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Faculty
Research Interests My research is in the area of Psychopharmacology. My broad interests concern the neurobiological basis of motivation and emotion. More specifically, I am interested in neurochemical systems in the brain that regulate appetitively and aversively motivated behavior, stress responses, and learning. Previous research in my laboratory has focused on changes in neurotransmitter systems that occur in rodent models of depression. Other studies have examined the neurobiological basis for the comorbidity of depression and drug abuse. My current research program focuses on the neurobiological effects of exercise. This research employs rodent models to study the relationship between exercise-induced regulation of neurotransmitter function and behavior. I am particularly interested in long-term changes in gene expression in the brain caused by exercise. Recent work has focused on the neurochemical basis for the antidepressant effects of exercise. These studies demonstrate that physical activity alters brain levels of neurotransmitters and/or neurotrophic factors that may ameliorate symptoms of depression. Other studies conducted in this laboratory have shown that exercise may enhance learning and memory through a similar mechanism. More recently, we have discovered that exercise exerts neuroprotective effects, and we are currently examining the role of the neurotransmitter galanin in these effects. These findings suggest that the capacity for exercise to prevent the neural degeneration associated with aging, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, or trauma may be mediated by discrete neural systems. Selected Publications Primeaux. S.D. and Holmes, P.V. (1999). Role of aversively-motivated behavior in the olfactory bulbectomy syndrome. Physiology and Behavior, 67, 41-47. O'Neal, H.A., Van Hoomissen, J.D., Holmes, P.V., and Dishman, R.K. (2001). Prepro-galanin mRNA levels are increased in rat locus coeruleus after treadmill exercise training. Neuroscience Letters, 299, 69-72. Holmes, P.V., Masini, C.V., Primeaux, S.D., Garrett, J.L., Zellner, A., Stogner, K.S., Duncan, A.A., and Crystal, J.D. (2002). Intravenous self-administration of amphetamine is increased in a rat model of depression. Synapse, 46, 4-10. Van Hoomissen, J.D., Chambliss, H.A., Holmes, P.V., and Dishman, R.K. (2003). The effects of chronic exercise and imipramine on mRNA for BDNF after olfactory bulbectomy in rat. Brain Research, 974, 228-235. Primeaux, S.D., Wilson, M.A., Wilson, S.P., Guth, A.N., Lelutiu, N.B., and Holmes, P.V. (2003). Herpes virus-mediated prepro-enkephalin gene transfer in the ventral striatum mimics behavioral changes produced by olfactory bulbectomy in rats. Brain Research, 988, 43-55. Masini, C.V., Holmes, P.V., Freeman, K.G., and Edwards, G.L. (2004). Dopamine overflow is increased in olfactory bulbectomized rats: An in vivo microdialysis study. Physiology and Behavior, 81, 111-119. Chambliss, H.O., Van Hoomissen, J.D., Holmes, P.V., Bunnell, B.N., and Dishman, R.K (2004). Effects of chronic activity wheel running and imipramine on male copulatory behavior after olfactory bulbectomy. Physiology and Behavior, 82, 593-600. Van Hoomissen, J.D., Holmes, P.V., Zellner, A.S., Poudevigne, A.M., and Dishman, R.K. (2004). The effect of B-adrenergic blockade during chronic exercise on contextual fear conditioning and mRNA for galanin and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Behavioral Neuroscience, 118, 1378-1390. Hohmann, A.G., Suplita, R.L., Bolton, N.M., Neely, M.H., Fegley, D., Mangieri ,R., Krey, J.F., Walker, J.M., Holmes, P.V., Crystal, J.D., Duranti ,A., Tontini, A., Mor, M., Tarzia, G., Piomelli. D. (2005). An endocannabinoid mechanism for stress-induced analgesia. Nature, 435, 1108-12. Holmes, P.V., Yoo, H.S., and Dishman, R.K. (2006). Voluntary exercise and clomipramine treatment elevate prepro-galanin mRNA levels in the locus coeruleus in rats. Neuroscience Letters, 408, 1-4. Eisenstein, S.A. and Holmes P.V. (in press). Chronic and voluntary exercise enhances learning of conditioned place preference to morphine in rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior. Blackshear, A., Yamamoto, M., Anderson, B.J., Holmes, P.V., Lundström, L., Langel, U., and Robinson, J.K. (in press). Intracerebroventricular administration of galanin or galanin receptor subtype 1 agonist M617 induces c-Fos activation in central amygdala and dorsomedial hypothalamus. Peptides. Grants National Institute of Mental Health, "Stress reactivity, depression, and neuropeptide-Y" #R29 MH59317: Principle Investigator, 1998-2003. National Institute on Drug Abuse, "New model of drug abuse and depression comorbidity" #R03 DA12120: Principle Investigator, 1999-2001. Selected Professional Activities The Society for Neuroscience: President of the University of Georgia Chapter, 1996-1997 Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society International Behavioral Neuroscience Society
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