Faculty Profiles
Barbara Gisabella, PhD
 | Assistant Professor Office: TRC, Room 408 (601) 815-7984 |
Research interests
The research goal of the Gisabella lab is to improve our understanding of mechanisms regulating learning and memory and identify how these systems go awry in psychiatric disorders and aging. Current projects are designed to examine the morphological and molecular correlates of memory consolidation during sleep using viral vector mediated gene manipulation and transgenic mice combined with fear learning and EEG recordings of sleep architecture.
Our long-term research goal is to establish the mechanisms involved in strengthening emotional memories during sleep and use this knowledge to develop treatment and preventative measures for psychiatric disorders including PTSD, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Current funding
Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation Neuroscience Initiative: AWD-001292
Molecular Correlates of Memory Consolidation in Psychiatric disorders and Aging
PI: Barbara Gisabella
2022-2024
NIMH/NIGMS 1P20GM144041-01A1
Molecular Mechanisms of Memory Consolidation in the Amygdala-Hippocampal Circuit
2023-2028
Role: PI
The Role of the Extracellular Matrix in Alcohol Use Disorder
2023-2026
Role: Co-sponsor
Recent publications
*In the last four years
- Rexrode L, Tennin M, Babu J, Young C, Bollavarapu R, Lawson A, Valeri J, Pantazopoulos H, Gisabella B.Regulation of Dendritic Spines in the Amygdala Following Sleep Deprivation. Frontiers in Sleep. 2023 April; 2. doi: 10.3389/frsle.2023.1145203.
- Yu Jun Wen, Wen Jia Yang, Chun Ni Guo, Mei Hong Qiu, Daniel Kroeger, Jian Guo Niu, Shu Qin Zhan, Xi Fei Yang, Gisabella B., Ramalingam Vetrivelan, Jun Lu. Pontine control of rapid eye movement sleep and fear memory. CNS Neuroscience Therapeutics. 2023 16 February doi:10.1111/cns.14123.
- Valeri, J., O’Donovan, S., Wang, W., Sinclair, D., Bollavarapu, R., Gisabella, B., Platt, D., Stockmeier, C.A., and Pantazopoulos H., Altered Expression of Somatostatin Signaling Molecules and Clock Genes in the Hippocampus of Subjects with Substance Use Disorder. Front Neurosci. 2022 Sep 7;16:903941. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.903941. eCollection 2022. PMID: 36161151
- Gisabella B, Babu J, Valeri J, Rexrode L, Pantazopoulos H. Sleep and Memory Consolidation Dysfunction in Psychiatric Disorders: Evidence for the Involvement of Extracellular Matrix Molecules. Front Neurosci. 2021 May 14; 15:646678. doi:10.3389/fnins.2021.646678. eCollection 2021.PMID: 34054408
- Pantazopoulos, H., Gisabella, B., Rexrode, L., Benefield, D., Yildiz, E., Seltzer, P., Chelini, G., Reich, A., Ardelt, A., and Berretta, S. 2020. Circadian Rhythms of Perineuronal Net Composition. eNeuro ENEURO 0034-19. PMID: PMC7405073
- Gisabella B, Scammell T, Bandaru SS, Saper CB. Regulation of hippocampal dendritic spines following sleep deprivation. J Comp Neurol. 2020 Aug 27. doi: 10.1002/cne.24764.
- Complete list can be accessed at MyNCBI.