Preston E. Garraghty

B.A., University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1974
M.Ed., University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1976
M.A., University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1978
Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1983
Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University School of Medicine
Postdoctoral Fellow/Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research Interests

Dr. Garraghty studies the capacity of the mature mammalian brain to undergo modifications in its functional organization when inputs are altered. The basic experimental paradigm involves manipulating the pattern of peripheral inputs in adult primate somatosensory system. The effects of such manipulations are then studied using anatomical, electrophysiological, neurochemical, and molecular biological techniques. Current projects include the physiological assessment of the response to various manipulations at multiple levels of the somatosensory system (i.e., cortex, thalamus, and brain stem), quantitative Golgi morphometric analyses, and investigations of the roles various molecules and receptor systems play in the neuroplastic changes using receptor autoradiography, and gene and protein assays. Other interests include the study of the effects of antiepileptic drugs, gonadal and stress hormones, and neurotransmitter manipulations on learning and memory in rats.

Representative Publications

Garraghty, P.E., Churchill, J.D., and Banks, M.K. (1998). Adult neural plasticity: similarities between two paradigms. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 7: 87-91.

Myers, W.A., Churchill, J.D., Muja, N., and Garraghty, P.E. (2000). The role of NMDA receptors in adult primate cortical somatosensory plasticity. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 418: 373-382.

Churchill, J.D., Green, J.T., Voss, S.E., Manley, E., Steinmetz, J.E., and Garraghty, P.E. (2001). Discrimination reversal conditioning of an eyeblink response is impaired by NMDA receptor blockade. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 36: 62-74.

Churchill, J.D., Arnold, L.L., and Garraghty, P.E. (2001). Somatotopic reorganization in the brainstem and thalamus following peripheral nerve injury in adult primates. Brain Research, 910: 142-152.

Wellman, C.L., Arnold, L.L., Garman, E.E., and Garraghty, P.E. (2002). Acute reductions in GABAA receptor binding in layer IV of adult primate somatosensory cortex after peripheral nerve injury. Brain Research, 954: 68-72.

Butt, A.E., Schultz, J.A., Arnold, L.L., Garman, E.E., George, C.L., and Garraghty, P.E. (2003). Lesions of the rat nucleus basalis magnocellularis disrupt appetitive-to-aversive transfer learning. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 38:253-271.

Garraghty, P.E. (2003). Discovery of long-term potentiation. In: Nadel, L. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, 2: Nature Publishing Group, London, 961-965.

Garraghty, P.E. (2003). Mechanisms of synaptic plasticity. In: Nadel, L. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, 1: Nature Publishing Group, London, 307-311.

Churchill, J.D., Tharp, J.A., Wellman, C.L., Sengelaub, D.R., and Garraghty, P.E. (2004). Morphological correlates of injury-induced reorganization in primate somatosensory cortex. BMC Neuroscience, 5:43.(http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/5/43).

Goodman, M.R., Garman, E.E., Arnold, L.L., Sengelaub, D.R., and Garraghty, P.E. (2004). The effects of estradiol on avoidance learning in ovariectomized adult rats. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 39:192-206.

McDowell, A.L., Samuelson, D.L., Dina, B.S., and Garraghty, P. E. (2005). Discrete and contextual cue alterations eliminate the instrumental appetitive-to-aversive transfer impairment in phenytoin-treated rats. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 39:307-317.

Samuelson, D.L., Arnold, L.L., Mowery, T.M., Mesnard, N.A., and Garraghty, P.E. (2005). The effects of phenytoin on the performance of rats in a delayed match-to-place task. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 40:17-27.

Garraghty, P.E., Arnold, L.L., Wellman, C.L., and Mowery, T.M. (2006). Receptor autoradiographic correlates of deafferentation-induced reorganization in adult primate somatosensory cortex. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 497:636-645.

Churchill, J.D. and Garraghty, P.E. (2006). The influence of post-nerve injury survival duration on receptive field size: location, location, location. Neuroscience Letters, 405:10-13.