Faculty

Irwin Lucki, PhD

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Emeritus Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry
Department: Psychiatry
Graduate Group Affiliations

Contact information
Department of Psychiatry
University of Pennsylvania
2204 Translational Research Laboratory Building
125 South 31st Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-3403
Office: 215-573-3305
Fax: 215-573-2149
Education:
B.A. (Psychology)
University of Illinois, 1972.
M.A. (Psychology)
University of Iowa, 1976.
Ph.D. (Biopsychology)
University of Iowa, 1979.
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Description of Research Expertise

RESEARCH INTERESTS
(1) Behavioral pharmacology; (2) Mechanism of action of antidepressant and antianxiety medications; (3) Stress neurobiology and psychiatric disorders

KEY WORDS:
Antidepressants; tranquilizers; stress; serotonin; microdialysis; knockouts; behavior

RESEARCH TECHNIQUES
Behavioral pharmacology in rats and mice; microdialysis measurement of extracellular concentrations of monoamines in conscious rats and mice; behavioral analysis of knockout mice; stereotaxic surgery; effects of brain lesions and neurotoxins on behavior; central drug administration; in vitro ligand binding; histology; radioimmunoassay; and HPLC analysis of brain monoamines

RESEARCH SUMMARY
Current studies focus on the role of specific neurotransmitters, such as serotonin (5-HT), in the behavioral effects of antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs. Animal models for depression and anxiety are used to evaluate the potential efficacy of different neurotransmitter and peptide receptors for clinical therapeutic effects, to identify brain regions associated with behavioral responses to drugs, and to construct and evaluate pharmacological models for improving the efficacy of psychiatric medications. The participation of central 5-HT neurotransmission in depression, anxiety and neuroendocrine regulation associated with behavioral stress is specifically being investigated. Microdialysis procedures are used to measure the release of neurotransmitters in discrete regions of awake freely-moving rats or mice. These studies provide information on the regulation of the release of neurotransmitters in different brain regions, determine environmental and behavioral conditions that alter the release of neurotransmitters, and measure the effects of drugs during behavioral performance. Finally, studies of different inbred mouse strains or knockout mice are examining genetic factors associated with complex behaviors and the behavioral effects of psychotherapeutic medications.

Selected Publications

Snyder, K.P., Hill-Smith, T.E., Lucki, I. and Valentino, R.J. : Corticotropin-releasing factor in the rat dorsal raphe nucleus promotes different forms of behavioral flexibility depending on social stress history. Neuropsychopharmacology 2015, in press.

Falcon, E., Maier, K., Robinson, S.A. and Lucki, I. : Effects of buprenorphine on behavioral tests for antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs in mice Psychopharmacology 232: 907-915, 2015.

Browne, C.A., van Nest, D. and Lucki, I. : Antidepressant-like effects of buprenorphine in rats are strain dependent Behavioural Brain Research 278: 385-392, 2015.

Ho, N., Brookshire, B.R., Clark, J.E. and Lucki, I. : Indomethacin reverses decreased hippocampal cell proliferation in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. Metabolic Brain Disease 30: 555-562, 2015.

Santini, M.A., Balu, D.T., Hill-Smith, T.E., Lucki, I., Mikkelsen, J.D. and Coyle, J.T. : D-serine deficiency attenuates the behavioral and cellular effects induced by the hallucinogenic 5-HT(2A) receptor agonist DOI Behavioural Brain Research 259: 242-246, 2014.

Arnold, S.E., Lucki, I., Brookshire, B.R., Carlson, G.C., Browne, C.A., Kazi, H., Bang, S., Choi, B.-R., Chen, Y., McMullen, M.F. and Kim, S.F. : High fat diet produces brain insulin resistance, synaptodendritic abnormalities and altered behavior in mice. Neurobiology of Disease 67: 79-87, 2014.

Carlin, J., Hill-Smith, T.E., Lucki, I. and Reyes, T.M. : Reversal of dopamine system dysfunction in response to high fat diet Obesity 21(12): 2513-21, Dec 2013.

Balu, D.T., Turner, J.R., Brookshire, B.R. Hill, T.E., Blendy, J.A. and Lucki, I: Brain monoamines and responses to antidepressant drugs in MRL/MpJ versus C57BL/6J and mice Neuropharmacology 67: 503-510, 2013.

Featherstone, R., Tatard-Leitman, V., Suh, J., Lin, R., Lucki, I. and Siegel, S: Electrophysiological and behavioral responses to ketamine in mice with reduced Akt1 expression Psychopharmacology 227: 639-649, 2013.

Balu DT, Carlson GC, Talbot K, Kazi H, Easton RM, Birnbaum MJ, Lucki I.: Akt1 deficiency impairs hippocampal plasticity and function. Hippocampus 22(2): 230-240, 2012 Notes: Figure 5 photo was used for the cover of the February, 2012 issue.

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Last updated: 01/11/2016
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