Keith Hengen

E-mail: khengen@wisc.edu

Research Project:

My research is directed by Dr. Mary Behan, and is under the supervision of Drs. Steve Johnson, Jerry Yin and Hannah Carey. The major focus of our project is to understand the cardiorespiratory and neuroprotective changes that accompany the hibernation phenotype. Currently, I am investigating GABAergic changes in the brainstem and cortex by electrophysiological, pharmacological, and molecular approaches. Ultimately, we would like to understand how hibernators "shut down" all forebrain activity but maintain cardiorespiratory function.

Abstracts and Publications:

• Hengen, K.B., S.M. Johnson, H.V. Carey, and M. Behan. 2008. Functional and molecular division of the brain provides insensitivity to allosteric GABA modulation of ground squirrels’ cardiorespiratory nuclei during hibernation. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.
• Hengen, K.B., S.M. Johnson, H.V. Carey, and M. Behan. 2008. Functional and molecular partitioning of the brain provides neuroprotection to cardiorespiratory nuclei in ground squirrels during hibernation. FASEB J. 22:757.2.
• Hengen, K.B., S.M. Johnson, H.V. Carey, and M. Behan. 2007. Neural control of cardiorespiratory function in ground squirrels during hibernation. FASEB J. 21:965.15.