Depolarizing GABA current in the adult cortex: role in cognitive impairment
Marco Martina (Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine)
Marco Martina, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Physiology and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine.
Professor Martina has a long standing expertise in the study of biophysical and pharmacological properties of ion channels; in particular, concerning the impact of individual ion channel types on action potential generation and propagation, the role of dendrites in synaptic integration, and the properties and modulation of GABAA currents. These studies are based on a multidisciplinary approach to neurobiological questions, combining electrophysiology and cell and molecular biology.
Presently, the main focus of his research concerns the role of brain networks in chronic pain. Martina’s laboratory has been pioneering the idea that alteration of the prefrontal cortex is central to the neuropathic pain phenotype (Metz et al. 2009) and that functional alterations in the mPFC mediate the cognitive deficits in neuropathic pain (Radzicki et al. 2017; Kelly and Martina 2018).
Abstract:
The cellular mechanisms causing cognitive deficits in anatomically normal brains remain unclear. I will present data suggesting that the shift from inhibitory to excitatory GABAA current in the prefrontal cortex is a critical pathogenic mechanism in diverse conditions characterized by cognitive impairment, and that pharmacological correction of GABAA current function improves cognitive performance in these conditions.
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