Dr. Mary Meagher

Professor
Cornerstone Faculty Fellow
Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1989)

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

Office: 281 Psychology Building
email: m-meagher@tamu.edu
Phone: (979) 845-2564
Fax: (979) 845-4727
Web: http://www.securitysib.com/

Pain Modulation

Impact of stress and emotion on pain processing

Psychoneuroimmunology

Impact of psychosocial stressors on infectious and autoimmune diseases of nervous system

Long-term consequences of adverse early experiences on health

Health Psychology: The role of stress and emotions in health

Learning and Memory

My research focuses on the role of stress and emotion in health, with an emphasis on pain and immune-related diseases:

My pain research program uses both animal and human models to examine how stress and emotion alter pain reactivity and perception, as well as the neural substrates of affective pain modulation. We use a range of laboratory pain procedures, psychophysical testing procedures, and emotion induction procedures to study how emotion alters pain processing in humans. Our most recent research investigates the impact of written emotional disclosure of traumatic life events on laboratory pain. Animal models are also used to examine the neural systems that underlie affective pain modulation and the emotional component of pain.

My psychoneuroimmunology research program examines how psychosocial stressors alter immune processes and vulnerability to an animal model of multiple sclerosis, Theiler?s murine encephalomyelitis virus infection. An integrative approach is employed to study the interaction between behavioral, endocrine, and immune systems. Animal models of social and restraint stress are used to investigate the effects of neuroendocrine responses on cytokine and chemokine expression and illness behaviors during Theiler?s virus infection. Another novel aspect of my research program is that it examines the effects of early maternal deprivation on vulnerability to infection later in life. The long-term goal of this research program is to elucidate mechanisms by which early life stress alters susceptibility to later infectious, inflammatory, and autoimmune diseases. Understanding these mechanisms could lead to interventions that prevent or reverse the deleterious effects of early life stress on disease predisposition.

Finally, I am collaborating on a project that investigates the effects of age-related changes in basal forebrain cholinergic neurons and associated changes in memory. Basal forebrain damage has been linked to clinical symptoms of Alzheimer?s disease in humans. The goal of this project is to identify the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for age-related changes in cellular and memorial function. The elucidation of these mechanisms may lead to the development of pharmacological interventions that prevent or alleviate age-related pathologies.


For a current copy of my VITA, see my personal website at http://meagherlab.tamu.edu/.

NIH/NINDS, RO1, Co-Principal Investigator with Jane Welsh, Stress effects on an animal model of autoimmune disease, 4/1/02-3/31/06, $1,531,593.00.

Life Sciences Task Force, Program of Excellence in Life Science Training Grant, Texas A&M (PI). SCI-AID: Recovery of Function Graduate Training Program, 6/03-6/05, $187,000.

NIH/NIA RO1, Co-Investigator with Griffith (PI) Physiology of Cholinergic Basal Forebrain Neurons, 10/01/03-09/31/08, $1,455,000.

National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Co-Principal Investigator with Jane Welsh, "The effects of stress the neuropathogenesis of Theiler's virus infection", 9/30/99-8/31/03, $312,997.

1. Meagher, M. W., & Welsh, C. J. R. (In Press). Impact of naturalistic models of stress on Theiler’s virus infection. In C.J.R., Welsh, M.W. Meagher, MW, & E. Sternberg (Eds). Neural and neuroendocrine factors in susceptibility and resistance to infectious diseases. New York: Kluwer Publishers.



2. *Sieve, A. N., *Steelman, D., Storts, R., Young, C., Welsh, T.H., Welsh, C. J. R., & Meagher, M. W. (In Press). Chronic restraint stress during early infection exacerbates the subsequent demyelinating phase of Theiler's virus infection. Journal of Neuroimmunology



3. *Johnson, R.R., Storts, R., Welsh, T.H., Welsh, C.J.R. and Meagher, M.W. (2004). Social stress alters the severity of acute Theiler's virus infection. Journal of Neuroimmunology, 148, 74-85.



4. Meagher, M. W. (2004). Immune system structure and function. In A. Christensen (Ed). Encyclopedia of Health Psychology. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.



