Meenakshi Alreja PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry and of Neurobiology; Director, Minority Recruitment, Psychiatry Department; Director, Postdoctoral Affairs, Psychiatry Department

Research Interests

Prefrontal cortex; Interneurons; Nicotine; Acetylcholine; Electrophysiology; GABA; glutamate; Hypocretin; MCH; Learning and Memory; Neurotransmitters; Signal Transduction; GnRH; Puberty; Fertility; HPG axis; Kisspeptin

Research Summary

A major focus of the Alreja lab is to study brain circuits involved in learning and memory mechanisms. Studies focus on cellular mechanisms operating in septohippocampal and prefrontal cortical circuits; these circuits are implicated in cognitive deficits that are a hallmark of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lewy body dementia and mental disorders such as Schizophrenia. A second major focus of the lab is to study the neuroendocrinology of puberty and reproduction. The two lines of research are intended to provide novel insights into mechanisms underlying developmental disorders such as schizophrenia that often have an onset around puberty. The lab uses various lines of transgenic mice to prepare brain slices for electrophysiological and neuropharmacological studies that are used in conjunction with anatomical and molecular approaches.

Extensive Research Description

A major focus of the Alreja lab is to study brain circuits involved in learning and memory mechanisms. Studies focus on cellular mechanisms operating in septohippocampal and prefrontal cortical circuits; these circuits are implicated in cognitive deficits that are a hallmark of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lewy body dementia and mental disorders such as Schizophrenia. A second major focus of the lab is to study the neuroendocrinology of puberty and reproduction.

The two lines of research are intended to provide novel insights into mechanisms underlying developmental disorders such as schizophrenia that often have an onset around puberty. The lab uses various lines of transgenic mice to prepare brain slices for electrophysiological and neuropharmacological studies that are used in conjunction with anatomical and molecular approaches.

Selected Publications