Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2006

Mentor: Robert Greene, M.D., Ph.D.
Department: Psychiatry
Room number: NC5.112h
Mail Code:
Phone number: 214-648-5108
E-mail: RobertW.Greene@UTSouthwestern.edu
Project title: Localized Role of NMDA Receptors in Hippocampal Dependent Cognition

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): 092405041

Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects)

Brief Description of Project: We will use an inducible focal knockout technique to delete the NR1 subunit, required for functional NMDA receptors, from the dentate subfield of the hippocampus. The behavioral phenotype for this lesion will be assessed using a newly developed paired associates learning task (Rajii, et al, JNS 2006), a hippocampal dependent learning task with relevance to thought disorder of psychosis. We plan to test the hypothesis that intact NMDARs in the dentate field of the hippocampus are necessary for both acquisition and the learned response to this task.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

Bergeron, R., Meyer, T.M., Coyle, J.T., and Greene, R.W. Modulation of N-methyl-d-aspartate recepotor function by glycine transport. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 1998; 95: 15730-15734.

Monteggia, L.M., Barot, M., Powell, C.M., Berton, O., Galanis, V., Gemelli, T., Meuth, S., Nagy, A., Greene, R.W., Nestler, E.J. Essential role of brain derived neurotrophic factor in adult hippocampal function. Proc.Nat.Acad.Sci. 2004; 101(29):10827-32.

I have underlined the names of the 2 medical students that worked in my lab over one summer, to generate and analyze data used in the above publications

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