Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Ethanol is a teratogen that disrupts normal development and results in a spectrum of physical, behavioral and neuronal impairments. Certain brain areas have been found to be more vulnerable to prenatal ethanol exposure (PNEE), onc of which is the primary structure of interest in the Christie laboratory – the hippocampus, a structure important for learning and memory. We actively collaborate with other laboratories internationally in order to better understand how PNEE affects brain health and function.
Current Trainees: Dr. Crystal Acosta (Postdoctoral Fellow), Erin Grafe (PhD Candidate), Hannah Reid (PhD Candidate), Fiona Ramnaraign (MSc. Student), Kate Conway (Technician), Charuta Sahasrabudhe (Undergraduate researcher), Emily Funnekotter (Undergraduate researcher), Katherine Ball (Undergraduate researcher).
Past Trainees: Sarah Swann, Christopher Fox, Andrea Titterness, Fanny Boehme, Helle Sickmann, Joanna Gil-Mohapel, Patricia Brocardo, Christine Fontaine.
Relevant Publications (Since 2017):
1. EL Grafe, MMM Wade, CE Hodson, JD Thomas, BR Christie. (2022). Postnatal Choline Supplementation Rescues Deficits in Synaptic Plasticity Following Prenatal Ethanol Exposure. Nutrients, 14 (10), 2004.
2. EL Grafe, CJ Fontaine, JD Thomas, BR Christie. (2021). Effects of prenatal ethanol exposure on choline-induced long-term depression in the hippocampus. Journal of Neurophysiology, 126 (5), 1622-1634.
3. H Reid, T Snowden, I Shkolnikov, K Breit, C Rodriguez, JD Thomas, BR Christie. (2021). Prenatal alcohol and cannabis exposure can have opposing and region-specific effects on parvalbumin interneuron numbers in the hippocampus. Alcoholism – Clinical and Experimental Research, 45(11), 2246-2255.
4. H. Reid, MR Lysenko-Martin, T Snowden, JD Thomas, BR Christie. (2020). A Systematic Review of the Effects of Perinatal Alcohol Exposure and Perinatal Marijuana Exposure on Adult Neurogenesis in the Dentate Gyrus. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 44(6), 1164-1174.
5. S Intermittent ethanol exposure during adolescence impairs cannabinoid type 1 receptor-dependent long-term depression and recognition memory in adult mice. Neuropsychopharmacology, 45(2):309-318.
6. CJ Fontaine, C Pinar, W Yang, AF Pang, KE Suesser, JSJ Choi, BR Christie. (2019). Impaired Bidirectional Synaptic Plasticity in Juvenile Offspring Following Prenatal Ethanol Exposure. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 43(10), 2153-2166.
7. TL Gretzinger, M Tyagi, CJ Fontaine, MS Cheema, M González-Perez, ME Freeman, BR Christie, J Ausió. (2019). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) affects the hippocampal levels of histone variant H2A.Z-2. Biochem Cell Biol, 97(4):431-436.
8. I Bonilla-Del Rίo, N Puente, S Peñasco, I Rico, A Gutiérrez-Rodrίguez, I Elezgarai, A Ramos, L Reguero, I Gerrikagoitia, BR Christie, P Nahirney, P Grandes. (2018). Adolescent ethanol intake alters cannabinoid type-1 receptor localization in astrocytes of the adult mouse hippocampus. Addict Biol., 24(2):182-192.
9. PS Brocardo, J Gil-Mohapel, R Wortman, A Noonan, E McGinnis, AR Patten, BR Christie. (2017).The Effects of Ethanol Exposure During Distinct Periods of Brain Development on Oxidative Stress in the Adult Rat Brain. Alcohol Clin Exp Res., 41(1):26-37.