Expertise
Mitochondrial function in healthy and diseased motor neuron cell bodies and motor terminals: effects of stimulation and different energy substrates
Measurements of mitochondrial respiration (O2 consumption) in small cell samples
Mechanisms underlying hyperthermia-induced damage to developing neurons
Dr. Barrett’s research includes studies of motor neurons and axons, studies of trophic factor requirements and responses to stress in mammalian neurons, and metabolism (especially mitochondrial properties) in normal neurons and mouse models of neurodegenerative disease.
Research in his lab has demonstrated (1) chemotropism in developing axons (sensory axons growing toward nerve growth factor), (2) proliferation of neuronal progenitors in culture, (3) the importance of calcium influx and calcium-activated potassium channels in regulating the discharge properties of motor neurons, and (4) the importance of a selenium-binding serum protein for neuronal growth in culture.
Currently he is developing a method for measuring mitochondrial respiration in small neuronal tissue samples for studies of normal neuronal respiration and respiratory defects in neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He is also investigating mechanisms underlying stimulation of neurons by infrared pulses in collaboration with Dr. Suhrud Rajguru.
Another current research interest is the effect of neonatal hyperthermia on the developing nervous system. Prenatal exposure to hyperthermia early during development is known to produce gross neuronal deformities; current studies indicate that hyperthermia at later developmental stages produces more subtle neuronal deficits, manifested as learning abnormalities, hypothesized to be due to damage of late-developing interneurons.
Our laboratory studies how mammalian central neurons respond to stress. One project seeks mechanisms underlying the complementary neuroprotective effects of neurotrophins (e.g. NGF, BDNF) and bone morphogenetic proteins (e.g. BMP7) during hypoglycemic stress in septal cholinergic neurons. Another project studies neuronal responses to hyperthermia, exacerbating damage by hypoglycemia and ischemia.