Faculty

Gordon A. Barr, Ph.D.

faculty photo
Emeritus Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Department: Anesthesiology and Critical Care

Contact information
Abramson Research Building, Room 907A
Department of Anesthesiology and CCM
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 267-426-9722
Fax: 267-426-8128
Lab: 267-426-8108
Education:
B.A. (Psychology)
Dickinson College, 1969.
M.A.
Carnegie Mellon University, 1971.
Ph.D. (Psychology)
Carnegie Mellon University, 1975.
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Description of Research Expertise

I study transitions during early development. Transitions are important developmental epochs during which time there are substantial changes in how infants/children/adolescents process information. I am particularly interested in mechanisms of of stress, pain and recovery from damage to the nervous system from that developmental perspective. I study models of acute and chronic pain, infant-mother attachment, the therapeutic and adverse effects of analgesics, especially opiates, and spinal cord injury and recovery from injury. Our lab develops and uses sophisticated behavioral assays in young animals in conjunction with a number of anatomical and neurochemical assays to understand mechanisms by which these transitions occur.

Selected Publications

Sperry, M.M, Benjamin M Kandel, B.M., Wehrli, S.L., S Das, S.R.; Bass, K.N., Dhillon, P.S., Gee, J.C. and Barr, G.A.: Mapping of pain circuitry in early post-natal development using manganese-enhanced MRI in rats. Neuroscience 352: 180-189, March 2017.

Butkevich, I.P. , Mikhailenko, V.A. , Vershinina, E.A., Aloisi, A.M. , Barr, G.A. : Long-Term Effects of Chronic Buspirone During Adolescence Reduce The Adverse Influences of Neonatal Inflammatory Pain and Stress on Adaptive Behavior in Adult Male Rats Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. Frontiers in, 11: 1-11, January 2017 Notes: DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00011

Barr, G.A., Wang, S., Weisshaar, C.L., and Winkelstein, B.A. : Developmental changes in pain and spinal immune gene expression after radicular trauma in the rat Frontiers in Neurology 7(223): 1-12, December 2016 Notes: doi: 10.3389/fneur.2016.00223.

Oliver, C.R., Kabitzke, P., Serrano, P., Egan, L.J., Barr, G.A., Shair, H.N., Wiedenmayer, C.P.: Repeated recall and PKMζ maintain fear memories in juvenile rats. Learning and Memory 23: 710-713, November 2016.

Rincón-Cortés, M., Barr. G.A., Mouly, A-M., Shionoyag, K., Nuñez, B.S., Sullivan, R.M. : Enduring good memories of infant trauma: Rescue of adult neurobehavioral deficits via an amygdala 5-HT/CORT interaction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(3): 881-886, January 2015.

Barr, G.A. and Hunter, D.A.: Interactions between immune and pain processes during early development. Developmental Psychobiology 56(8): 1698-1710, 2014.

Sarro, E.C., Sullivan, R.M. and Barr, G.A.: Unpredictable neonatal stress enhances adult anxiety and alters amygdala gene expression related to serotonin and GABA. Neuroscience 258: 147-161, 2014.

Chan, T., Kyere, K., Davis, B.R., Shemyakin, A., Kabitzke, P.A., Shair, H.N., Barr, G.A., Wiedenmayer, C.P.: The role of the medial prefrontal cortex in innate fear regulation in infants, juveniles, and adolescents. Journal of Neuroscience 31(13): 4991-4999, 2011.

Barr G A, Wang S: Analgesia induced by localized injection of opiate peptides into the brain of infant rats. European journal of Pain 17(5): 676-91, 2013.

Barr G. A., Moriceau S., Shionoya K., Muzny K., Gao P., Wang S., Sullivan R. M.: Transitions in infant learning are modulated by dopamine in the amygdala. Nature Neuroscience 12(11): 1367-9, 2009 Notes: Nature Neuroscience included an editorial that discussed the importance of these findings.

Butkevich, I.P., Barr, G.A., Vershinina, E.A.: Sex differences in formalin-induced pain in prenatally stressed infant rats. European Journal of Pain 11(8): 888-894, 2007.

Marion, M., Santi, L., Monaghan R., Houle J.D., Barr G. A.: Peripheral nerve graft with immunosuppression modifies gene expression in axotomized CNS neurons. The Journal of Comparative Neurology 519(17): 3433-55, 2011.

Barr Gordon A: Formalin-induced c-fos expression in the brain of infant rats. The Journal of Pain 12(2): 263-71, 2011.

McPhie Anika A, Barr Gordon A: Regional Fos expression induced by morphine withdrawal in the 7-day-old rat. Developmental Psychobiology 51(7): 544-52, 2009.

Kabitzke, P.A, Barr, G.A., Chan, T., Harry N. Shair, H.N. & Wiedenmayer, C.P. : Medial Prefrontal Cortex Processes Threatening Stimuli in Juvenile Rats. Neuropsychopharmacology 39(8): 1924-1932, 2014.

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Last updated: 11/02/2021
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania