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| Project ID/Title: | 07-11. Differentiating the dual roles of dopamine on spiny neuron membrane characteristics | | Advisor: | Jeffery D. Johnson | | Academic Title: | Associate Professor | | Department: | Biomedical Engineering | | Department Website: | www.eng.uc.edu/dept_biomed/ | | Email: | jeffrey.johnson@uc.edu | | Phone: | 513-556-5535 | | Fax: | 513-556-4162 | | Graduate Program(s): | Biomedical Engineering | | Co-Advisor(s): | Michael M. Behbehani, Professor of Molecular & Cellular Physiology | | Project Description: | Dopamine plays several important roles within the basal ganglia. In the nigrostriatal pathway, dopamine is believed to be involved in the formation of habits. In the mesolimbic pathway, dopamine is believed to strongly influence motivation. The loss of nigrostriatal dopamine leads to Parkinson’s disease while many drugs of addiction act by magnifying the effect of mesolimbic dopamine. The information carried by these two systems is integrated by medium spiny neurons (MSNs) that also receive input from the cortex and synapse on the motor systems of the brain. Thus MSNs are ideally situated to transform sensory information into goal-directed actions. The goal of this dissertation project is to develop a biophysical model of the role of the dual dopamine pathways on the membrane properties of the striatal MSNs in normal and diseased brains. Of specific interest is the role of L-type calcium channels on the bistability of the MSN membrane as calcium is believed to play a role in neural adaptation. |
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