Mathew V. Jones
Position title: Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
Email: mathewjones@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 263-4394
Department:
Neuroscience
Education:
Ph.D. in Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Postdoctoral in Synaptic Physiology and GABAA Receptor Biophysics, Vollum Institute, Portland, OR, USA
Research Description:
My research has consistently addressed the basic mechanisms of GABAA receptor function and pharmacology relevant to understanding and treating human health problems. My Ph.D. thesis research in the lab of Neil Harrison focused on understanding the mechanisms of general anesthetic action, and included one of the first demonstrations that volatile anesthetics enhance inhibitory synaptic transmission and GABAA receptor single channel activity at concentrations that correlate with their clinical potency for producing anesthesia. I extended this work as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Gary Westbrook at The Vollum Institute, where I used submillisecond solution exchange techniques to dissect GABAA receptor kinetics, and to develop a mathematical model of receptor function that has become a standard tool used by many other researchers in the field. As PI of grants from NIH and private foundations, I successfully completed several research projects on pharmacological modulation, structure/function relations and genetic mutation of GABAA receptors, and the implications for inhibitory transmission and network function in health and disease. My recent projects focus on understanding circuit mechanisms underlying temporal lobe epilepsy and associated cognitive dysfunction.
Research Key Words:
GABA, Receptor, Synapse, Circuit, Memory, Sleep, Epilepsy, Alzheimer’s