David F. Wozniak, Ph.D.

DEPARTMENT OF Psychiatry
Keywords: behavior, memory, neuron death, neurotoxicity

A current research focus involves relating our behavioral findings concerning the noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 with our neurotoxic findings associated with this compound. At low doses, MK-801 and related compounds induce impairments in learning/memory performance while moderate doses result in a reversible injury to neurons in the posterior cingulate/retrosplenial (PC/RS) cortex. High doses of MK-801 induce neuronal necrosis in the PC/RS cortex as well as in other corticolimbic structures and, in the mouse, this cell killing effect is associated with chronic, perhaps permanent, impairment in spatial learning acquisition.

Our studies typically include both histological and behavioral analyses. Routine histologic techniques including staining with methylene blue/azure II of ultra-thin sectioned, plastic-embedded tissue, as well as other techniques including hematoxylin and eosin, cupric silver, and immunocytochemistry are used in an effort to understand better the neurotoxic reaction underlying the behavioral deficits.