Vadim Bolshakov is a Russia-born American neuroscientist, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.[1] He has been Director of the Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory at McLean Hospital since 1999. He received The Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund award in 2001[2][3] and NARSAD Distinguished Investigator award in 2013.[4]
Bolshakov is an associate editor of Frontiers in Neural Circuits, published by Frontiers,[5] an associate editor of Neurochemistry International, published by Elsevier, and a consulting editor of Amino Acids, published by Springer.[6] He presently serves on the Scientific Council of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.[7]
In his work, he focuses on understanding the cellular and neural network-level mechanisms of learned and innate behaviors with an emphasis on studies of fear mechanisms in the brain. He demonstrated that negatively-charged memories, resulting in uncontrollable fear and anxiety, are associated with long-term functional changes at synaptic contacts in the amygdala.[8][9][10][11] He also demonstrated that these aversive memories, as well as synaptic modifications associated with them, can be controlled by the expression of specific genes in brain regions responsible for emotional states.[12][13] Overall, his findings provide evidence that synaptic plasticity in specific projections within behavior-controlling neural circuits may serve as a cellular mechanism of memory formation and retention.[14]
References
edit- ^ "Vadim Bolshakov". pinphd.hms.harvard.edu.
- ^ "Esther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund". Klingenstein Philanthropies.
- ^ "Vadim Bolshakov, Ph.D." Klingenstein Philanthropies.
- ^ "The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Awards $1.5 Million in NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grants to Fund Cutting-Edge Research". The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Awards $1.5 Million in NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grants to Fund Cutting-Edge Research | Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. November 7, 2013.
- ^ "Frontiers in Neural Circuits | Editorial board". www.frontiersin.org.
- ^ "Amino Acids". SpringerLink.
- ^ "Vadim Bolshakov, Ph.D." Vadim Bolshakov, Ph.D. | Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. October 7, 2021.
- ^ "Fear Conditioning Occludes LTP-Induced Presynaptic Enhancement of Synaptic Transmission in the Cortical Pathway to the Lateral Amygdala: Neuron".
- ^ "Brain changes in learning measured". Harvard Gazette. May 30, 2002.
- ^ "Synaptic Encoding of Fear Extinction in mPFC-amygdala Circuits: Neuron".
- ^ Newsweek Staff (August 19, 2007). "The Mechanics of Trauma". Newsweek.
- ^ "Researchers find a gene for fear". Harvard Gazette. December 1, 2005.
- ^ "Mutant Mouse Gene Quells Fear | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com.
- ^ Luchkina, Natalia V.; Bolshakov, Vadim Y. (January 1, 2019). "Mechanisms of fear learning and extinction: synaptic plasticity–fear memory connection". Psychopharmacology. 236 (1): 163–182. doi:10.1007/s00213-018-5104-4. PMC 6374177. PMID 30415278.
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