The primary research focus of my laboratory is to understand the role of the central monoaminergic systems in brain function and behavior. More specifically we are concerned with the anatomy and physiology of the brainstem noradrenergic and serotonergic efferent systems as they relate to the sensory processing capabilities of the organism.

These studies employ a broad spectrum of neuroanatomical and electrophysiological techniques including microiontophoresis, single unit extracellular recording from anesthetized animals, simultaneous spike train recordings from multiple arrays of single neurons in awake animals, intracellular recording in cerebrocortical and cerebellar tissue slice preparations, computer based acquisition and analysis of spike train data and mapping of monoamine projections  from source nuclei using retrograde tracer substances.

The underlying theme of this work is that synaptically released norepinephrine and serotonin operate as complimentary neuromodulatory substances which regulate the responsiveness of sensory neurons and sensory circuits to synaptic inputs. As such these systems may play a significant role in the ability of the organism to orient and attend to novel or salient stimuli from the sensory surround.

Clinical implications of this work which have lead to related experimental studies are that these monoaminergic systems may underlie some of the behavioral actions of psychostimulant drugs such as cocaine and amphetamine.

Barry Waterhouse, PhD, Professor Neurobiology and Anatomy, was awarded a new grant from NIH-NIDA to study the effects of the recreational drug ‘ecstasy’ on sensory signal processing in the rodent central nervous system.  

The R21 grant from the National Institutes of Drug Abuse entitled “Neurochemistry and Neurophysiology of MDMA (ecstasy)” totals $250,000 over the course of 2 years.

The work is an extension of the dissertation research recently completed by Melanie Alexander-Starr, PhD. Dr. Starr is continuing her work on the project as a postdoctoral fellow.