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Department of Anesthesiology

 

     

Department of Anesthesiology- Research Division

Helen A. Baghdoyan , Ph.D.
Director of Laboratory Research
Professor of Anesthesiology
Professor of Pharmacology
Faculty Member, Neuroscience Graduate Program

Phone: 734-647-7831
Fax: 734-764-9332
Email: helenb@umich.edu

 


Dr. Baghdoyan directs a research program that is specifying the brain regions, receptors, and signal transduction pathways regulating arousal states such as sleep and anesthesia. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has a long-standing interest in neurochemical control of arousal. Dr. Baghdoyan's research on the role of acetylcholine in modulating arousal states has been supported by the NIMH since 1989. Basic studies of cholinergic neurotransmission have relevance for anesthesiology, psychiatry, and neurology. Each of these clinical specialties uses brain electrical activity (EEG) to provide an index of arousal level. Some EEG patterns, such as spindles, occur during natural sleep and during an anesthetically induced loss of consciousness. This fact suggests that common underlying mechanisms are involved in spindle generation during sleep and anesthesia, and Dr. Baghdoyan's research has shown that the same brain stem cholinergic systems contributing to sleep cycle control also modulate halothane-induced EEG spindle generation. Dr. Baghdoyan's laboratory also is supported by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The goal of this NHLBI sponsored research program is to understand the mechanisms by which opioids inhibit the rapid eye movement phase of sleep.

Recent publications:

Douglas CL, Bowman GN, Baghdoyan HA, Lydic R. C57BL/6J and B6.V-LEP OB mice differ in the cholinergic modulation of sleep and breathing. J Appl Physiol 98:918-929, 2005. [PubMed]

Lydic R and Baghdoyan HA. Sleep, anesthesiology, and the neurobiology of arousal state control. Anesthesiology 103:1268-95, 2005. [PubMed]

Osman NI, Baghdoyan HA, Lydic R. Morphine inhibits acetylcholine release in rat prefrontal cortex when delivered systemically or by microdialysis to basal forebrain. Anesthesiology 103: 779-87, 2005. [PubMed]

Lydic R and Baghdoyan HA. Sleep and anesthesia. In: Foundations of Anesthesia: Basic and Clinical Sciences, 2nd Edition. Edited by EC Hemmings and PM Hopkins. 361-371, 2005.

Bernard R, Lydic R, Baghdoyan HA. Hypocretin receptor-activated G proteins revealed by [35S]GTPgammaS autoradiography. In: The Orexin/Hypocretin System: Physiology and Pathophysiology. Editors: S. Nishino and Takeshi Sakurai. 83-96, 2006.

Lydic R and Baghdoyan HA. Relevance of anesthesiology for sleep medicine. In: Encyclopedia of Sleep Medicine. Edited by T. Lee-Chiong. 927-932, 2006.

Bernard R, Lydic R, Baghdoyan HA. Hypocretin (orexin) receptor subtypes differentially enhance acetylcholine release and activate G protein subtypes in rat pontine reticular formation. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 317:163-171, 2006. [PubMed]

Lydic R, Garza-Grande R, Struthers R, Baghdoyan HA. Nitric oxide in B6 mouse and nitric oxide-sensitive soluble guanylate cyclase in cat modulate acetylcholine release in pontine reticular formation. J Appl Physiol 100:1666-1673, 2006. [PubMed]

Baghdoyan HA. Editorial: Hyperalgesia induced by REM sleep loss: a phenomenon in search of a mechanism. Sleep 29:137-139, 2006. [PubMed]

Coleman CG, Baghdoyan HA, Lydic R. Dialysis delivery of an adenosine A2A agonist into the pontine reticular formation of C57BL/6J mouse increase pontine acetylcholine release and sleep. J Neurochem 96:1750-1759, 2006. [PubMed]

Lydic R and HA Baghdoyan. Acetylcholine modulates sleep and wakefulness: A synaptic perspective. In: The Neurochemistry of Sleep and Wakefulness. Edited by J.M. Monti, S.R. Pandi-Perumal, and C.M. Sinton. Cambridge University Press, (in press) 2007.

Lydic R and HA Baghdoyan. Neurochemical mechanisms mediating opioid-induced REM sleep disruption. In: Sleep and Pain, edited by G. Lavigne, M. Choinière, B.J. Sessle, and P. Soja. Seattle : International Association for the Study of Pain, 99-122, 2007.

Watson CJ, Lydic R, Baghdoyan HA. Sleep and GABA levels in the oral part of rat pontine reticular formation are decreased by local and systemic administration of morphine. Neuroscience 144:375-86, 2007. [PubMed]

Skulsky EM, Osman NI, Baghdoyan HA, Lydic R.  Microdialysis delivery of morphine to the hypoglossal nucleus of Wistar rat increases hypoglossal acetylcholine release.  Sleep, 30 (5): 566-573 May 1 2007. [PubMed]

Hambrecht VS, Vlisides PE, Row BW, Gozal D, Baghdoyan HA, Lydic R. Hypoxia modulates cholinergic but not opioid activation of G proteins in rat hippocampus. Hippocampus. 2007 Jun 27; [Epub ahead of print] [PubMed]

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