Phone: (706) 721-7641
Fax: (706) 721-2347

Email: bprasad@mail.mcg.edu
Office: CB-2517

Grant Support | Current Projects | Lab | Honors & Awards | Invited Speaker | Selected Publications |

Dopamine neurotransmission in the brain is involved in a wide array of functions such as motor activity, reward and working memory. Understandably, abnormalities in this neurotransmitter system lead to different psychopathologies such as drug abuse, schizophrenia and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Our laboratory is interested in studying the mechanisms of homeostasis and plasticity in dopaminergic system.

Dopamine transporter, a presynaptic molecule that regulates extracellular concentrations of dopamine is a key target for abused psychostimulants and as well as pharmacotherapeutics used to treat ADHD. We have identified that neuronal activity is a key determinant of the expression of dopamine transporter. One of the major focus of our research is to understand the mechanisms underlying activity dependent regulation of the dopamine transporter.

Using microarrays, we have identified several genes that are enriched in striatum, a brain region that is the recipient of major dopamine projections. The newly identified genes are very likely to play a critical role in dopamine mediated signaling and plasticity. Using molecular, cellular and behavioral assays, we are studying the function of a newly identified striatum-enriched receptor.

 

Shalini Padmanabhan (Graduate Student)

Amanda Smith (Research Technician)

• 1997 - William R. Wiley Award for Excellence in Research, Washington State University
• 1997 - Dr. Arturs Vitums' Scholarship for Excellence in Advanced Anatomy

Prasad BM, Ulibarri C, Kalivas PW, Sorg BA. (1996) Effect of adrenalectomy on the initiation and expression of cocaine-induced sensitization. Psychopharmacology . 125: 265-273.

Prasad BM, Sorg BA, Ulibarri C, Kalivas PW. (1996) Sensitization to stress and psychostimulants: Involvement of dopamine transmission vs. the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 771: 617-625.

Sorg BA., Davidson DL, Kalivas PW, B. M. Prasad. (1997) Repeated daily cocaine suppresses subsequent cocaine-induced increase of extracellular dopamine in the medial prefrontal cortex. The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics . 281: 54-61.

Sorg BA, Prasad BM. (1997) Potential role of stress and sensitization in the development and expression of multiple chemical sensitivity. Environmental Health Perspectives. 105: 467-471.

Prasad BM, Ulibarri C, Sorg BA. (1998) Stress-induced cross-sensitization to cocaine: Effect of adrenalectomy and corticosterone after short- and long-term withdrawal. Psychopharmacology . 136: 24-33.

Prasad BM, Hochstatter T, Sorg BA. (1999) Expression of cocaine sensitization: regulation by the medial prefrontal cortex. Neuroscience 88: 765-774

Pierce RC, Pierce-Bancroft AF, Prasad BM. (1999) Neurotrophin-mediated second messengers contribute to the initiation of behavioral sensitization to cocaine. Journal of Neuroscience 19: 8685-95

Prasad BM, Amara SG. (2001) The dopamine transporter in mesencephalic cultures is refractory to physiological changes in membrane voltage. Journal of Neuroscience 21:7561-67

Ingram SL, Prasad BM, Amara SG. (2002) Dopamine transporter-mediated conductances increase excitability of midbrain dopamine neurons. Nature Neuroscience 5:971-8.