Behavioural and neural correlates of chronic stress

• Research
• Current projects
• Diseases related to this field of research
• Processes and functions relevant to this work
• Techniques in routine use
• Grants and funding
• Collaborations
• Teaching
• References

Research

My research interests lie with the body's response to stress. I study features of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA, or stress axis), the major point of interaction between the endocrine and nervous systems and of critical importance in mediating the stress response.

A large part of my work concentrates on how the stress response changes during development. For instance, studies are underway into the role of monamines released in the central nervous system. Monomines, a class of neurotransmitter that includes catecholamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine) and serotonin, have been implicated in a variety of mood disorders and hence characterising their properties and action in the brain will allow for greater understanding of conditions such as bipolar disorder and depression.

Further work is addressing the part played by nociceptin in the HPA axis. Nociceptin is a peptide that stimulates the opioid receptor ORL1. It appears to be important in pain, as it has been found to produce hyperalgesia when applied supraspinally but analgesia at the spinal level. With respect to the HPA axis, nociceptin can reverse stress-induced analgesia. Understanding how nociceptin modulates the stress response could therefore have relevance for effective pain management.

There is extensive crosstalk between the nervous and immune systems. Peptide neurotransmitters produced by nerve cells, e.g. adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), have been found to also be present in peripheral immune cells, along with their RNA and corresponding membrane receptors. I am working with Mick Harbuz and David Jessop of the URCN to further elucidate the actions of these neuroimmunopeptides in the HPA axis.

(Back to top)

Current projects include:

• The actions of monoamines in the central nervous system
• Nociceptin and its effects on the parameters of stress

(Back to top)

Diseases related to this field of research

• Major psychiatric disorders
• Chronic inflammation
• Pain
• Clinical depression
• Bipolar disorder

(Back to top)

Processes and functions relevant to this work

• Development
• Neurotransmission
• Stress response
• Behaviour

(Back to top)

Techniques in routine use

• Cell culture
• Behavioural analysis
• Measuring neurotransmitter release
• Immunocytochemistry
• Radioimmunoassay
• Intracerebral drug delivery
• HPLC

(Back to top)

Grants and funding

BBSRC committee studentship; Application of small interfering RNAs for analysis of central ORL1 receptor function.

Collaborations

• MS Harbuz (URCN), University of Bristol
• J Henley (MRC Centre for Synaptic Plasticity), University of Bristol

(Back to top)

Teaching

• BSc Anatomical Science II (Unit Organiser)
• BSc Anatomical Science III/Neuroscience III 'Neuroendocrine regulation and stress' (Element Organiser)

(Back to top)

References

• AJ Fulford & MS Harbuz, 2003 An introduction to the HPA axis In: Handbook on Stress, Immunology and Behaviour (Steckler et al Eds). Elsevier.
• AJ Fulford & DS Jessop, 2002 Neuropeptides in the immune system: mediators of the stress response. In: Stress (McCarty et al eds), Taylor&Francis.