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Department of Anesthesiology- Research Division |
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Dr. Booth has joint appointments in the Department of Anesthesiology and the Department of Mathematics. Her interdisciplinary research in mathematical and computational neuroscience focuses on constructing and analyzing biophysical models of neurons and neuronal networks in order to quantitatively probe experimental hypotheses and provide experimentally-testable predictions. Her collaborative projects with anesthesiology faculty are conducted through continuous reciprocal interactions between modeling and experiments that allows for maximum impact of mathematical modeling in advancing scientific understanding. Dr. Booth collaborates with Dr. Gina Poe in an NSF- and NIH-funded study constructing biophysically accurate models of hippocampal pyramidal cells to investigate the neural mechanisms promoting Poe’s experimentally observed changes in neural discharge patterns that are associated with synaptic plasticity during waking and REM sleep. The results of the modeling study have led to a number of experimental predictions about the action of the sleep-relevant neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine that are currently being investigated both experimentally and computationally in the Poe lab. Dr. Booth also collaborates with Dr. Ralph Lydic and Dr. Helen Baghdoyan constructing neurophysiologically based models of the neuronal networks and neurotransmitter interactions in the brainstem that regulate wake and sleep. While specific neuronal nuclei and neurotransmitter actions have been identified that participate in the wake-sleep cycle and the generation of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, the specific interactions generating the transitions between wake, non-REM sleep and REM sleep are not completely understood. Results from microdialysis and microinjection experiments performed in the Lydic and Baghdoyan labs are being incorporated in model networks to reveal constraints and essential components of hypothesized network architectures and dynamics. The model networks are also providing a testbed for investigations into the mechanisms by which anesthetic agents influence the sleep-wake regulatory network to induce anesthesia. Recent Publications: Best, J., Diniz Behn, C., Poe, G.R. and Booth, V. Neuronal models for sleep-wake regulation and synaptic reorganization in the sleeping hippocampus. J Biol Rhythms, 22:220-232, 2007.[PubMed] Waddell, J., Dzakpasu, R., Booth, V., Riley, B.T., Reasor, J., Poe, G. R. and Zochowski, M. Causal entropies - a measure for determining changes in the temporal organization of neural systems, J Neurosci Meth, 162:320-332, 2007.[PubMed] Booth, V. and Poe, G. R. Input source and strength influences overall firing phase of model hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells during theta: relevance to REM sleep reactivation and memory consolidation. Hippocampus, 16:161-175, 2006. [PubMed] Graham, J., Booth, V., and Jung, R., Modeling motoneurons after spinal cord injury: persistent inward currents and plateau potentials, Neurocomputing, 65:719-726, 2005. Booth, V. and Bose, A. Burst synchrony patterns in model hippocampal pyramidal cell networks, Network: Computation in Neural Systems, 13:157-177, 2002. [PubMed] Booth, V. and Bose, A. Neural mechanisms for generating rate and temporal codes in model CA3 pyramidal cells. J Neurophysiol, 85:2432-2445, 2001. [PubMed] Bose, A., Booth, V. and Recce, M. A mechanism for temporal control of the phase precession of hippocampal place cells. J Comput Neurosci, 9:5-30, 2000. [PubMed] Booth, V., Rinzel, J. and Kiehn, O. Compartmental model of vertebrate motoneurons for Ca2+-dependent spiking and plateau potentials under pharmacological treatment, J Neurophysiol, 78:3371-3385, 1997. [PubMed] Research Divisions | ||||||
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