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Behavioral Neurobiology

Division of Behavioral NeurobiologyAddress:

Sparks Center
1720 7th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35294-0017

Mission:

Behavioral Neurobiology division is a research unit of the department with a group of neuroscientists and clinicians who are focused on studying the neurobiology of schizophrenia, mood disorders, neurodevelopmental diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and circadian regulations related to mental disorders. The mission of Behavioral Neurobiology division is to translate neurobiological findings into improved diagnosis, treatment, and management of these mental illnesses. Faculty in the division address important research questions by using methods of cellular and molecular biology, neurochemistry, neuroimmunology, psychopharmacology, pharmacogenetics and genomics, human postmortem neuroanatomy, and human brain imaging. The division also provides its faculty on-site support, via its clinical research office and neuroimaging laboratory, to develop translational approaches and to test clinical significance of neurobiological research findings. The brain bank and biological repository are integrated core facility of the division, aiming to provide a broad range of neurobiological materials for research of mental illnesses.

Our Faculty:

Adrienne Lahti, M.D.  – Associate Professor Director for the Division of Behavioral Neurobiology
Robert Ackerman, Ph.D. - Associate Professor
Sarah M. Clinton, Ph.D.  – Assistant Professor
Rita Marie Cowell, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor
Patrizia De Sarno, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor
Karen L. Gamble, Ph.D.-Assistant Professor
Merida M Grant, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor
Ilan Kerman, MD, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor
Mathieu Lesort, B.S., M.S., Ph.D. - Assistant Professor
Roberta May, M.A. – Assistant Professor
Robert E. McCullumsmith, M.D., Ph.D. – Assistant Professor
Miguel Melendez-Ferro Ph.D. - Assistant Professor
Emma Perez-Costas, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor
Rosalinda Roberts, Ph.D. – Professor / Kathy Ireland Endowed Chair
Richard C Shelton, MD - Charles B. Ireland Professor of Psychiatry & Vice Chair for Research
Janusz Tucholski, M.Sc., Ph.D. – Assistant Professor

Recent Publications:

  • Lesort, M. and Jope, R. S. Multiple roles of glycogen synthase kinase-3 in Alzheimer’s disease. in “Emerging Drugs and Targets for Alzheimer’s Disease”. (A. Martinez, ed), RSC Drug Discovery series published by the Royal Society of Chemistry (2010) pp.153-172.
  • Yuskaitis, C. J., Mines, M. A., King, M. K., Sweatt, J. D., Miller, C. A., and Jope, R. S. Lithium ameliorates altered glycogen synthase kinase-3 and behavior in a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome. Biochemical Pharmacology 79: 632-646 (2010)
  • Beurel, E., Michalek, S. M., and Jope, R. S. Innate and adaptive immune responses regulated by glycogen synthase kinase-3. Trends in Immunology 31:24-31 (2010)
  • Mines, M. A., Yuskaitis, C. J., King, M. K., Beurel, E., and Jope, R. S. (2010) GSK3 influences social preference and anxiety-related behaviors during social interaction in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome and autism. PLoS One 5 (3): e9706
  • Beurel, E., and Jope, R. S. (2010) Glycogen synthase kinase-3 controls inflammatory tolerance in astrocytes. Neuroscience, in press.
  • Yuskaitis, C. J., Beurel, E., and Jope, R. S. (2010) Evidence of reactive astrocytes but not peripheral immune system activation in a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome. BBA – Molecular Basis of Disease, in press.
  • Axtell, R. C., de Jong, B. A., Boniface, K., van der Voort, L. F., Bhat, R., De Sarno, P, Naves, R., Han, M., Zhong, F., Castellanos, J. G., Mair, R., Christakos, T., Kolkowitz, I., Katz, L., Killestein, J., Polman, C. H., de Waal Malefyt, R., Steinman, L and Raman, C. 2010. T-helper types 1 and 17 determine efficacy of interferon-ß in multiple sclerosis and experimental encephalomyelitis. Nat. Medicine 16:406:412.(has accompanying N&V article).
  • Bauer D, Haroutunian V, Meador-Woodruff JH, and McCullumsmith RE. Abnormal glycosylation of EAAT1 and EAAT2 in prefrontal cortex in elderly patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, in press.
  • Tucholski,J. TG2 protects neuroblastoma cells against DNA-damage-induced stress,  suppresses p53 activation. Amino Acids.  Epub 2010, Jan 29
  • Filiano, A.J., Tucholski, J., Dolan, P.J. Gozde, C., Johnson G.V.W.  Transglutaminase 2 protects against ischemic stroke. Neurobiology of Disease. Neurobiol Dis.. Epub 2010, May 6
  • Perez-Costas E, Melendez-Ferro M, Roberts RC (2010). Basal ganglia pathology in schizophrenia: dopamine connections and anomalies. Journal of Neurochemistry, 113(2): 287-302.
  • Perez-Costas E, Gandy JC, Melendez-Ferro M, Roberts RC, Bijur GN (2010). Light and electron microscopy study of glycogen synthase kinase-3beta in the mouse brain. PLoS One 5(1):e8911.
  • Barksdale KA, Perez-Costas E, Gandy JC, Melendez-Ferro M, Roberts RC, Bijur GN (2010) Mitochondrial viability in mouse and human postmortem brain. FASEB Journal, in press
  • Dwivedi Y, Rizavi HS, Zhang, H.,Roberts RC, Conley RR, Pandey GN (2010) Modulation activation and expression of PTEN, Akt1, and PDK1: further evidence demonstrating altered phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-K) signaling in postmortem brain of suicide subjects. Biological Psychiatry, Jun 1;67(11):1017-25.
  • Uz, T., Dwivedi, D., Pandey GN, Roberts RC, Conley RR, Manev, R., Manev, H. (2010) 5-Lipoxygenase in the Prefrontal Cortex of Suicide Victims, Open Neuropsychoparmacology J, in press.
  • Yonghe Li, Wenyan Lu, Taj D. King, Chia-Chen Liu, Bijur GN, and Guojun Bu.  Dkk1 Stabilizes Wnt Co-receptor LRP6: Implication for Wnt Ligand-induced LRP6 Down-regulation.  PLoS One. In press.
  • Perry G, Tallaksen-Greene S, Kumar A, Heng MY, van Groen T, Detloff P, Albin R and Lesort M. Mitochondrial calcium uptake capacity as a therapeutic target in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington’s disease. Human Molecular Genetics, in press.