Even Prairie Voles Get the Blues
Our laboratory is making progress towards understanding the underpinnings of stress-induced illnesses, like major depression. We discovered that Prairie voles, like humans, display alterations in memory, body weight, and sociability, while exhibiting anhedonia after experiencing chronic episodes of social stress. Check out our manuscript published in Journal of Affective Disorders (Rodriguez et al., 2024). |
UTEP Research Finds Addictive Possibilities to Antidepressant
EL PASO, Texas - The journal Scientific Reports recently published a paper by Sergio Iñiguez, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at UTEP, about the risk of developing anxiety disorders after being exposed to the antidepressant Prozac during adolescence.
Dr. Iñiguez, said that children who are prescribed medications such as Prozac for anxiety and depression may need to continue to use those products as adults to lead normal lives. |
UTEP Graduate Student, Israel Garcia-Carachure, earns Neuroscience Scholar Program Fellowship
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How the Prefrontal cortex may Curb Eating Behavior
In collaboration with Brandon Warren, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor of Pharmacodynamics at the University of Florida) we published, in eNeuro, that a specific area of the brain could lead to a way to influence eating behavior.
The Effects of Oxytocin on Social Anxiety Depend on Location, Location, Location.
Our collaboration with the laboratory of Brian Trainor, Ph.D., (Professor of Psychology at the University of California Davis) demonstrated that the effects of oxytocin on social anxiety depend on the its location within the brain. These findings were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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NIH to Fund UTEP Study into Anti-Depression Drug –
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Gene that could play key role in depression identified
Our collaboration with Dr. Mary Kay Lobo, PhD (University of Maryland) is the first to illuminate in detail how this particular gene, Slc6a15, works in a specific type of neuron that plays a key role in depression. The findings were published in the prestigious Journal of Neuroscience.
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Mitochondria in the Brain Changed by Cocaine Use — the Findings Could Help Us Better Fight Addiction
Our collaboration with Mary Kay Lobo, Ph.D. (Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine) demonstrated that mitochondria in the brain is changed by cocaine use. These findings were published in the journal Neuron.
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JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Our manuscript entitled "Fluoxetine exposure during adolescence alters responses to aversive stimuli in adulthood [Iñiguez et al., J Neuroci, 34(3), 1007-1021, 2014] was featured and evaluated in the Journal Club section of the Journal of Neuroscience. Thank you, Dr. Rincón-Cortés for the excellent assessment of our work! [see: Rincón-Cortés M. (2014). Adolescent Prozac administration exerts antidepressant-like effects in adulthood by reducing ERK2 signaling within the VTA, J Neurosci, 34(20), 6719-20]. |
Prozac During Teen Years Has Long-Lasting Effects; Antidepressant Weakens Emotional Strength Into Adulthood
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Juvenile administration of concomitant methylphenidate and fluoxetine alters behavioral reactivity to reward- and mood-related stimuli and disrupts ventral tegmental area gene expression in adulthood.
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