The Laboratory of Neurochemistry is under the direction of Bryan K. Yamamoto, Ph.D. (bkyam@bu.edu).  Our research interests are focused on 5 different but related areas of investigation.

1. A primary interest is in the mechanisms underlying the neurotoxicity of methamphetamine and MDMA (“Ecstasy, “E”,).  We are studying how mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and excitotoxicity contribute to the long-term neurotoxic effects of substituted amphetamines on brain dopamine and serotonin systems.

2. Another interest is in the functional consequences of exposure to methamphetamine and MDMA.  Since methamphetamine and MDMA deplete the brain of dopamine and/or serotonin, behaviors related to movement and psychiatric disorders including depression and drug abuse, as well as sleep and other physiological functions, are being examined using rat models.

3. There are ongoing research projects aimed at understanding the interactions between chronic stress and the vulnerability to amphetamine neurotoxicity.  We are examining how prior exposure to either chronic stress or amphetamines can affect the responses of the brain to a subsequent exposure to amphetamines or acute stress, respectively.  The hypotheses being tested are that prior exposure to stress enhances the vulnerability of the brain to the neurotoxic effects of the amphetamines.  Conversely, prior administration of neurotoxic doses of amphetamines enhances the deleterious effects of a subsequent exposure to an acute stressor.

4. The mesolimbic dopamine system is important in mediating the neurobehavioral effects drugs of abuse.  We are interested in how serotonin, GABA and glutamate interact to modulate this system and how these interactions are affected by psychostimulants.

5. A long-standing research interest of our lab has been in the neurochemical regulation of basal ganglia function.  Current research efforts are directed at understanding the regulation of the outflow of the basal ganglia, namely, the control of the substantia nigra by the subthalamic nucleus as well as the regulation of the thalamus by the basal ganglia.  These studies have implications for the control of movement under normal and pathological conditions (e.g. Parkinson’s disease).

We use both in vivo and in vitro methods.  The methodologies we employ range from environmental manipulations of behavior to cellular approaches such as in vivo microdialysis, immunohistochemistry, protein biochemistry, and assays of oxygen free radicals and oxidative stress.