Ryan K. Bachtell | Daniel S. Barth | Serge Campeau | David A. Chiszar | Donald C. Cooper | Heidi E. W. Day | Lewis O. Harvey | Theresa D. Hernández | Steven F. Maier | Randall C. O'Reilly | Susan L. Patterson | Jerry W. Rudy | Robert L. Spencer | Linda R. Watkins
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. 2004, Oregon Health and Science University
Post-Doctoral Training: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Research Interests: Dr. Bachtell's primary research interest involves the study of neurobiological mechanisms of drug addiction. Drugs of abuse cause several perturbations in the brain that contribute to compulsive drug taking and relapse during periods of abstinence. Work in his lab utilizes behavioral models of addiction such as drug self-administration coupled with biochemical measures to understand the contribution of drug-induced neurobiological changes in addictive behavior.
Contact Info
Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~bachtell/home
Center for Neuroscience website entry.
Professor
Ph.D. in Psychology, 1984, UCLA
Faculty member in UCLA Department of Neurology before moving to the University of Colorado in 1990.
Research Interests: Dr. Barth's primary research interests are in the electrophysiology and neurophysiology of sensory systems, as well as the neural mechanisms controlling brain excitability, particularly as it applies to the treatment of human epilepsy. He is currently working on three research projects. The first examines the cellular basis and functional significance of fast electrical oscillations in the sensory cortex. The second is concerned with areas of cerebral cortex uniquely dedicated to combining information from different sensory modalities. Finally, Dr. Barth is conducting a collaborative study with doctors at the University of Denver Health Sciences Center to use high-speed computers for the detection and treatment of epileptic seizures in humans.
contact info
Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~dbarth
Center for Neuroscience website entry.
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. 1993, Yale University (Advisor: Michael Davis)
Post Doctoral Training: University of Michigan (Advisor: Stanley J. Watson)
Research Interests: The primary research interests of the Campeau laboratory revolve around the neurobiological mechanisms responsible for the perception and responsiveness to stressful situations, particularly in the domain of psychological situations. Specific questions currently under investigation include the neuroanatomical locus of control of a variety of endocrine, autonomic, and behavioral reactions that are often triggered by a variety of unconditioned (predators, loud noise) and conditioned (soft noise, lights) stimuli at several levels of analyses (molecular, neuroanatomical, behavioral, autonomic, endocrine). An additional focus of investigation is the neural basis of adaptation to repeated stress, in the form of habituation and sensitization.
contact info
Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~campeaus
Center for Neuroscience website entry.
Professor
Ph.D. 1970, Rutgers-State University of New Jersey
Research Interests: Dr. Chiszar works on the predatory behavior of lower vertebrates, mostly amphibians and reptiles. His research focuses on the chemical cues used by these animals in recognizing, attacking, and trailing their prey. In some cases, the predatory attack adds chemical cues to the prey that the predator can subsequently detect, making an escaped prey readily noticeable by the searching predator. Efforts are underway to identify the various chemicals involved in each of these stages of predation.
contact info
Email: David.Chiszar@Colorado.EDU
Associate Professor
Ph.D. Chicago Medical School, 2000
Postdoctoral Training: Northwestern University
Research Interests: Dr. Cooper's neurophysiology laboratory seeks to understand information processing in the brain motivation/reward memory circuitry and characterize the adaptations and impaired memory mechanisms associated with depression, addiction, and schizophrenia.
contact info
Website: http://donaldcoooper.wordpress.com/
Center for Neuroscience website entry.
Assistant Research Professor
B.Sc. (Hons), 1990, Pharmacology, University of Bath, U.K.
Ph.D. 1994, University of Cambridge, U.K. (Advisors: Drs. John Hughes and Judith Poat).
Post-doctoral training: 1994 - 1999: University of Michigan (Advisor: Dr. Huda Akil).
Research Interests: Currently, my research is focused on how stress affects areas of the brain associated with emotional processing, specifically within the central extended amygdala. I am also interested in understanding how voluntary exercise can reduce physiological responses in stress.
contact info
Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~heididay/
Center for Neuroscience website entry.
Professor
Ph.D. 1968, The Pennsylvania State University
Research Interests: Professor Harvey's areas of research include vision and visual perception, psychophysics and human factors. He has made precise measurements of the properties of human perceptive fields using psychophysical methods and compared these fields with the receptive fields of visual cells in the monkey. He is also investigating the effects of dynamics organization of perception caused by the interaction among spatial elements of the visual stimulus. He has developed rapid and efficient methods for measuring sensory sensitivity in vision and has applied these methods to chemosensory sensitivity testing.
contact info
Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~lharvey
Center for Neuroscience website entry.
