News & Announcements
Past news and announcements are shown below. Current news is shown on our homepage.
UMass Amherst researchers studied origins of adverse effects of a common anti-cancer treatment
UMass Amherst researchers studied origins of adverse effects of a common anti-cancer treatment
Results of a new study by neuroscientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst suggest that a new treatment approach is needed – and how this may be possible – to address adverse effects of aromatase inhibitors, drugs commonly prescribed to both men and women to prevent recurrence of estrogen-positive breast cancer.
Neuroscientists Agnès Lacreuse, Luke Remage-Healey and their graduate students at UMass Amherst, collaborator Jessica Mong at the University of Maryland and first author Nicole Gervais worked together on this research. Gervais, who conducted the experiments as a postdoctoral researcher at UMass Amherst, is now at the University of Toronto. The authors studied a small group of aged male and female marmosets, non-human primates whose brains are much like humans’ and which exhibit “complex behavior,” senior author Lacreuse explains. (Read more)
Research by Rebecca Spencer is Highlighted by Education Drive News
Research by Rebecca Spencer is Highlighted by Education Drive News
Research conducted by Professor Rebecca Spencer, Psychological and Brain Sciences, that indicates missing a nap for small children significantly and negatively reduced memory in several areas, including motor-skill development and regulating emotions, is cited in a news story. The story says even if children in preschool and kindergarten don’t require a nap, they should at least have some quiet time during the day. It also says up to 60 percent of 4-year-olds still need naps. Read More
Four new assistant professors join the Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program
Four new assistant professors join the Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program
The Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program welcomes four new Assistant Professors. They epitomize the diversity of backgrounds and approaches in the Neurosciences. Two of the faculty members are in Biology, one in Psychological Brain Sciences, and one in Communication Disorders. Each of them is recruiting PhD students for the coming year. Read More.
UMass Week of Memory and Forgetting Begins Oct. 29
UMass Week of Memory and Forgetting Begins Oct. 29
UMass Week of Memory and Forgetting: Science, Society, and Senescence” brings together science and art to explore and understand memory from a variety of perspectives through a variety of events from Oct. 29-Nov. 2. Read more.
Bittman receives $2.4 million, 4-year NIH grant to support circadian rhythm research
Bittman receives $2.4 million, 4-year NIH grant to support circadian rhythm research
The 4-year, $2.4 million NIH grant will allow Bittman to determine the sequence of duper, a mutation that speeds up the circadian clock and dramatically reduces jet lag by affecting the function of a master pacemaker in the hypothalamus. Millions of Americans work shift schedules, and most of us have experienced the disorientation that occurs when we travel across multiple time zones. Such abrupt shifts of the biological clock aggravate many diseases. The new grant will allow the Bittman lab to determine how the duper mutation alters the brain's clock. In addition, Bittman will use the duper mutant to determine whether phase shifts per se, or the internal desynchronization of multiple clocks throughout the body, are responsible for the adverse health effects of jet lag. The work is done in collaboration with John Hogenesch (Cincinnati Children's Hospital).
Rat Brain Study By Richardson, Li and Colleagues Links Signal Velocity to Myelination
Rat Brain Study By Richardson, Li and Colleagues Links Signal Velocity to Myelination
One of the outstanding questions in neurodevelopment research has been identifying how connections in the brain change to improve neural function during childhood and adolescence. Now, results from a study in rats just reported by neuroscientists Heather Richardson of psychological and brain sciences, Geng-Lin Li of biology, and colleagues suggest that as animals transition into adolescence, specific physical changes to axons speed up neural transmission, which may lead to higher cognitive abilities. (Read more)
Neuroscientist Rebecca Spencer on the Role of Sleep in Emotional Health
Neuroscientist Rebecca Spencer on the Role of Sleep in Emotional Health
Rebecca Spencer of the Psychological and Brain Sciences Department is investigating how Slow-wave sleep (SWS) may contribute to emotional memory processing in children, as was recently highlighted in an article in the BBC. Read more
Lacreuse lab receives $361,752 in NIH supplemental funding for Alzheimer’s disease study
Lacreuse lab receives $361,752 in NIH supplemental funding for Alzheimer’s disease study
The Lacreuse lab received $361,752 in supplemental funding from NIH to study whether Alzheimer’s disease-like symptoms occur naturally in nonhuman primates with aging. Lacreuse is especially interested in determining whether female marmosets, like women, are more prone to such symptoms, and her work seeks to identify the factors that predict pathological aging in each sex. Lacreuse believes that comparative studies in different primate species will provide important new clues to advance our understanding of the etiology of Alzheimer's disease in humans.
Special IDGP Workshop for Graduate Students and Post-Docs: Hands-on workshop aimed to help students get creative about ways they can market their skills and knowledge
Special IDGP Workshop for Graduate Students and Post-Docs: Hands-on workshop aimed to help students get creative about ways they can market their skills and knowledge
Plant Biology Graduate Student Samantha Glaze-Corcoran will host Katherine Onk from LinkedIn, who will lead a workshop targeted towards IDGP Graduate Students and Post-Docs.
French Hall, Room 209
Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018 at 10am
A Splashy Welcome for Incoming Graduate Students
A Splashy Welcome for Incoming Graduate Students
Incoming students in the interdisciplinary graduate programs in the life sciences (MCB, NSB, OEB and PB) enjoyed a day of whitewater rafting on the Deerfield River. Several faculty, staff and current students joined the group. The rafting adventure was a great way to get to know one another and have a ton of fun at the same time.