Douglas Matthews Department of Psychology The University of Memphis Campus Box 526400 Memphis, TN 38152-6400 (901) 678-5461 (office) (901) 678-2579 (fax) doug-matthews@mail.psyc.memphis.edu

Employment History

Education

Research

My laboratory investigates the function of the hippocampus using animal models, specifically rats and mice. The hippocampus is critical for many learning and memory tasks, including tasks that require animals to process and utilize spatial information (see O'Keefe and Nadel, The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map, 1978). My laboratory investigates hippocampal function using a variety of techniques including behavioral analysis, the effect of specific brain lesion lesions, psychopharmacology and neurophysiology.

One primary thrust of our research is to investigate what effects ethanol has on hippocampal function. Ethanol, which is the most widely used and abused drug in the world, produces very specific affects in brain via a super family of ligand gated ion channels (GABAA, NMDA-preferring glutamate receptors, 5-HT3 serotonin and glycine receptors). These receptor subtypes are found in a high proportion in the hippocampus and in the medial septum, an afferent to the hippocampus. Hence, it is exciting to discover that one specific effect of acute and chronic ethanol exposure is to alter hippocampal function. My laboratory investigates the effect of ethanol on hippocampal function using a variety of techniques including the effect of specific brain lesion lesions, psychopharmacology, neurophysiology and Western Blot analysis.

Publications

Matthews, D.B. (in press). Ethanol and the hippocampal system: behavior to molecular biology. Hippocampus.

Matthews, D.B, Kralic, J. E., Devaud, L.L., Fritschy, J.M. & Morrow, A.L. (in press). Chronic blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors alters g-Aminobutyric acid type A receptor gene expression and function in the rat. Journal of Neurochemistry.

Matthews, D.B. & Morrow, A.L. (in press). The effects of acute and chronic ethanol exposure on spatial cognitive processing and hippocampal function in the rat. Hippocampus.

VanDoren, M.J., Matthews, D.B., Janis, G.C., Grobin, A.C., Devaud, L.L & Morrow, A.L. (in press). Neuroactive steroid 3a-hydroxy-5a-Pregnan-20-one modulates behavioral and electrophysiological actions of ethanol. Journal of Neuroscience.

Matthews, D.B., Illgen, M.A., White, A.M. & Best, P.J. (1999). Acute ethanol administration impairs spatial performance while facilitating non-spatial performance in rats. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 72, 169-179.

Matthews, D.B., Devaud, L.L., Fritschy, J.M., Sieghart, W. & Morrow, A.L. (1998). Differential regulation of GABAA receptor gene expression by ethanol in the rat hippocampus vs. cerebral cortex. Journal of Neurochemistry, 70, 1160-1166.

Matthews, D.B., Simson, P.E. & Best, P.J. (1996). Ethanol alters the spatial processing of hippocampal place cells: a mechanism for impaired navigation when intoxicated. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 20(2), 404-407.

Matthews, D.B. & Best, P.J. (1995). Fimbria/fornix lesions facilitate the learning of a non-spatial response task. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2(1), 113-116.

Matthews, D.B., Simson, P.E. & Best, P.J. (1995). Acute ethanol impairs the use of spatial memory but not the use of stimulus/response memory in the rat. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 19(4),902-909.