By Tiffany Molina and Gail Hairston

The connection between two neurons in the brain has been an intriguing topic to Robin Cooper, associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky. Cooper has been at UK for 21 years teaching his true passion: synaptic transmissions. Cooper said he loves it so much that he “often goes on tangents” and has to be reminded by his students to stay on track during lectures.

When he came to Kentucky, Cooper said he noticed there was a need for outreach to the younger community. He started a regional science fair program for young middle and high school students with an interest in science. The program, which has been running for 12 years, has been a success.

“Working with the teachers and students for the

By Lori Minter

A record number of students made the University of Kentucky Dean's List for the fall 2016 semester. The 7,408 students were recognized for their outstanding academic performance.  That's an increase of more than 200 over the previous record reached in fall 2015 when the number of students on the UK Dean's List surpassed 7,000 for the first time.  Last semester's Dean's List includes over 700 more students than the spring 2016 semester's list.

To make a Dean’s List in one of the UK colleges, a student must earn a grade point average of 3.6 or higher and must have earned 12 credits or more in that semester, excluding credits earned in pass-fail classes.  Some UK colleges require a 3.5 GPA to make the Dean’s List.

The full Dean's List can be accessed by visiting www.uky.edu/PR/News/

Electrical stimulation (ES) of the spinal cord is a promising and relatively recent breakthrough in spinal cord injury recovery. Inspiratory breathing is a crucial function often disrupted by spinal cord injury. ES has been shown to restore regular breathing function in rats (Kowalski & et. al, 2013), which we int end to replicate and further test. Inflammation is the body’s natural response to stress or injury but can cause harmful damage to tissues. Excessive inflammation can even interrupt critical bodily functions, furthering the damage. This experiment aims to uncover whether ES of the spinal cord has any effect on levels of inflammation by testing for levels of microglia activation and pro-inflammatory cytokines after subjecting Sprague-Dawley retired breeder rats to 30 minutes of ES or mock-ES at the C2 level. Then, we will perform immunohistochemistry on fixed spinal cord

My project in the Head Lab focuses on the role of inflammation in Alzheimer Disease, and how that role may differ in individuals with Down Syndrome. Because several key genes related to Alzheimer Disease are located on the 21st chromosome, Down Syndrome individuals (who have an extra copy of this chromosome) have a much higher risk of developing the disease. Many key inflammatory genes are also found on this chromosome. Using protein biomarkers found in tissue samples from autopsied brains, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of how added inflammation contributes to Alzheimer Disease in Downs Individuals, and how that may differ in sporadic cases.

A team from the University of Kentucky has received a grant from Kentucky NSF EPSCoR (National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) for Education and Outreach Activities to fund a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) conference for middle school girls at UK this spring.

The primary goal of the conference, titled “Expanding Your Horizons (EYH),” is to encourage middle school girls to consider STEM studies by providing them with memorable interactive workshop experiences, visible female role models in STEM fields and exposure to different career paths in STEM. EYH seeks to provide middle school girls and their parents an inspiring environment in order to help both groups recognize and pursue opportunities in STEM. The conference will be held April 29 in the Jacobs Science Building.

Ellen Crocker and Bradford Condon

This 3 credit hour course is designed to be an introductory course

for upper-level undergraduate students aimed at providing an overview of major principles and

techniques associated with cellular and molecular neurobiology. Subject matter is intended

to range from molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal signaling and cellular function to

how these properties are invoked across simple networks, neural systems and behavior.

MWF 11-11:50am, room/bldg. TBD

The Debski laboratory investigates questions regarding visual system development. Current work focuses on trying to determine how the damaged retina of the axolotl salamander can regenerate neurons and connect them back up in the appropriate circuits needed to restore visual function. This ability to repair retinal damage is not an ability that mammals have. The hope inherent to our work is that by learning how the axolotl achieves such a feat, we will be able to devise ways to eventually get humans to do the same. Presently we are particularly interested in the role of glial cells in neuronal generation and establishment of correct synaptic connectivity. We use immunocytochemical, anatomical, imaging, behavioral and electrophysiological techniques in our laboratory

The gonadal steroid hormone estrogen is essential for reproduction and plays a critical role in the brain and the pituitary in regulating the sequence of hormonal events that result in female reproduction. In recent years, however, we have begun to appreciate that estrogen also exerts many critical effects on non-reproductive systems as well. Estrogen enhances cognition during normal aging as well as plays a protective role against a variety of neurodegenerative conditions. As our lifespan continues to increase, women are spending a greater proportion of their lives in a hypoestrogenic state. Thus, our works aims to

Welcome to our returning major and minors, and to our first class of Freshman Neuroscience majors.  We have 202 Neuroscience majors and approximately 100 minors. 

Keep a look out for emails from neurosciencemajor@uky.edu, these come directly from the Directors and will contain important information regarding the program, as well as, information about research, conferences, seminars of interest, and the Nu Rho Psi, the National Honor Society in Neuroscience.

As a reminder, details of the program (including course options), breaking neuroscience news and faculty/student spotlights can be found at

Dr. Rittschof is interested in the evolutionary consequences and mechanistic underpinnings of behavioral plasticity, particularly in the context of social interactions. She has ddressed this topic with studies of alternative reproductive strategies and tactics in the spider Nephila clavipes, and more recently in the context of socially-induced variation in aggression in the honey bee (see a honey bee brain above). Dr. Rittschof's research combines perspectives from behavioral ecology, behavioral genomics, and neuroscience

My primary research interest is the study of mammalian circadian rhythms. These are 24-h, daily rhythms that are present at every level of biology from gene expression to complex behavior.  The integrity of circadian rhythms is important for good health. For example, shift work, which chronically disrupts circadian rhythms, is associated with increased risk of obesity, cancer, suppression of the immune system and other health problems. In my research I use rodent models to study circadian rhythms and how disrupting these rhythms leads to poor health. Specifically, I am interested in the interplay between the circadian and metabolic systems, with a focus on how circadian disruption contributes to obesity.

For more information, visit https://bio.as.uky.edu/users/jpe277

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/paralyzed-man-moves-his-arm-b…

UK now has a chapter of Nu Rho Psi, the National Honor Society in Neuroscience.

Stay tuned for details on applying for membership

Dr. Gerhardt’s laboratory focuses on studies of the dopamine and glutamate neurotransmitter systems in animal models of Parkinson’s disease. 

 A major finding from these studies is that there is a severe disruption of dopamine regulation in the parkinsonian brain. This disruption of the control of dopamine may relate to some of the movement problems seen in this CNS disease. His laboratory is currently investigating the use of growth factors, such as GDNF, to restore function to damaged dopamine neurons. His laboratory has recently shown that GDNF can restore function to damaged dopamine neurons in rats and monkeys. This forms the basis for the Morris K. Udall Parkinson’s Disease Center of Excellence.

Another area of

                                             Lobelia cardinalis

University of Kentucky Professors John Littleton (Psychology),  Greg Gerhardt (Anatomy and Neurobiology, Center for Microelectrode Technology, Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Center of Excellence), and doctoral student Dustin Brown have written a scientific paper for publication entitled “Target-directed evolution of plant biosynthesis toward a specific pharmacological phenotype”.

According to LIttleton, "We expressed the human dopamine transporter (DAT) in plant cells and then selected a mutant population of these transgenic cells in MPP+, a DAergic neurotoxin that is accumulated intracellularly by the DAT. Transgenic mutants that over-produce inhibitors of the DAT should survive because MPP+ will not accumulate in them. Out of 109 MPP+-resistant mutants 58