Anita Bechtholt, PhD
Undergraduate Education
(1996) BS Psychology, Washington State University
Training at OHSU
1998-2004
Second Year Project
(2000) Repeated nicotine pretreatment increases cocaine self-administration using a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement in rats. (Advisor: Gregory Mark, PhD)
Dissertation
(2004) Central opioid influences on conditioned ethanol reward and aversion. (Mentor: Christopher Cunningham, PhD)
Previous Position
(2004 - 2007) Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Philadelphia PA (Postdoctoral Advisor: Irwin Lucki, PhD)
Current Position
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Belmont MA (Postdoctoral Advisors: William Carlezon; PhD, Anne Cataldo, PhD; Bruce Cohen, MD, PhD; Dost Ongur, MD, PhD)
E-mail
anita.bechtholt@gmail.com
Background and Interests
My primary interest is in understanding the neural mechanisms involved in the incidence and treatment of psychiatric disorders including addiction, depression and anxiety. My dissertation work at OHSU involved identifying the brain regions and neurochemical mechanisms that contribute to the expression of the conditioned rewarding effects of ethanol. These experiments shed light on the ways in which environmental cues, that are associated with the experience of the rewarding effects of ethanol, may contribute to relapse in alcoholism. Since leaving OHSU I have focused on understanding the causes and treatments of depression and anxiety, two psychiatric disorders that are often co-morbid with addiction. In the future I hope to combine these areas of expertise as an independent investigator.
My OHSU experience
I chose to get my PhD in the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience at OHSU because the department was so well equipped to do expert addiction research and also how friendly, happy, and supportive the students and faculty seemed during my interview. These impressions were only strengthened once I started my PhD. I really enjoyed my graduate experience at OHSU and feel that my training was superior to that of many of my peers who did not attend OHSU. The main reason for this outcome is how seriously the department, as a whole (and especially my mentor, Chris Cunningham), takes training. They asked me the hard questions, but always with the interest of making me a better scientist. This training prepared me to do ethical, reliable and great science! Don't get me wrong, graduate school was a difficult experience with high highs and low lows, I just can't imagine having done it anywhere else.
Living in Portland made the hard times a lot easier. Looking at the view of Mt. Hood while I walked home or hiking through the arboretum always softened the blow of a failed experiment. I really enjoyed living in Portland and miss the great food, great wine, beautiful hikes (like Bull of the Woods and Dog Mountain), picturesque beaches, and close by skiing.
Publications
O'leary OF, Bechtholt AJ, Crowley JJ, Hill TE, Page ME, Lucki I. Depletion of serotonin and catecholamines block the acute behavioral response to different classes of antidepressant drugs in the mouse tail suspension test. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Feb 21; [Epub ahead of print]
Bechtholt AJ, Hill TE, Lucki I. Anxiolytic effect of serotonin depletion in the novelty-induced hypophagia test. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Mar;190(4):531-40.
Mark GP, Kinney AE, Grubb MC, Zhu X, Finn DA, Mader SL, Berger SP, Bechtholt AJ. Injection of oxotremorine in nucleus accumbens shell reduces cocaine but not food self-administration in rats. Brain Res. 2006 Dec 6;1123(1):51-9.
O'Leary OF, Bechtholt AJ, Crowley JJ, Valentino RJ, Lucki I. The role of noradrenergic tone in the dorsal raphe nucleus of the mouse in the acute behavioral effects of antidepressant drugs. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2007 Feb;17(3):215-26.
Bechtholt AJ, Cunningham CL. Ethanol-induced conditioned place preference is expressed through a ventral tegmental area dependent mechanism. Behav Neurosci. 2005 Feb;119(1):213-23.
Bechtholt AJ, Gremel CM, Cunningham CL. Handling blocks expression of conditioned place aversion but not conditioned place preference produced by ethanol in mice. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2004 Dec;79(4):739-44.
Bechtholt AJ, Smith R, Raber J, Cunningham CL. Enhanced ethanol-, but not cocaine-induced, conditioned place preference in Apoe(-/-) mice. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2004 Apr;77(4):783-92.
Bechtholt AJ, Mark GP. Enhancement of cocaine-seeking behavior by repeated nicotine exposure in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2002 Jul;162(2):178-85.
Wright JW, Bechtholt AJ, Chambers SL, Harding JW. Angiotensin III and IV activation of the brain AT1 receptor subtype in cardiovascular function. Peptides. 1996;17(8):1365-71.
Last updated: March 20, 2007