Robert W. Stackman Jr.

Associate Professor, Psychology, Psychobiology and Neuroscience, FAU
e-mail: rstackma@fau.edu

Education:
B.S. (1986) Allegheny College, Meadville PA
M.S. (1990) Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick NJ
Ph.D. (1995) Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick NJ
Postdoc (1995-1998) Dartmouth College, Hanover NH

Research Areas:
Neurobiology of learning & memory; spatial navigation

Current Publications

Previous Positions
Assistant Professor, Behavioral Neuroscience
Oregon Health & Science University

Contact Information:

Office: 522 Behavioral Science Building
Telephone: (561) 297-2270
Fax: (561) 297-2160

General Research Interests:

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
Spatial Navigation
Brain Representations of Space (i.e., place cells and head direction cells)
Mouse Models of Alzheimer's disease

My lab employs a systems level approach to investigate the brain mechanisms that underlie complex behaviors such as learning, memory and spatial navigation. We use multiple techniques, including neuropharmacological tools and electrophysiological methods, to examine how the brain stores and represents information. Our research focuses on the hippocampal formation, an essential brain structure for memory and navigation. The hippocampal formation is compromised by aging and Alzheimer's disease. One goal of this work is to identify mechanisms that might be useful targets for the development of novel treatments of age-related cognitive decline.

Current projects include:

(i) examination of the acute effects of alcohol on spatial navigation and the firing properties of hippocampal place cells and thalamic head direction cells (with support from the National Institutes of Health: NIAAA award #AA014407)

(ii) examination of the influences of small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SK channels) on hippocampal learning and memory (with support from the National Science Foundation: Integrative Organismal Biology award #0630522)

(iii) examination of the interactive influences of head direction cells and place cells on spatial navigation

(iv) testing the cognitive influences of the neurosteroid allopregnanolone.

Representative Publications

Stackman Jr., R.W., Bond C.T. and Adelman J.P. (2008). Contextual memory deficits in mice overexpressing small conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel 2 (KCa2.2, SK2) channels are caused by an encoding deficit. Learning & Memory. 15(4): 208-213.Abstract

Quinn, J.F., Bussiere J.R., Hammond R.S., Montine, T.J., Henson, E., Jones, R.E., and Stackman Jr., R.W. (2007). Chronic dietary alpha-lipoic acid reduces deficits in hippocampal memory of aged Tg2576 mice. Neurobiology of Aging. 28(2): 213-225. Abstract | Article

Hammond, R.S., Bond, C.T., Ngo-Anh, T.J., Adelman, J.P., Maylie, J. and Stackman, R.W. (2006) Small-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel 2 (SK2) overexpression impairs hippocampal learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity. Journal of Neuroscience. 26(6): 1844-1853. Abstract | Article

Stackman, R.W. and Zugaro, M.B. (2005). Influences of self-motion cues on head direction cell responses, and outcomes of intermodality cue conflicts. In: Head Direction Cells and the Neural Mechanisms of Spatial Orientation. (S.I. Wiener and J.S. Taube, Eds.), MIT Press, Boston. pp. 137-162.

Taube, J.S., Stackman, R.W., Calton, J. and Oman, C.M. (2004). Rat head direction cell responses in 0-G parabolic flight. Journal of Neurophysiology. 92, 2887-2997. Abstract | Article

Hammond, R.S., Tull, L.E., and Stackman, R.W. (2004). On the delay-dependent involvement of the hippocampus in object memory. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. 82, 26-34. Abstract | Article

Stackman, R.W., Golob, E.J., Bassett, J. and Taube, J.S. (2003). Passive transport disrupts directional path integration by rat head direction cells. Journal of Neurophysiology. 90, 2862-2874. Abstract | Article

Stackman, R.W., Hammond, R.S., Linardatos, E., Gerlach, A., Maylie, J., Adelman, J and Tzounopoulos, T. (2002). Small conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels modulate synaptic plasticity and memory encoding. Journal of Neuroscience. 22, 10163-10171. Abstract | Article

Stackman, R.W., Clark, A.S. and Taube, J.S. (2002). Hippocampal spatial representations require vestibular input. Hippocampus. 12, 291-303. Abstract | Article