5. *Mi, W., Belyavskyi, M., *Johnson, R.R., *Sieve, A.N., Meagher, M.W., Welsh, C.J.R. (2004). Alterations in chemokine expression following Theiler's virus infection and restraint stress. Journal of Neuroimmunology, 151, 103-115.



6. Meagher, M. W. (2004). Links between chronic pain and traumatic family violence: Biopsychosocial pathways and clinical implications. In K. Kendall-Tackett (Ed). Health consequences of abuse in the family: A clinical guide for evidence-based practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.



7. Welsh, C.J.R., Bustamante, L., *Nayak, M., Welsh, T.H., *Dean, D.D. & Meagher, M.W. (2004). The effects of restraint stress on the neuropathogenesis of Theiler's virus infection II: NK cell function and cytokine levels in acute disease. Behavior and Immunity, 18, 166-174.



8. *Rhudy, J. L., & Meagher, M. W. (2003). Negative affect: II. Effects on an evaluative measure of human pain. Pain, 104, 617-626.



9. Rhudy, J.L. & Meagher M.W. (2003). Individual differences in the emotional reaction to shock determines whether hypoalgesia is observed. Pain Medicine, 4, 244-256.



10. *Campbell, T., Meagher, M. W., *Sieve, A., *Scott, B., Storts, R., Welsh, T. H., & Welsh, C. J. R. (2001). Effects of restraint stress on the neuropathogenesis of Theiler's virus-demyelination I. Acute Disease. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 15, 235-254.



11. Meagher, M. W., *Arnau, R. C., & *Rhudy, J. L. (2001). Pain and emotion: Effects of affective picture modulation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 63, 79-90.



12. *Arnau, R. A., Meagher, M. W., Norris, M. P., & Bramson, R. (2001). Psychometric evaluation of the BDI-II with primary care medical patients. Health Psychology, 20, 112-119.



13. Meagher, M. W. (2001). Clinical implications of animal pain research. In M. E. Carroll & J. B. Overmier (Eds). Linking animal research and human psychological health. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.



14. Meagher, M. W., * Ferguson, A.R.,**McLemore, S., *King, T. E., *Sieve, A. N., *Crown, E. D., & Grau, J. W. (2001). The generality of stress-induced hyperalgesia. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 27, 219-238.



15. Rhudy, J. L., & Meagher, M. W. (2000). Fear and anxiety: Divergent effects on human pain thresholds. Pain, 84, 65-75.



16. *Crown, E. D., *King, T. E., Meagher, M. W., & Grau, J. W. (2000). Shock-induced hyperalgesia: III. Role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the amygdaloid nuclei. Behavioral Neuroscience, 114, 561-573.



17. *King, T. E., *Crown, E. D., *Sieve, A. N., *Joynes, R. L., Grau, J. W., & Meagher, M. (1999). Shock-induced hyperalgesia: I. Evidence forebrain systems play an essential role. Behavioural Brain Research, 100, 33-42.

Meagher, M. W. Impact of naturalistic stressors on Theiler?s virus infection. Invited presentation "Symposium on neural and neuroendocrine factors in susceptibility and resistance to infectious diseases". Symposium organized by the International Society for Neuroimmunomodulation (ISNIM) for the American Association for Immunologists in Denver, May 2003.

Meagher, M. W. Measuring pain in animals: Methodological issues and interpretive problems. Talk presented at the Winter Conference on Animal Learning and Behavior, Winter Park, Colorado, January, 2001.

Meagher, M. W. The effects of stress on the neuropathogenesis of Theiler's virus infection in mice as a model of multiple sclerosis. Invited presentation. Symposium: Comparative Psychoneuroimmunology: Studies of Mice, Monkeys and Humans. Southwestern Psychological Association, Dallas, TX, April, 2000.

Texas A&M Women's Progress Faculty Award, 2004
APA Fellow, Division 6, 2003
Texas A&M Department Diversity Award, Chair, 2003
Texas A&M University Honors Fellows Program Service Award 1991

PSYC 107 - Introductory
PSYC 306 - Abnormal Psychology
PSYC 360 - Health Psychology
Siberian Portal about WEB-Security
PSYC 630 - Graduate Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine