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| Department of Physiology and Pharmacology Bernard G. Schreurs  Bernard G. Schreurs Professor of Physiology, joint appoinments with the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Instititue and Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry Ph.D., University of Iowa. Post Doctoral Fellowship, National Institutes of Health. Phone: 304-293-0497 Email: bschreurs@hsc.wvu.edu Research Interests Learning and memory, synaptic plasticity, and Alzheimer’s disease. Description of Research During the last fifteen years, I have been studying the neural basis of learning and memory using a number of model systems including the marine snail, Hermissenda, the rabbit eyelid/nictitating membrane preparation, and human eyelid conditioning. My studies have focused on revealing the behavioral laws and identifying the neural substrates of learning and memory as well as examining the synaptic plasticity that occurs at these substrates. I use classical conditioning as a behavioral paradigm and slice electrophysiology and functional imaging as ways of recording the changes that learning induces in the brain. We are currently using patch clamp recording and calcium imaging to identify specific ion channels involved in learning‑dependent changes in the cerebellum. Most recently we have developed a rabbit model of Alzheimer's disease that involves a simple dietary manipulation and may prove very useful in developing strategies for therapy and prevention. Recent Publications Marenco, S., Weinberger, D. R. & Schreurs, B. G. (2003). Single-cue delay and trace classical conditioning in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 53, 390-402. Seager, M. A., Bell-Smith, C. A. & Schreurs, B. G. (2003). Conditioning-specific reflex modification of the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) nictitating membrane response: US intensity effects. Learning & Behavior, 31, 292-298. Schreurs, B. G. (2003). Classical conditioning and modification of the rabbit's (Oryctolagus cuniculus) unconditioned nictitating membrane response. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 2, 83-96. D'Agata, V., Schreurs, B. G., Pascale, A., Zohar, O. & Cavallaro, S. (2003). Down regulation of cerebellar memory related gene-1 following classical conditioning. Genes, Brain and Behavior, 2, 231-237. Schreurs, B. G., Smith-Bell, C. A., Lochhead, J. & Sparks, D. L. (2003). Cholesterol modifies classical conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response. Behavioral Neuroscience, 117, 1220-1232. Sparks, D. L. & Schreurs, B. G. (2003). Trace amounts of copper in the water induce ß-amyloid plaques and learning deficits in a rabbit model of Alzheimer's disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 100, 11065-11069. Schreurs, B. G. & Smith-Bell, C. A. (2005). Heart rate changes during conditioning-specific reflex modification of the rabbit's (Oryctolagus cuniculus) nictitating membrane response. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 84, 148-158. |
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