Associate Professor
Ph.D. 1988, University of Texas at Austin
Research Interests: Our clinically-based program of research is aimed at providing an experimental basis for improving clinical treatment following brain insult so that neurobehavioral function is optimized. We are currently accomplishing this via two tracks: one aimed at the initial post-injury period and a second focusing on the stable post-insult period.
contact info
Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~tdhlab/
Professor
Ph.D. 1968, University of Pennsylvania
Research Interests: My research falls into 3 broad areas. 1) Mechanisms by which the immune system modulates neural activity and the implications of this interaction for understanding mood, cognition, and pain. Much of this work centers on the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the brain. 2) Psychological variables that modulate the behavioral and neurochemical impact of exposure to stressors, with an emphasis on understanding the neural mechanisms that allow these variables to act. Recent work focuses on the role of the prefrontal cortex in regulating brainstem and limbic structures. 3) Drug addiction, with a focus on understanding the mechanisms by which stressors and other factors modulate the rewarding effects of drugs. Recent work focuses on interactions between serotonergic and dopaminergic systems in regulating reward. These areas are all multidisciplinary, and the laboratory uses techniques from molecular to neurochemical to behavioral in approaching the issues above.
contact info
Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~lwatkins
Center for Neuroscience website entry
Professor
Ph.D. 1996, Carnegie-Mellon University (Advisor: James L. McClelland)
Post-Doctoral Training: MIT (Advisor: Peter Dayan)
Research Interests: I develop computational and formal models of the biological bases of cognition (computational cognitive neuroscience), focusing on specialization of function in and interactions between hippocampus, prefrontal cortex/basal ganglia, and posterior neocortex in learning, memory, attention, and controlled processing. I test predictions from these models using a range of behavioral and other experimental techniques.
contact info
Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~oreilly
Center for Neuroscience website entry
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. 1993, Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics (Program in Neurobiology and Behavior), University of Washington (Advisor: Mark Bothwell)
Post-Doctoral Training: Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University (Advisor: Eric Kandel)
Research Interests: Prior activity or experience drives changes in the functional strength and structure of connections in the brain. This experience-dependent synaptic plasticity determines the way our brains develop, how we learn and remember things, and how we perceive our environment and ourselves. I am interested in the role of growth factors (particularly members of the nerve growth factor family of proteins) in synaptic plasticity during normal learning and memory. I am also interested in the possible that disregulation of growth factor signaling systems may contribute to some neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.
contact info
Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~patters/index.html
Center for Neuroscience website entry.
Professor, Behavioral Neuroscience Program Director
Ph.D. 1970, University of Virginia
Research Interest: Professor Rudy's research interests center on learning and memory processes. He has studied these basic processes from several perspectives, including basic experimental work with rodents, learning in invertebrates, and the development of learning and memory processes in rodents and children. His current work focuses primarily on understanding the complementary contributions the hippocampus and neocortex make to learning and memory and the influence immune products have on memory.
contact info
Center for Neuroscience website entry.
Professor
Ph.D. 1986, Biopsychology, University of Arizona (Advisors: Sigmund Hsiao and Tom Burks)
Post-Doctoral Training: Rockefeller University (Advisor: Bruce McEwen)
Research Interests: 1) Understanding the neurobiological basis of psychological stress and stress adaptation. 2) Determining the systems-level, cellular, and molecular aspects of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function. 3) Characterization of experience-dependent gene expression patterns in hippocampus in association with hippocampal dependent learning, stress, and novelty.
contact info
Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~spenlab
Center for Neuroscience website entry.
Professor
Ph.D. 1980, Dept. of Physiology, Medical College of Virginia (Advisor: David J. Mayer)
Post-Doctoral Training: Dept. of Animal Physiology, University of California at Davis (Advisor: Earl Carlstens)
Research Interests: Pain modulation systems; immune and glial regulation of neuronal function; immune-to-brain communication; glial regulation of pain, opioid analgesia, learning/memory, and neuronal excitability; stress-induced regulation of brain and behavior; novel approaches to controlling chronic pain.
contact info
Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~lwatkins
Center for Neuroscience http://www.colorado.edu/neuroscienceprogram.
For questions about our program, please contact Alyson Daly.