George Aghajanian

Summary

Affiliation: Yale University
Country: USA

Publications

  1. ncbi Serotonin induces excitatory postsynaptic potentials in apical dendrites of neocortical pyramidal cells
    G K Aghajanian
    Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
    Neuropharmacology 36:589-99. 1997
  2. ncbi Serotonin, via 5-HT2A receptors, increases EPSCs in layer V pyramidal cells of prefrontal cortex by an asynchronous mode of glutamate release
    G K Aghajanian
    Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06508, USA
    Brain Res 825:161-71. 1999
  3. ncbi Serotonin model of schizophrenia: emerging role of glutamate mechanisms
    G K Aghajanian
    Departments of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine and the Connecticut Mental Health Center, 34 Park St, New Haven, CT, USA
    Brain Res Brain Res Rev 31:302-12. 2000
  4. ncbi Modeling "psychosis" in vitro by inducing disordered neuronal network activity in cortical brain slices
    George K Aghajanian
    Yale School of Medicine and the Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, CT 06508, USA
    Psychopharmacology (Berl) 206:575-85. 2009
  5. ncbi Glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists rapidly reverse behavioral and synaptic deficits caused by chronic stress exposure
    Nanxin Li
    Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry, Center for Genes and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06508, USA
    Biol Psychiatry 69:754-61. 2011
  6. ncbi Signaling pathways underlying the rapid antidepressant actions of ketamine
    Ronald S Duman
    Departments of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06508, USA
    Neuropharmacology 62:35-41. 2012
  7. ncbi mTOR-dependent synapse formation underlies the rapid antidepressant effects of NMDA antagonists
    Nanxin Li
    Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry, Center for Genes and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06508, USA
    Science 329:959-64. 2010
  8. ncbi Hypocretins (orexins) regulate serotonin neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus by excitatory direct and inhibitory indirect actions
    Rong Jian Liu
    Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06508, USA
    J Neurosci 22:9453-64. 2002
  9. ncbi Hypocretin (orexin) enhances neuron activity and cell synchrony in developing mouse GFP-expressing locus coeruleus
    Anthony N van den Pol
    Department of Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
    J Physiol 541:169-85. 2002
  10. ncbi Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is essential for opiate-induced plasticity of noradrenergic neurons
    Schahram Akbarian
    Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
    J Neurosci 22:4153-62. 2002

Research Grants

  1. PSYCHOTOGENIC DRUG ACTION ON CHEMICALLY DEFINED NEURONS
    George Aghajanian; Fiscal Year: 2004
  2. PSYCHOTOGENIC DRUG ACTION ON CHEMICALLY DEFINED NEURONS
    George Aghajanian; Fiscal Year: 2007
  3. PSYCHOTOGENIC DRUG ACTION ON CHEMICALLY DEFINED NEURONS
    George Aghajanian; Fiscal Year: 1980

