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Tracy L. Bale, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
3800 Spruce Street
School of Veterinary
Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4192
Phone: 215.898.1369
Fax: 215-573-5187
Email tbale@vet.upenn.edu
http://w3.vet.upenn.edu/faculty/tbale
Click here for selected publications since Dr. Bale's arrival at Penn
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Examine the effects of stress sensitivity on the development and treatment
of depression. Determine the molecular mechanisms by which stress factors
influence appetite and metabolism. Examine the effects of maternal stress-sensitivity
on fetal development and long-term physiological and behavioral responses.
RESEARCH TECHNIQUES
Genetic mouse models for behavioral analyses including stress, anxiety, depression, feeding and reward models; gene expression studies using in situ hybridization; pharmacology and protein expression using receptor autoradiography; biochemistry using Western blot; molecular biology for gene detection; and plasma hormone detection using radioimmune assays.RESEARCH SUMMARY
Our lab is interested in stress sensitivity and the development of stress-related disorders such as obesity and depression. Using a transgenic mouse model of elevated stress sensitivity, we can examine the role stress exposure plays in disease onset and progression. We are interested in defining obesity as a stress-sensitive disease of addiction by examining both the addictive and reward properties and withdrawal symptoms following exposure to a high fat diet. Studies in our mouse model of increased stress sensitiviy at the behavioral, physiological, biochemical and molecular levels following stress exposure or antidepressant treatment provide insight into the neurocircuitry and genes involved in the dysregulation leading to a predisposition to develop mood disorders.
KEY WORDS:
mouse model, depression, stress, sex differences, obesity, CRF, neuroendocrinology, hypothalamus, feeding, anxiety
