Neuroscience Research Emphasis

The neuroscience faculty of the Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences focuses on brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease with an emphasis on how comorbid conditions/diseases (diabetes, stress, lack of sleep, obesity, stroke, age-related hormone loss) affect the aging progress. Other key areas of interest are in drug/alcohol abuse and the factors influencing addiction-related disease states, as well as in Down syndrome research and factors influencing brain inflammation status. Our group of 10 faculty members is highly interactive and shares a common interest in understanding learning and memory mechanisms and gene expression pathways that respond to learning. We use pharmacological and molecular approaches for intervention in order to test hypotheses relating to aging or diseased brain function. Tools used include immuno-histochemistry, calcium imaging, behavioral characterization, molecular, adeno-associated virus delivery, electrophysiology, and gene microarray technology.