Behavioral and Pharmacological Neuroscience at Indiana University

Preclinical Pharmacology Laboratory

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Alexander Murphy-Nakhnikian

Contact Information

Telephone: (812-855-5351)
Email: amurphyn@indiana.edu

Education

2007-B.S. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

2007-B.A. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

Honors and Awards

HHMI Capstone Summer Research Grant

Beckman Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Hutton Honors College Research Grant

Paul Klinge Award for Achievement in the Sciences

Dona Roberts Biddle Award for Philosophy

Current Research Interests

My research focuses on the basal ganglia, a subcortical group of nuclei that are responsible for processing motor and cognitive data. Specifically, I am interested in how the output of the basal ganlia is altered in Huntington's disease (HD), an autosomal dominant inherited neurodegenerative disorder. I am also investigating how dopamine, a monoamine neurotransmitter, modulates basal ganglia activity.

Prior research indicates that the substantia nigra reticulata (SNr), a basal ganglia output nucleus, is overinhibited in HD. Physiological data suggest that the balance between excititory and inhibitory input to SNr is disrupted in HD model organisms. Furthermore, the symptoms of HD include excessive and sporadic movement indicating that the efferent motor centers of the brain are over-excited, under-inhibited or both; over-inhibition of the SNr could partly explain these changes in the motor pathways. I am also interested in dopaminergic communication among various basal ganglia substructures. I hope that by studying changes in the dopamine system that accompany HD, we may be able better to understand the role of dopamine in facilitating information flow in healthy individuals. My current projects deal with 1) The activity level of the SNr in HD mice versus wild-type controls, 2) Pharmacological manipulation of the dopamine system in HD mice and 3) Cellular and molecular changes in the target neurons of dopaminergic cells in the basal ganglia of HD animals.

In addition to my studies of the SNr and dopamine, I have collaborated on studies of the striatal pathalogy and behavioral changes in HD animals.

Curriculum Vitae