats. Fluoxetine-exposed rats did not show differences in a novel open field or in a forced swim test when compared to control animals. However, rats exposed to fluoxetine had a significantly lower latency to fall and reached a lower rotation per minute (RPM) than control animals when tested on the rotarod. These results indicate that postnatal exposure to fluoxetine may have long-term emotional and motor side effects that should be considered.
