Research Focus:
The hippocampus has been recognized as an important integration center for learning and memory and is one of the major target areas for glucocorticoids (GCs) in the central nervous system. Exposure to stress levels of GCs may produce reversible synaptic changes, as well as irreversible neuronal damage, depending upon the duration of stress and the pre-existing physiological milieu. My laboratory is interested in determining the underlying structural, neurochemical and functional changes that are produced by stress in the hippocampus in order to achieve a greater understanding of how these alterations may contribute to the development of cognitive impairments in a variety of clinical situations, including recurrent depressive illness. We are also examining how neuronal vulnerability may be increased when hippocampal homeostasis is compromised, such as in type 1 diabetes and insulin resistant states. Ongoing studies are examining the effects of insulin receptor expression and activity upon hippocampal plasticity under normal physiological conditions, as well as in diabetes phenotypes.
Recent publications:
- Reagan, L.P. Insulin signaling effects on mood and memory. Curr. Opin. Pharmacol., 7, 633-637 (2007).
- Grillo, C.A., Tamashiro, T.L., Piroli, G.G., Melhorn, S., Gass, J.T., Newsom, R.J., Reznikov, L.R., Smith, A., Wilson, S.P., Sakai, R.R. and Reagan, L.P.: Lentivirus-mediated downregulation of hypothalamic insulin receptor expression. Physiology and Behavior, 92, 691-701 (2007).
- Piroli, G.G., Grillo, C.A., Reznikov, L.R., Adams, S., McEwen, B.S., Charron, M.J. and Reagan, L.P.: Corticosterone impairs insulin stimulated translocation of GLUT4 in the rat hippocampus. Neuroendocrinology, 85, 71-80 (2007).
- Reznikov, L.R., Grillo, C.A., Piroli, G.G., Pasumarthi, R.K, Reagan, L.P. and Fadel, J.; Acute stress mediated increases in extracellular glutamate levels in the rat amygdale: differential effects of antidepressant treatment. Eur. J. Neurosci., 25, 3109-3114 (2007).
- Kelly, S.J., Benard, K., Munoz, C., Lawrence, C., Thacker, J., Grillo, C.A., Piroli, G.G. and Reagan, L.P.: Effects of the AMPA receptor modulator S 18986 on measures of cognition and oxidative stress in aged rats. Psychopharmacology, 202, 225-235 (2009).
- Wrighten, S.A., Piroli, G.G., Grillo, C.A. and Reagan, L.P.: A look inside the diabetic brain: Contributors to diabetes-induced brain aging. BBA-Molecular Basis of Disease special issue on ‘Diabetes and the Nervous System’, 1792, 444-453 (2009).
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