Dr. Jim Grau

Professor
Mary Tucker Currie Professor of Liberal Arts
Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania

Department of Psychology
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-4235

Office: 215 Psychology Building
email: j-grau@tamu.edu
Phone: (979) 845-2584
Fax: (979) 845-4727
Web: http://graul...-Grau.html

• Learning
• Pain Modulation
• Recovery of function after spinal cord injuries

Dr. Grau's research has focused on a number of topics, including learning, pain modulation, and the recovery of function after spinal cord injury. Recent studies on pain modulation, conducted in collaboration with Dr. Meagher (Psychology), have examined factors that enhance pain and the neural systems that underlie this effect. Studies on learning have explored the functional limits of neural plasticity within the spinal cord, demonstrating that this system can support some basic forms of learning (e.g., instrumental and Pavlovian conditioning). We have shown that stimuli that engage pain fibers independent of a discrete response can cause a loss in behavioral potential within the spinal cord and that this effect undermines the recovery of function after spinal cord injury. Pharmacological studies have examined the neurochemical systems involved and have identified some drug therapies that can help protect spinal cord neurons. In collaboration with Dr. Rajesh Miranda (Medical Anatomy), current studies are exploring the molecular mechanisms that underlie these effects. Dr. Grau is a University Fellow and his research is supported by grants from NIMH and NINDS.

For current VITA, see my personal website at http://graulab.tamu.edu/J-Grau/J-Grau.html .

NIMH Grant, "Spinal cord plasticity: Behavioral and neural mechanisms", 4/1/00-3/31/04, $646,416.

NINDS Grant, "Spinal cord plasticity and the recovery of function", 12/1/01-11/30/06, $1,961,450.

1. Liu, G. T., Crown, E. D., Miranda, R. C., & Grau, J. W. (2005). Instrumental learning within the rat spinal cord: Localization of the essential neural circuit. Behavioral Neuroscience, 119



2. Grau, J. W., & Joynes, R. L. (2005). Neurofunctionalism revisited: Learning is more than you think it is. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 18, 46-59.



3. Grau, J. W., & Joynes, R. L. (2005). A neural-functionalist approach to learning. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 18, 1-22.



4. Grau, J. W., Washburn, S. N., Hook, M. A., Ferguson, A. R., Crown, E. D., Garcia, G., Bolding, K. A., & Miranda, R. C. (2004). Uncontrollable nociceptive stimulation undermines recovery after spinal cord injury. Neurotrauma, 21, 1795-1817.



5. Ferguson, A. R., Hook, M. A., Garcia, G., Bresnahan, J. C., Beattie, M. S., & Grau, J. W. (2004). A simple transformation that improves the metric properties of the BBB scale. Neurotrauma, 21, 1601-1613.



6. Crown, E. D., Grau, J. W., & Meagher, M. W. (2004). Pain in a balance: Noxious events engage opposing processes that concurrently modulate nociceptive reactivity. Behavioral Neuroscience, 118, 1418-1426.



7. Ferguson, A. R., Patton, B. C., Bopp, A. C., Meagher, M. W., & Grau, J. W. (2004). Brief exposure to a mild stressor enhances morphine conditioned place preference in male rats. Psychopharmacology, 175, 47-52.



8. Patton, B. C., Hook, M. A., Crown, E. D., Ferguson, A. R., & Grau, J. W. (2004). The behavioral deficit observed following noncontingent shock in spinalized rats is prevented by the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. Behavioral Neuroscience, 118, 653-658.



9. Joynes, R. L., Janjua, K. R., & Grau, J. W. (2004). Instrumental learning within the spinal cord: VI. Discruption of learning by the NMDA antagonist APV. Behavioural Brain Research, 154, 431-438.



10. Hook, M. A., Ferguson, A. R., Garcia, G., Washburn, S. N., Koehly, L. M., & Grau, J. W. (2004). Monitoring recovery after injury: Procedures for deriving the optimal test window. Neurotrauma, 21, 109-118.



11. Joynes, R. L., & Grau, J. W. (2004). Instrumental learning with the spinal cord: III. Prior exposure to noncontingent shock induces a behavioral deficit that is blocked by an opioid antagonist. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 82, 35-51.

Mary Tucker Currie Professorship in Liberal Arts (2005-present)
Division 6 (2004-2005)
University Research Award (2001) President of APA
University Faculty Fellow Award (2000-2005)

Link to Vita