Widespread Cortical Thickness Is Associated With Neuroactive Steroid Levels.
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2019-01
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Background:Neuroactive steroids are endogenous molecules with regenerative and neuroprotective actions. Both cortical thickness and many neuroactive steroid levels decline with age and are decreased in several neuropsychiatric disorders. However, a systematic examination of the relationship between serum neuroactive steroid levels and in vivo measures of cortical thickness in humans is lacking. Methods:Peripheral serum levels of seven neuroactive steroids were assayed in United States military veterans. All (n = 143) subsequently underwent high-resolution structural MRI, followed by parcellelation of the cortical surface into 148 anatomically defined regions. Regression modeling was applied to test the association between neuroactive steroid levels and hemispheric total gray matter volume as well as region-specific cortical thickness. False discovery rate (FDR) correction was used to control for Type 1 error from multiple testing. Results:Neuroactive steroid levels of allopregnanolone and pregnenolone were positively correlated with gray matter thickness in multiple regions of cingulate, parietal, and occipital association cortices (r = 0.20-0.47; p < 0.05; FDR-corrected). Conclusion:Positive associations between serum neuroactive steroid levels and gray matter cortical thickness are found in multiple brain regions. If these results are confirmed, neuroactive steroid levels and cortical thickness may help in monitoring the clinical response in future intervention studies of neuroregenerative therapies.
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Morey, Rajendra A, Sarah L Davis, Courtney C Haswell, Jennifer C Naylor, Jason D Kilts, Steven T Szabo, Larry J Shampine, Gillian J Parke, et al. (2019). Widespread Cortical Thickness Is Associated With Neuroactive Steroid Levels. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13. p. 1118. 10.3389/fnins.2019.01118 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/21230.
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Scholars@Duke

Rajendra A. Morey
Research in my lab is focused on brain changes associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other neuropsychiatric disorders. We apply several advanced methods for understanding brain function including functional MRI, structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and genetic effects.

Jennifer C. Naylor

Jason David Kilts

Delin Sun
I am interested in the neuropsychological and behavioral correlates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and adolescent trauma. With a multidisciplinary background in psychology, physics, and biology, I have specific training and expertise in neuroimaging methods and secondary data analysis of neural changes in PTSD and childhood trauma. I systematically study PTSD-related structural and functional brain images using methods that focus on different levels including regional changes, connectivity, and brain networks, respectively, to build a complete behavioral-brain map. I also study the relationship between adolescent brain development and trauma as well as alcohol by using brain structure network graphs, longitudinal studies, and machine learning research methods. Besides, I utilize neuroimaging and neurophysiological techniques to investigate the neural underpinnings of social cognitive and affective functions in both healthy volunteers and patients with mental disorders including excessive internet usage, smoking addiction, Alzheimer’s Disease, and depression. I have successfully collaborated with researchers locally or from other institutions and have had several peer-reviewed publications in each project.

Henry Ryan Wagner
My research career into neurobiology and mental health spans two distinct phases. The first includes doctoral training at the University of New Mexico in psychology and neurobiology with a major area of emphasis in behavioral neurobiology and two minor areas of emphasis in learning and memory and statistics and experimental design. Doctoral training was subsequently supplemented with postdoctoral study in neuropharmacology at Duke University focusing on brain monoamine systems. For the five years subsequent, I continued exploring the mechanisms underlying receptor regulation of brain catecholamine systems within my laboratory at Columbia University. Following a hiatus, I refocused my research interests away from the laboratory and into statistics and experimental design. This included supplementing a minor area of emphasis in statistics acquired during my doctoral training with extensive course work in biometry through the Division of Biometry within the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University. Using this background, I have continued to consult for the last two decades in the statistical design and analysis of a wide variety of research projects within the Division of Translational Neuroscience in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences as part of the Duke University School of Medicine; the numerous projects undertaken during this interval have included - but are not limited to - randomized clinical trials, epidemologic surveys, and a seemingly endless variety of quasi-experimental designs. More recently, I have expanded my duties to include a position as Statistician for the Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center with the Durham VA Medical Center.

Christine Elizabeth Marx
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