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Indiana University Bloomington
George Rebec

Dr. George Rebec

Chancellor's Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Director, Program in Neuroscience

 

rebec [at] indiana.edu

office: PY 361 | (812)855-4832

lab: Preclinical Pharmacology Laboratory
   PY A422 | (812)855-5351

 

Mechanisms of action of drugs of abuse; neurochemical correlates of movement and motivation; real-time assessments of neurotransmitter function during behavior; genetic and neurotoxic models of neurodegenerative disease

Educational Background

  • 1971 - B.A., Villanova University
  • 1974 - M.A., University of Colorado at Boulder
  • 1975 - Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder

Areas of Study

  • Biology, Behavior and Neuroscience
  • Neural Science

Research Topics

  • Mechanisms of action of drugs of abuse
  • Neurochemical correlates of movement and motivation
  • Real-time assessments of neurotransmitter function during behavior
  • Genetic and neurotoxic models of neurodegenerative disease

Research Summary:

Research in my laboratory focuses on the neurochemical correlates of behavior. We are especially interested in the neurochemistry of the basal ganglia and related limbic nuclei, which have been implicated in addiction as well as basic behavioral processes such as movement and motivation. These same circuits also are vulnerable to damage and disease. To assess how these brain systems operate under naturally occurring conditions, we use electrophysiological (single-unit recording and iontophoresis), electrochemical (slow- and fast-scan cyclic voltammetry), and an array of genomic and proteomic techniques to measure neurotransmitter function at the neuronal level during behavior.

A primary area of interest is the change in neuronal information processing induced by psychostimulants such as cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy), and amphetamine. We have a long-standing program aimed at investigating the role of dopamine and other monoamine modulators in addiction and relapse. Another primary focus is the neural network dysfunction underlying Huntington’s disease, an autosomal dominant and fatal neurodegenerative condition.

Our research has identified a deficit in ascorbate, an antioxidant vitamin that not only plays a critical role in basal ganglia function but also regulates the removal of glutamate, an excitatory amino acid transmitter. An ascorbate-glutamate imbalance may underlie the dysregulation of neuronal activity and behavior associated with Huntington’s and possibly other neurodegenerative diseases.

Further information on our research programs are available at: www.indiana.edu/~basalgan/

Representative Publications

Dorner, J.L, Miller, B.R., Klein, E.L., Murphy-Nakhnikian, A., Andrews, R.L., Barton, S.J., and Rebec, G.V. (in-press) Corticostriatal dysfunction underlies diminished striatal ascorbate release in the R6/2 mouse models of Huntington's disease. Brain Research, in press.

Sari,Y., Smith, K.D., Ali, P.K., and Rebec, G.V. (2009) Up-regulation of GLT1 attenuates cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking in rats. Journal of Neuroscience, [Epub July 22, 2009).

Fowler, S.C., Miller, B.R., Gaither, T.W., Johnson, M.A., and Rebec, G.V. (2009) Force-plate quantification of progressive behavioral deficits in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease. Behavioural Brain Research, 202: 130-137.

Ball, K.T., Wellman, C.L., Fortenberry, E., and Rebec, G.V. (2009) Sensitizing regimens of MDMA (Ecstasy) elicit enduring and differential structural alterations in the brain motive circuit. Neuroscience, 2009, Feb. 21 [Epub ahead of print].

Wood, D.A. and Rebec, G.V. (2009) Environmental enrichment differentially alters neuronal processing in the nucleus accumbens core appetitive conditioning. Brain Research, 59-67.

Ball, K.T. and Rebec, G.V. (2008) Electrophysiological and Morphological Adaptations in Cortico-striato-limbic Circuitry Induced by 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; Ecstasy). In: Nucleus Accumbens: Neurotransmitters and Related Behaviours, David, H. (ed.). Research Signpost: Kerala, India.

Walker, A.G., Miller, B.R., Fritsch, J.N., Barton, S.J., and Rebec, G.V. (2008) Altered information processing in the prefrontal cortex of Huntington's disease mouse models. Journal of Neuroscience, 28(36):8973-8982.

Miller, B.R., Walker, A.G., Shah, A.S., Barton, S.J., and Rebec, G.V. (2008) Dysregulated information processing by medium-spiny neurons in striatum of freely behaving mouse models of Huntington's disease. Journal of Neurophysiology, 100(4):2205-2216.

