Ulises Ricoy
Postdoctoral Fellow
e-mail
ricoyu@ohsu.edu
Major Areas
Neural plasticity, synaptic transmission, psychopharmacology, learning and memory, reward
Education
University of Texas at San Antonio 1998 B.S. Biology;
San Francisco State University 1998-2000 Biological Oceanography
Marine Biological Laboratory
SPINES 2005
Neurobiology Course 2006
University of Texas at San Antonio 2007 Ph.D. Neurobiology
Research Interests
My overall postdoctoral objectives are 1) to examine the cellular involvement involvement of CA1 neurons of the hippocampus in response to amphetamine drug reward and 2) to study synaptic transmission in response to complex patterns of activity as observed from in vivo recordings of animals performing a task.
Synaptic output is a highly dynamic process, owing to the existence of several forms of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity that range in duration from milliseconds to hours. Although individual forms of synaptic plasticity have been well described and characterized, the simple stimulus patterns used to evoke and define each form of plasticity must bear little resemblance to the activity patterns seen in vivo, where most synapses are activated by temporally complex patterns of afferent firing. These complex patterns of activity are expected to engage in several other forms of synaptic plasticity. Therefore, I will use field and whole-cell recordings to measure synaptic responses to spike trains derived from activity patterns seen in CA3 pyramidal cells in vivo during the performance of a complex behavioral task.
The role of various neuromodulators will be examined in Hippocampal synaptic dynamics. Synaptic transmission will be examined in the Schaeffer-Collaterals (SC) to CA1 synapses by stimulating the SC and recording extracellular field potentials in the stratum radiatum and lacunosum moleculare of CA1 region in vitro.
Affiliations
Society for Neuroscience SACNAS National Hispanic Science Network
Publications in preparation
Unilateral IntraHippocampal Methamphetamine Induced Place Conditioning via reverse Microdialysis. U. M. Ricoy and J. L. Martinez Jr. Cajal Neuroscience Institute and Department of Biology. The University of Texas at San Antonio, TX.
Methamphetamine IntraHippocampal Self Administration via reverse Microdialysis. U. M. Ricoy and J. L. Martinez Jr. Cajal Neuroscience Institute and Department of Biology. The University of Texas at San Antonio, TX.
Hippocampus and Reward: a Review. U. M. Ricoy and Joe L. Martinez Jr. Cajal Neuroscience Institute and Department of Biology.The University of Texas at San Antonio, TX.
