Dr. Shoshana Eitan

Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Weizmann Institute of Science

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

Office: 275 Psychology Building
email: seitan@psych.tamu.edu
Phone: (979) 845-2508
Fax: (979) 845-4727
Web: http://neuroscience.tamu.edu

• Adolescence: emotions, mood and motivation


• Molecular and cellular mechanisms of the emotional system during adolescence and adulthood


• Anxiety and stress


• Drug abuse during adolescence and adulthood

Adolescent brain development is a very exciting and growing area of research. Of special interest is the study of the brain mechanisms of emotional perception in adolescents. Adolescents evaluate and prioritize emotional aspects of a task differently than adults. Examples of common factors responsible for many characteristic adolescence behaviors are the high value placed on their peers� opinions as compared with adults�, a propensity toward risk-taking or sensation-seeking behaviors, impulsivity, restlessness, boredom, dissatisfaction and a lower basal motivation. The ontogenesis of the second wave of brain development and neuronal pruning during adolescence, and more specifically the maturation of the motivational system plays a crucial role in determining emotional well-being of adulthood. Alteration of this process may in fact underlie the manifestation of many psychological diseases and syndromes including schizophrenia, panic attacks, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). As part of their risk-taking sensation-seeking behavior, adolescents are also more prone to self-administer drugs of abuse. In many cases, first exposure occurs during adolescence and correlates with the increased probability of developing a drug addiction.

Using rodent models, the lab is currently exploring the contributions of the opioid system to the function of the emotional system during adolescence and adulthood. We are interested in the roles of specific signaling pathways in different brain areas in the maturation of emotional systems.

1. Lutfy K, Eitan S, Yang YC, Walwyn W, Kieffer BL, Takeshima H, Carroll FI, Maidment NT, Evans CJ. (2003). Buprenorphine-induced antinociception is mediated by mu opioid receptors and compromised by concomitant activation of ORL-1 receptors. The Journal of Neuroscience, 10331-7.



2. Eitan S, Bryant CD, Saliminejad N, Yang YC, Vodjani E, Keith Jr. D, R Polakiewicz R, Evans CJ. (2003). Brain region-specific mechanisms for acute morphine-induced mitogen activated protein kinase modulation and distinct patterns of activation during analgesic tolerance and locomotor sensitization. The Journal of Neuroscience, 8360-9.



3. Li Y, Eitan S, Wu J, Evans CJ, Kieffer B, Sun X, Polakiewicz RD. (2003). Morphine induces desensitization of insulin receptor signaling. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 6255-66.



4. Eitan S, Solomon A, Lavie V, Yoles E, Hirschberg DL, Belkin M, Schwartz M. (1994). Recovery of visual response of injured adult rat optic nerves treated with transglutaminase. Science, 1764-8.



5. Eitan S, Schwartz M. (1993). A transglutaminase that converts interleukin-2 into a factor cytotoxic to oligodendrocytes. Science, 106-8.



6. Eitan S, Zisling R, Cohen A, Belkin M, Hirschberg DL, Lotan M, Schwartz M. (1992). Identification of an interleukin 2-like substance as a factor cytotoxic to oligodendrocytes and associated with central nervous system regeneration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS), 5442-6.

Undergraduate
PSYC/NRSC 335: Physiological Psychology
PSYC/NRSC 333: Biopsychology Disorders

Link to Vita