Member of MSTP (MD/PhD) program
E-MAIL: bran0886@umn.edu
PhD: 2022
PhD Thesis
Neuroligin-3 modulates opioid-evoked changes in behavior and brain function
Undergraduate Institution and Major:
Whitman College, B.A. in Biology, 2013
Graduate Advisor
Patrick Rothwell, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience
Graduate Research
The nucleus accumbens is an important neural substrate of motivated behavior, and alterations in accumbens circuitry have been implicated in a host of human neuropsychiatric disorders ranging from addiction and drug abuse to obsessive compulsive disorder and autism spectrum disorders. I am working with Dr. Patrick Rothwell to investigate the role inhibitory synapses in controlling nucleus accumbens physiology and the behavioral effects of alterations to inhibitory signaling in this region. We are currently interested in the role of Neuroligin-3, a postsynaptic adhesion protein, in controlling structural plasticity at inhibitory synapses following exposure to drugs of abuse
Graduate Publications
- Trieu BH, Remmers BC, Toddes C, Brandner DD, Lefevre EM, Kocharian A, Retzlaff CL, Dick RM, Mashal MA, Gauthier EA, Xie W, Zhang Y, More SS, Rothwell PE. Angiotensin-converting enzyme gates brain circuit-specific plasticity via an endogenous opioid. Science. 2022 Mar 11;375(6585):1177-1182.
- Toddes C, Lefevre EM, Brandner DD, Zugschwert L, Rothwell PE. Mu opioid receptor (Oprm1) copy number influences nucleus accumbens microcircuitry and reciprocal social behaviors. J Neurosci. 2021; 41:7965-7977.
- Gross KS, Brandner DD, Martinez LA, Olive MF, Meisel RL, Mermelstein PG. Opposite effects of mGluR1a and mGluR5 activation on nucleus accumbens medium spiny neuron dendritic spine density. PLoS One. 2016; 11:e0162755.
Graduate Awards
NIH Ruth Kirschstein Individual F30 Research Service Award 2020-2024
Morris Smithberg Memorial Award 2020
Prior Publications:
- Bagi Z, Brandner DD, Le P, McNeal DW, Gong X, Dou H, Fulton DJ, Beller A, Ngyuen T, Larson EB, Montine TJ, Keene CD, Back SA. Vasodilator dysfunction and oligodendrocyte dysmaturation in aging white matter. Ann Neurol. 2018 Jan;83(1):142-152.
- McNeal DW, Brandner DD, Gong X, Postupna NO, Montine TJ, Keene CD, Back SA. Unbiased stereological analysis of reactive astrogliosis to estimate age-associated cerebral white matter injury. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2016;75(6):539-54.
Rotations:
Paul Mermelstein, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience
Patrick Rothwell, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience
