This month’s featured researcher, Dr. Gerald Downes, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology. Gerry is also the Director of the Summer Program in Neuroscience, Excellence and Success (SPINES) at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. His lab uses zebrafish to study the neurogenetics underlying locomotor behavior and epilepsy. This month a paper from his lab appeared in the journal Genetics in which they used CRISPR-Cas9 to mutate GABA-A receptor subunit genes to see their effects on swimming behavior. The first author on the study, was NSB student Wayne Barnaby.

Here’s what else is new for ‘ ”University of Massachusetts” AND Amherst AND neuroscience’ in PubMed. These publications appeared online in February. They are just a fraction of the neuroscience research that occurs on campus. You can click on the PubMed ID to find the publication.

1: Barnaby W, Dorman Barclay HE, Nagarkar A, Perkins M, Teicher G, Trapani JG, Downes GB. GABAA ? Subunit Control of Hyperactive Behavior in Developing Zebrafish. Genetics. 2022 Feb 2:iyac011. doi: 10.1093/genetics/iyac011. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35106556.

2: Razo RA, Velasco Vazquez ML, Turcanu P, Legrand M, Floch M, Weinstein TAR, Goetze LR, Freeman SM, Baxter A, Witczak LR, Sahagún E, Berger T, Jacob S, Lawrence RH, Rothwell ES, Savidge LE, Solomon M, Mendoza SP, Bales KL. Long term effects of chronic intranasal oxytocin on adult pair bonding behavior and brain glucose uptake in titi monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus). Horm Behav. 2022 Feb 2;140:105126. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105126. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35123106.

3: Ekhtiari H, Ghobadi-Azbari P, Thielscher A, Antal A, Li LM, Shereen AD, Cabral-Calderin Y, Keeser D, Bergmann TO, Jamil A, Violante IR, Almeida J, Meinzer M, Siebner HR, Woods AJ, Stagg CJ, Abend R, Antonenko D, Auer T, Bächinger M, Baeken C, Barron HC, Chase HW, Crinion J, Datta A, Davis MH, Ebrahimi M, Esmaeilpour Z, Falcone B, Fiori V, Ghodratitoostani I, Gilam G, Grabner RH, Greenspan JD, Groen G, Hartwigsen G, Hauser TU, Herrmann CS, Juan CH, Krekelberg B, Lefebvre S, Liew SL, Madsen KH, Mahdavifar-Khayati R, Malmir N, Marangolo P, Martin AK, Meeker TJ, Ardabili HM, Moisa M, Momi D, Mulyana B, Opitz A, Orlov N, Ragert P, Ruff CC, Ruffini G, Ruttorf M, Sangchooli A, Schellhorn K, Schlaug G, Sehm B, Soleimani G, Tavakoli H, Thompson B, Timmann D, Tsuchiyagaito A, Ulrich M, Vosskuhl J, Weinrich CA, Zare-Bidoky M, Zhang X, Zoefel B, Nitsche MA, Bikson M. A checklist for assessing the methodological quality of concurrent tES-fMRI studies (ContES checklist): a consensus study and statement. Nat Protoc. 2022 Feb 4. doi: 10.1038/s41596-021-00664-5. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35121855.

4: Silva-Gotay A, Davis J, Tavares ER, Richardson HN. Alcohol drinking during early adolescence activates microglial cells and increases frontolimbic Interleukin-1 beta and Toll-like receptor 4 gene expression, with heightened sensitivity in male rats compared to females. Neuropharmacology. 2021 Oct 1;197:108698. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108698. Epub 2021 Jul 9. PMID: 34252404; PMCID: PMC8552486.

5: Salamone JD, Ecevitoglu A, Carratala-Ros C, Presby RE, Edelstein GA, Fleeher R, Rotolo RA, Meka N, Srinath S, Masthay JC, Correa M. Complexities and paradoxes in understanding the role of dopamine in incentive motivation and instrumental action: Exertion of effort vs. anhedonia. Brain Res Bull. 2022 Feb 10;182:57-66. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2022.01.019. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35151797.

6: Bloch S, Holleran KM, Kash TL, Vazey EM, Rinker JA, Lebonville CL, O’Hara K, Lopez MF, Jones SR, Grant KA, Becker HC, Mulholland PJ. Assessing negative affect in mice during abstinence from alcohol drinking: Limitations and future challenges. Alcohol. 2022 Feb 15:S0741-8329(22)00013-1. doi: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2022.02.001. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35181404.

7: Sato S, Cui A, Choi JT. Visuomotor errors drive step length and step time adaptation during ‘virtual’ split-belt walking: the effects of reinforcement feedback. Exp Brain Res. 2022 Feb;240(2):511-523. doi: 10.1007/s00221-021-06275-6. Epub 2021 Nov 23. PMID: 34816293.