My research is aimed at understanding brain-behavior relationships in humans, at systems level. Two main approaches are used: the lesion method, in which brain-damaged patients are studied with neuropsychological procedures to determine how certain lesion sites are related to certain cognitive and...

Serotonin neurons are mainly localized to the raphe nuclei of the brainstem, but their axons are widely distributed throughout the nervous system and have a ubiquitous role in physiological processes and behavior. Adding to this complexity is the diverse array of high-affinity receptors that bind...

In patient with lewy body disease, the protein alpha-synuclein aggregates, leading to severe multi-system symptoms, including hallucinations, loss of smell, dementia, imbalance, fluctuating confusion, and anxiety/depression. The main research goal of the Aldridge Laboratory is to understand the...

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the leading cause of death in patients with intractable epilepsy, but specific mechanisms of how a seizure can cause death are poorly understood. Research efforts in my laboratory are focused on using animal models to understand the mechanisms by which...

A high concentration of free ionic zinc in synaptic vesicles is a prominent feature of some of the excitatory pathways in the mammalian forebrain. Despite the wealth of information on its distribution, and role in metalloenzymes and proteins, the role of vesicular zinc remains enigmatic, and serves...

My laboratory is interested in the effect of environmental pollutants, such as neurotoxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and their transformation products on the developing brain. We use exposomics approaches to identify the metabolites formed in various model systems, including animal models...

My research focuses on elucidating central brain mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease, psychosocial disorders, heart failure and sudden cardiac death. The lab uses multidisciplinary approaches including radiotelemetry, optogenetics, neurophysiology, pharmacology, behavioral and molecular...

In the lab, we use genetic techniques to isolate and manipulate neurons that mediate basic physiologic functions including sleep, appetite, bladder control, and thermoregulation. My focus lies in identifying and deciphering previously unknown connections between neurons in the brainstem and other...

I am interested in the role of the tau protein in human brain development and in response to early-life hypoxic-ischemic injury, and in how this related to the development of age-related tauopathies such as Alzheimers disease. Recent publications

My research program is focused on two strategically developed areas of research. The first is exploring how energy and glucose homeostasis is regulated by novel endocrine pathways. More specifically, we examine how endocrine signals in the periphery communicate with the central nervous system...

The lab has two main areas of interest, the biology of DEG/ENaC channels and cystic fibrosis. DEG/ENaC channels are a novel family of non-voltage gated cation channels, including ASIC1, -2, and -3 in mammals and the Pickpocket genes in Drosophila. In the peripheral nervous system, they may serve as...

The organizing theme of my empirical work is the study of developmental changes in cognition. My main line of research involves the study of aging cognition. I am particularly interested in how attention and emotion impact cognitive functioning, such as memory and executive functioning, in both...