Courses:
Human Physiology (BIO 270), Pathophysiology for Physician Assistants
(BIO 516 and BIO 517), Pathophysiology for Nursing (NSG 521).
Research Interests:
Physiology of stress responses in the neonatal brain.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a leading
cause of post neonatal infant mortality in the US. Many SIDS
infants have abnormal binding to serotonergic receptors in the medulla
oblongata. Dysfunction of serotonergic autonomic control pathways
here may increase the risk for SIDS by altering protective reflexes to
stressors encountered
during sleep such as hypercapnia, hypoxia, and hyperthermia.
My primary area of research focuses on medullary serotonergic neuronal
pathways and how they act as relay stations for thermoregulatory and
cardiovascular responses to a variety of stressful stimuli. In
this regard my lab microinjects pharmacologically active agents
targeting the brainstem serotonergic nuclei while measuring behavioral
and autonomic responses to a variety stressful stimuli.
Understanding how serotonin mediates autonomic responses to stress may
aid the understanding of SIDS and thereby help prevent its occurrence.
Selected
Publications:
Carroll RG. Brown JW, Fontenot EG. Body
Temperature Regulation: When 98.6 °F is Not “Normal.”
Advances in Physiological Education. 2007. In press.
Hoffman JM, Brown JW, Sirlin EA, Benoit AM, Gill WG, Harris MB, and
Darnall RA. Activation of 5-HT1A receptors in the paragigantocellularis
lateralis decreases shivering but not peripheral vasoconstriction
during cooling in the conscious piglet. Am J Physiol Regul Integr
Comp Physiol. 293: R518-27. 2007.
Brown JW, Whitehurst ME, Carroll RG.
The Pre-Optic Anterior Hypothalamus (POAH) Partially Mediates The
Hypothermic Response To Hemorrhage In Rats. Brain Research
1041(1):1-10. 2005.
Brown JW. Whitehurst ME, Carroll RG.
Thermoregulatory Set Point Decreases Following Hemorrhage in Rats.
Shock 23(3):239-242. 2005.
Darnall RA, Harris MB, W H Gill, Hoffman JM, Brown
JW, Niblock MM. Inhibition of Serotonergic Neurons in the Nucleus
Paragigantocellularis Lateralis Disrupts Sleep Architecture and
Decreases REM Sleep in the Piglet: Implications for the Sudden Infant
Death Syndrome. Journal of Neuroscience 25:8322-8332. 2005.
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