John D.E Barks M.D.
| 8301 Medical Science Research Building III 0646 |
| Ann Arbor, MI 48109 |
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Our resarch focuses on mechanisms of injury to the developing brain, primarily hypoxic-ischemic (i.e. stroke-like) brain injury, and on mechanisms of recovery from neonatal brain injury. Hypoxic-ischemic brain injury is responsible for approximately 10-20% of all cases of cerebral palsy in infants born at term, and a greater proportion of cases of cerebral palsy in infants born prematurely. We use basic research in models of stroke-like brain injury in immature rats and mice. Post-injury behavioral interventions being evaluated in neonatal rodents include Early Neonatal Handling and Neonatal Novelty Exposure. Neurobehavioral assessment tools that are sensitive to changes in severity of neonatal brain injury in rats, e.g. place navigation in the Morris Watermaze, are used to evaluate functional outcome.
Potential recovery mechanisms being investigated include synaptogenesis and neurogenesis, primarily in the hippocampal formation. Methods used include Golgi-Cox staining, mossy fiber staining, Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy and cell counting by systematic random sampling (also known as stereology).
Chou, I.C., Trakht, T., Signori, C., Smith, J., Felt, B.T., Vazquez, D.M., Barks, J.D.E.: Behavioral/environmental intervention improves learning after cerebral hypoxia-ischemia in rats. Stroke, 32:2192-2197, 2001.
Felt, B.T., Schallert, T., Shao, J., Liu, Y., Li, X., Barks, J.D.E.: Early appearance of functional deficits after neonatal excitotoxic and hypoxic-ischemic injury: fragile recovery after development and role of the NMDA receptor. Dev. Neurosci., 24:418-425, 2002.
Grow, J.L., Liu, Y.Q., Barks, J.D.E.: Can lateralizing sensorimotor deficits be identified after neonatal cerebral hypoxia-ischemia in rats? Dev. Neurosci, 25:394-402, 2003.
Zaidi, A.U., Bessert, D.A., Ong, J.E., Xu, H., Barks, J.D.E., Silverstein, F.S., Skoff, R.P. New oligodendrocytes are generated after neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in rodents. Glia, 46:380-390, 2004.
Liu, Y.Q., Barks, J.D., Xu, G., Silverstein F.S. Topiramate extends the therapeutic window for hypothermia-mediated neuroprotection after stroke in neonatal rats. Stroke, 35:1460-1465, 2004.
Gluckman, P.D., Wyatt, J.S., Azzopardi. D., Ballard, R., Edwards, A.D., Ferriero, D.M., Polin, R.A., Robertson, C.M., Thoresen, M., Whitelaw, A., Gunn, A.J., on behalf of the Cool Cap Study Group. Selective head cooling with mild systemic hypothermia after neonatal encephalopathy: multicentre randomized trial. Lancet, 365:663-70, 2005.
Xu, G., Ong, J., Liu, Y.Q., Silverstein, F.S., Barks, J.D.E. Subventricular zone proliferation after alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor-mediated neonatal brain injury. Dev. Neurosci., 27:228-234, 2005.
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