Dale R. Sengelaub

B.A., State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1978
Ph.D., Cornell University, 1983
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California at Los Angeles

Research Interests

(see also www.iub.edu/~sengelab)

Dr. Sengelaub studies the processes that regulate the structure and organization of both the developing and adult nervous system. Using a variety of species, neural systems, anatomical, and electrophysiological techniques, he addresses the factors which regulate neuron number, distribution, morphology, and connectivity in the brain and spinal cord. Processes such as dendritic growth and retraction, and the maintenance of adult neuron morphology after nerve injury or spinal damage are of primary interest. Current projects include ontogeny and hormonal control of sex differences in spinal nuclei, functional and morphological plasticity in hormonally sensitive neuromuscular systems, and examination of the neuroprotective/therapeutic effects of hormones.

Representative Publications

Hebbeler, S.L., Verhovshek, T., Sengelaub, D.R. (2001). Ovariectomy attenuates dendritic growth in hormone-sensitive spinal motoneurons. Journal of Neurobiology, 48: 301-314.

Coleman, A.M., Sengelaub, D.R. (2002). Patterns of dye coupling in lumbar motor nuclei of the rat. The Journal of Comparative Neurology, 454: 34-41.

Hebbeler, S.L., Verhovshek, T., Sengelaub, D.R. (2002). NMDA receptor blockade inhibits estrogenic support of dendritic growth in a sexually dimorphic rat spinal nucleus. The Journal of Comparative Neurology, 451: 142-152.

Park, J.-J., Zup, S.L., Verhovshek, T., Sengelaub, D.R., Forger, N.G. (2002). Castration reduces motoneuron soma size but not dendritic length in the spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus of wild-type and bcl-2 over- expressing mice. Journal of Neurobiology, 53: 403-412.

Fargo, K.N., Foster, A.M., Harty, M.W., Sengelaub, D.R. (2003). Estrogen alters excitability but not morphology of a sexually dimorphic neuromuscular system in adult rats. Journal of Neurobiology, 56: 66-77.

Isgor, C., Sengelaub, D. (2003). Effects of neonatal gonadal steroids on adult CA3 pyramidal neuron dendritic morphology and spatial memory in rats. Journal of Neurobiology, 55: 179-190.

Hebbeler, S.L., Sengelaub, D.R. (2003). Development of a sexually dimorphic neuromuscular system in male rats after spinal transection: morphological changes and implications for estrogen sites of action. The Journal of Comparative Neurology, 467: 80-96.

Yang, L.Y., Verhovshek, T., Sengelaub, D.R. (2004). BDNF and androgen interact in the maintenance of dendritic morphology in a sexually dimorphic rat spinal nucleus. Endocrinology, 145: 161-168.

Fargo, K.N., Sengelaub, D.R. (2004a). Testosterone manipulation protects motoneurons from dendritic atrophy after contralateral motoneuron depletion. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 469: 96-106.

Foster, A.M., Sengelaub, D.R. (2004a). Hormone sensitivity of muscle activation in a sexually dimorphic neuromuscular system of the rat. Neuroscience Letters, 359: 41-44.

Foster, A.M., Sengelaub, D.R. (2004b). Bilateral organization of unilaterally-generated activity in lumbar spinal motoneurons of the rat. Brain Research, 1009: 98-109.

Fargo, K.N., Sengelaub, D.R. (2004b). Exogenous testosterone prevents motoneuron atrophy induced by contralateral motoneuron depletion. Journal of Neurobiology, 60: 348-359.

Churchill, J.D., Tharp, J.A., Wellman, C.L., Sengelaub, D.R., Garraghty, P.E. (2004). Morphological correlates of injury-induced reorganization in primate somatosensory cortex. BioMed Central:Neuroscience, 5: 43.

Verhovshek, T., Wellman, C.L., Sengelaub, D.R. (2005). NMDA receptor binding declines differentially in three spinal motor nuclei during postnatal development. Neuroscience Letters, 384: 122-126.

Lenz, K.M., Sengelaub, D.R. (2006). Maternal licking influences dendritic development of motoneurons in a sexually dimorphic neuromuscular system. Brain Research, 1092: 87-99.

Nowacek, A.S., Sengelaub, D.R. (2006). Estrogenic support of motoneuron dendritic growth via the neuromuscular periphery in a sexually dimorphic motor system. Journal of Neurobiology, 66: 962-976.

Fargo, K.N., Iwema, C.L., Clark-Phelps, M.C., Sengelaub, D.R. (2006). Androgen-mediated plasticity in an aging sexually dimorphic motor system. Hormones and Behavior, 51: 20-30.

Osborne, M.C., Vohovshek, T., Sengelaub, D.R. (2007). Androgen regulates trkB expression in spinal motoneurons. Journal of Neuroscience Research, 85: 303-309.

Fargo, K.N., Sengelaub, D.R. (2007). Androgenic, but not estrogenic, protection of motoneurons from somal and dendritic atrophy induced by the death of neighboring motoneurons. Developmental Neurobiology, 67: 1094-1106.