Miller, B.R., Dorner, J.L., Shou, M., Sari, Y., Barton, S.J., Sengelaub, D.R., Kennedy, R.T., and Rebec, G.V. (2008) Up-regulation of GLT1 expression increases glutamate uptake and improves the Huntington's disease phenotype. Neuroscience, 153(1):329-337.

Sunsay, C. and Rebec, G.V. (2008) Real-time dopamine efflux in the nucleus accumbens core during Pavlovian conditioning. Behavioral Neuroscience, 122(2):358-367.

Ball, K.T., Walsh, K.M., and Rebec, G.V. (2007) Reinstatement of MDMA (ecstasy) seeking by exposure to drug-conditioned cues. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. [Epub ahead of print - available online at www.sciencedirect.com ].

Sandstrom, M.I. and Rebec, G.V. (2007) Extracellular ascorbate modulates glutamate dynamics: role of behavioral activation. BMC Neuroscience, 8: 32.

Teagarden, M.A. and Rebec, G.V. (2007) Subthalamic and striatal neurons concurrently process motor, limbic, and associative information in rats performing an operant task. Journal of Neurophysiology, 97: i>2042-2058.

Dorner, J.L., Miller, B.R., Barton, S.J., Brock, Tyler J., and Rebec, G.V. (2007) Sex differences in behavior and striatal ascorbate release in the 140 CAG knock-in mouse model of Huntington’s disease. Behavioural Brain Research, 178: 90-97.

Rebec, G.V. (2007) From interferant anion to neuromodulator: ascorbate oxidizes its way to respectability. In: Electrochemical Methods in Neuroscience, Taylor & Francis Group, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

Rebec, G.V. (2006) Behavioral electrophysiology of psychostimulants. Neuropsychopharmacology, 31 (11): 2341-2348.

Sun, W.L. and Rebec, G.V. (2006) Repeated cocaine self-administration alters processing of cocaine-related information in rat prefrontal cortex. Journal of Neuroscience, 26: 8004-8008.

Ball, K.T., Budreau, D., and Rebec, G.V. (2006) Context-dependent behavioral and neuronal sensitization in striatum to MDMA (ecstasy) administration in rats. European Journal of Neuroscience, 24: 217-228.

Wood, D.A., Siegel, A.K., and Rebec, G.V. (2006) Environmental enrichment reduces impulsivity during appetitive conditioning. Physiology and Behavior, 88(1-2): 132-137.

Rebec, G.V., Conroy, S.K., Barton, S.J. (2006) Hyperactive striatal neurons in symptomatic Huntington R6/2 mice: Variations with behavioral state and repeated ascorbate treatment. Neuroscience, 137: 327-336.

Rebec, G.V. and Sun, W.L. (2005) Neuronal substrates of relapse to cocaine-seeking behavior: role of prefrontal cortex. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 84(3): 653-666.

Sun, W.L., Akins, C.K., Mattingly, A.E., and Rebec, G.V. (2005) Ionotropic glutamate receptors in the ventral tegmental area regulate cocaine-seeking behavior in rats. Neuropsychopharmacology,30: 2073-2081.

Wood, D.A., Buse, J.E., Wellman, C.L., and Rebec, G. V. (2005) Differential environmental exposure alters NMDA but not AMPA receptor subunit expression in nucleus accumbens core and shell. Brain Research, 1042: 176-183.

Rebec, G.V., Witowski, S.R., Sandstrom, M.I., Rostand, R.D., and Kennedy, R.T. (2005) Extracellular ascorbate modulates cortically evoked glutamate dynamics in rat striatum. Neuroscience Letters, 378: 166-170.

Sun, W.L. and Rebec, G.V. (2005) The role of prefrontal cortex D1-lik,e and D2-like receptors in cocaine-seeking behavior in rats. Psychopharmacology, 177: 315-323.

Sun, W.L. and Rebec, G.V. (2003) Lidocaine inactivation of ventral subiculum attenuates cocaine-seeking behavior in rats. Journal of Neuroscience, 23: 10258-10264.

Garris, P.A. and Rebec, G.V. (2002) Modeling fast dopamine neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens during behavior. Behavioural Brain Research, 137: 47-63.

Rebec, G.V., Barton, S.J., and Ennis, M.D. (2002) Dysregulation of ascorbate in the striatum of behaving mice expressing the Huntington's disease gene. Journal of Neuroscience, 22: RC202 (1-5).

Rebec, G.V. and Wang, Z. (2001)Behavioral activation in rats require endogenous ascorbate release in striatum. Journal of Neuroscience, 21: 668-675.

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