Detail Information

Publications21

  1. ncbi Serotonin induces excitatory postsynaptic potentials in apical dendrites of neocortical pyramidal cells
    G K Aghajanian
    Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
    Neuropharmacology 36:589-99. 1997
    ..via 5-HT2A receptors, enhances spontaneous EPSPs/EPSCs in neocortical layer V pyramidal cells through a TTX-sensitive focal action in the apical dendritic field which may involve both pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms...
  2. ncbi Serotonin, via 5-HT2A receptors, increases EPSCs in layer V pyramidal cells of prefrontal cortex by an asynchronous mode of glutamate release
    G K Aghajanian
    Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06508, USA
    Brain Res 825:161-71. 1999
    ..The possible role of excessive asynchronous transmission in the cerebral cortex in mediating the hallucinogenic effects of 5-HT2A agonists such as DOI is discussed...
  3. ncbi Serotonin model of schizophrenia: emerging role of glutamate mechanisms
    G K Aghajanian
    Departments of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine and the Connecticut Mental Health Center, 34 Park St, New Haven, CT, USA
    Brain Res Brain Res Rev 31:302-12. 2000
    ....
  4. ncbi Modeling "psychosis" in vitro by inducing disordered neuronal network activity in cortical brain slices
    George K Aghajanian
    Yale School of Medicine and the Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, CT 06508, USA
    Psychopharmacology (Berl) 206:575-85. 2009
    ..A general model of network regulation is presented, involving astrocytes, GABA interneurons, and glutamatergic pyramidal cells, revealing a wide range of potential sites hitherto not considered as therapeutic targets...
  5. ncbi Glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists rapidly reverse behavioral and synaptic deficits caused by chronic stress exposure
    Nanxin Li
    Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry, Center for Genes and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06508, USA
    Biol Psychiatry 69:754-61. 2011
    ....
  6. ncbi Signaling pathways underlying the rapid antidepressant actions of ketamine
    Ronald S Duman
    Departments of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06508, USA
    Neuropharmacology 62:35-41. 2012
    ..These findings identify new targets for rapid acting antidepressants that are safer than ketamine. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Anxiety and Depression'...
  7. ncbi mTOR-dependent synapse formation underlies the rapid antidepressant effects of NMDA antagonists
    Nanxin Li
    Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry, Center for Genes and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06508, USA
    Science 329:959-64. 2010
    ..Our results demonstrate that these effects of ketamine are opposite to the synaptic deficits that result from exposure to stress and could contribute to the fast antidepressant actions of ketamine...
  8. ncbi Hypocretins (orexins) regulate serotonin neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus by excitatory direct and inhibitory indirect actions
    Rong Jian Liu
    Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06508, USA
    J Neurosci 22:9453-64. 2002
    ..The greater potency of hcrts in direct excitation compared with indirect inhibition suggests a negative feedback function for the latter at higher levels of hcrt activity...
  9. ncbi Hypocretin (orexin) enhances neuron activity and cell synchrony in developing mouse GFP-expressing locus coeruleus
    Anthony N van den Pol
    Department of Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
    J Physiol 541:169-85. 2002
    ..Together these data suggest that the hypothalamus, via hypocretin projections, may therefore be in a position to enhance arousal and modulate plasticity in higher brain centres through the developing LC...
  10. ncbi Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is essential for opiate-induced plasticity of noradrenergic neurons
    Schahram Akbarian
    Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
    J Neurosci 22:4153-62. 2002
    ..Therefore, a BDNF-signaling pathway originating from non-noradrenergic sources is essential for opiate-induced molecular adaptations of the noradrenergic system...
  11. ncbi Stress blunts serotonin- and hypocretin-evoked EPSCs in prefrontal cortex: role of corticosterone-mediated apical dendritic atrophy
    Rong Jian Liu
    Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine and Connecticut Mental Health Center, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06508, USA
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105:359-64. 2008
    ....
  12. ncbi Schizophrenia, hypocretin (orexin), and the thalamocortical activating system
    Evelyn K Lambe
    Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
    Schizophr Bull 33:1284-90. 2007
    ....
  13. ncbi Role of cAMP response element-binding protein in the rat locus ceruleus: regulation of neuronal activity and opiate withdrawal behaviors
    Ming Hu Han
    Department of Psychiatry, Center for Basic Neuroscience, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390 9070, USA
    J Neurosci 26:4624-9. 2006
    ....
  14. ncbi Severe deficits in 5-HT2A -mediated neurotransmission in BDNF conditional mutant mice
    Maribel Rios
    Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, USA
    J Neurobiol 66:408-20. 2006
    ....
  15. ncbi Hallucinogen-induced UP states in the brain slice of rat prefrontal cortex: role of glutamate spillover and NR2B-NMDA receptors
    Evelyn K Lambe
    Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06508, USA
    Neuropsychopharmacology 31:1682-9. 2006
    ..Such recruitment could account for certain cognitive, affective, and sensory perturbations generated by psychedelic hallucinogens...
  16. ncbi Hypocretin and nicotine excite the same thalamocortical synapses in prefrontal cortex: correlation with improved attention in rat
    Evelyn K Lambe
    Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06508, USA
    J Neurosci 25:5225-9. 2005
    ..We show for the first time that hypocretin can improve attentional processes relevant to executive functions of the prefrontal cortex...
  17. ncbi Neurokinins activate local glutamatergic inputs to serotonergic neurons of the dorsal raphe nucleus
    Rongjian Liu
    Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06508, USA
    Neuropsychopharmacology 27:329-40. 2002
    ..However, these local excitatory effects, viewed within the context of the global effects of neurokinins on 5-HT neurons, reveal important differences between the functional role of NK(1) and NK(3) receptors...
  18. ncbi Hypocretin (orexin) induces calcium transients in single spines postsynaptic to identified thalamocortical boutons in prefrontal slice
    Evelyn K Lambe
    Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06519, USA
    Neuron 40:139-50. 2003
    ..By this mechanism, the hypocretin projection to prefrontal cortex may play a larger role in prefrontal or "executive" aspects of alertness and attention than previously anticipated...
  19. ncbi Regulation of RGS proteins by chronic morphine in rat locus coeruleus
    Stephen J Gold
    Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas TX 75390, USA
    Eur J Neurosci 17:971-80. 2003
    ....
  20. ncbi Nicotine induces glutamate release from thalamocortical terminals in prefrontal cortex
    Evelyn K Lambe
    Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
    Neuropsychopharmacology 28:216-25. 2003
    ..These findings give new insight into the mechanism by which nicotine affects excitatory neurotransmission to the output neurons of the cerebral cortex in a pathway that is critical for cognitive function and reward expectation...
  21. ncbi Somatodendritic autoreceptor regulation of serotonergic neurons: dependence on L-tryptophan and tryptophan hydroxylase-activating kinases
    Rong Jian Liu
    Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
    Eur J Neurosci 21:945-58. 2005
    ..Increased calcium influx at higher firing rates, by activating tryptophan hydroxylase via CaMKII and PKA, can work together with tryptophan to enhance negative feedback control of the output of the serotonergic system...

Research Grants20

  1. PSYCHOTOGENIC DRUG ACTION ON CHEMICALLY DEFINED NEURONS
    George Aghajanian; Fiscal Year: 2004
    ..g., schizophrenia), as they do in the psychotomimetic drug models, then treatments that normalize glutamate release (e.g., inhibitory presynaptic metabotropic autoreceptor agonists) may be therapeutic or prophylactic in these conditions. ..
  2. PSYCHOTOGENIC DRUG ACTION ON CHEMICALLY DEFINED NEURONS
    George Aghajanian; Fiscal Year: 2007
    ....
  3. PSYCHOTOGENIC DRUG ACTION ON CHEMICALLY DEFINED NEURONS
    George Aghajanian; Fiscal Year: 1980
    ..In general, the results show that psychotogenic drugs have powerful direct or indirect actions upon monoaminergic neurons; such actions may mediate the behavioral effects of these drugs...