LISA M. SAVAGEProfessor of Psychology
Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Post-doctoral training: VA Medical Center, San Diego
Area: Behavioral Neuroscience
E-mail: lsavage@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4383
Office: Science IV, Room 253
Curriculum vitae (.pdf, 191.2kb)
Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Society for Neuroscience, and the Center for Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience
Animal models of memory disorders, neurobiology of memory and reward
One of the main goals of psychology is to understand how organisms learn and remember information. The study of how memories are organized in the brain has advanced immensely in the last three decades. The use of animal models has enhanced the understanding of the biological processes involved in cognition, memory and emotion. There exists a wide range of methodologies to access etiologic and symptomatic factors of memory disturbances. Using drugs, diet, neurotoxins, and aged rodents, I model human memory disorders (i.e., Wernicke-Korsakoff's disease, Alcohol-Induced Dementia, Alzheimer's disease). My research entails a system level approach and uses multiple levels of analysis. Behavior of the whole organism is assessed before and after brain damage, and the extent of brain adaptation (molecular, cellular) is related to behavioral impairment. I am particularly interested in the interactions between specific types of learning and memory problems and specific neurochemical and neuroanatomical abnormalities. In a broad sense, this type of research contributes to the understanding of brain-behavior relationships. The goal of my research is to gain a better understanding of the neurobiology of memory and the development of psychological and pharmacological therapeutics for the treatment of memory disorders.
Students should be excited about, as well as devoted to, the topic they chose as their graduate study. This interest must span both course work and research. At Binghamton University our programs offer a unique balance between classroom and laboratory experiences. As a faculty member, I view my role in graduate education as a "colleague" to students. My aim is to advise students in theory as well as the design of sound research projects that will answer interesting questions about brain-behavioral relationships.
(* indicates student co-author)
Roland, J.J.* & Savage, L.M. (2009). The Role of Cholinergic and GABAergic Medial Septal/Diagonal Band Cell Populations in the Emergence of Diencephalic Amnesia, Neuroscience, 160, 32-41.
Anzalone, S.J. *, Vetreno, R.P. *, Ramos, R.R. & Savage, L.M. (2010). Cortical cholingeric abnormalities during maze exploration following diencephalic damage induced by thiamine deficiency. European Journal of Neuroscience, 32, 847-858.
Vetreno, R.P. *, Hall, J. * & Savage, L.M. (invited review; 2011). Alcohol-induced amnesia and dementia: What animal models have told us about the relationships between etiological factors, neuropathology and cognitive impairments. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. 96, 596-608. (Special volume on Memory Impairment and Disease)
Vetreno, R.P.*, Klintsova, A. & Savage, L.M. (2011). Stage dependent alterations in progenitor cell proliferation and neurogenesis in an animal model of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Brain Research, 1391, 132-146.
Savage, L.M. Hall, J.,* & Vetreno, R.P.* (2011). Anterior thalamic lesion alter hippocampal dependent behavior and hippocampal acetylcholine release. Learning & Memory, 18, 751-758.
Savage, L.M., Hall, J. * & Resende, L.S.* (in press, invited review). Translational rodent models of Korsakoff syndrome reveal the critical neuroanatomical substrates of memory dysfunction and recovery. Neuropsychology Review. (Special volume of Korsakoff Syndrome)
