|
 |
BARRY
JACOBS
Professor of Psychology
Ph.D., UCLA, 1971 |
|
 |
| CASE
STUDY |
|
|
 |
| CONTACT
INFO |
T:
609.258.4438
E: barryj@princeton.edu
1-S-14 Green Hall
Psychology Department
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08540
|
|
|
|
 |
| RESEARCH
SUMMARY |
| Our central interest is in
brain monoamine neurotransmitters and their role in physiology
and behavior, and especially how these brain chemicals relate
to stress and mental illness. In addition, we are interested
in how basic biological factors, drugs, and stress affect the
production of new brain cells in adult animals. We explore these
questions through recording single unit activity in behaving
animals, c-Fos expression in brain, and immunohistochemical
labeling of proliferating brain cells. The following types of
questions exemplify our research interests. How are various
aspects of motor output, including those associated with fatigue,
related to the activity of brain serotonergic neurons. We have
found, for example, that the activity of various brain stem
serotonergic neurons is related to repetitive, unlearned movements,
such as locomotion, chewing, and respiration. We have also found
that the activity of these neurons becomes suppressed as fatigue
sets in, for example, during treadmill-induced locomotion. Using
c-Fos expression, we are examining how different stressors activate
a variety of brain stem neuronal groups, such as the raphe nuclei
and the locus coeruleus. We are especially interested in examining
any resulting long-term changes. Finally, we are studying how
drugs such as marijuana affect the production of new brain cells
in adult animals. |
|
|
|
 |
