Richard Brown

Education

BA/BSc University of Victoria, Canada, Bsc (Honours) Psychology, 1970
MA/MSc  Dalhousie University, Canada, MA 1972, Psychology
PhD (University)  Dalhousie University, Canada, PhD 1975  Psychology, Physiology
PDF (University)  University of Oxford, England  PDF 1976-78  Zoology

Research Interests

Research in my laboratory looks at different aspects of rodent behaviour. We are developing a set of standardized test batteries to study the behaviour of inbred, mutant, and knockout  mice.  This includes an "ethological" test battery, a learning and memory test battery and a developmental test battery. Tests used include visual acuity, rotarod, elevated plus maze, elevated zero maze, open field, light-dark box, Hebb-Williams maze, Barnes maze, water maze, olfactory discrimination learning, olfactometer, cued and context conditioning, nine hole box, and others. 

We are currently working on six general projects, and are looking for students to work on any of these projects. We are most interested in having new students to work on animal models of Alzheimer's Disease, the behavioural test battery to study transgenic mice, and olfactory learning and memory.

Selected Publications

• William H. Gendron, Emre Fertan, Kyle M. Roddick, Aimée A. Wong, Maria Maliougina, Yassine E. Hiani, Younes Anini and Richard E. Brown. (2024). Intranasal Insulin Treatment Ameliorates Spatial Memory, Muscular Strength, and Frailty Deficits in 5xFAD Mice. Physiology and Behavior. 281: 114583
• Brown RE. (2024). Measuring the replicability of our own research. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 406, 110111
• O’Leary, T.P., Whitehead, J., and Brown, R.E. (2024). Age-related changes in species-typical behaviours in male and female 5xFAD mice from 4-16 months of age. Behavioural Brain Research. 465: 114970
• Richard E Brown. (2023). The importance of collaboration in neuroscience.Brain. 146(2): 789–790.
• Fertan E, *Wong AA, *Garvock-de Montbrun TS, *Purdon MK, *Roddick KM, Yamamoto T, and Brown RE. (2023). Early postnatal development of the MDGA2+/- mouse model of synaptic dysfunction. Behavioural Brain Research. 452: 114590.
• Kyle M *Roddick, Heather M *Schellinck, Richard E Brown. (2023). Serial Reversal Learning in an Olfactory Discrimination Task in 3xTg-AD Mice. Learning and Memory. 30(12): 310-319. Published
• Fertan E, *Gendron WH, *Wong AA, Brown RE, and Weaver ICG. (2023). Noncanonical regulation of imprinted gene Igf2 by amyloid-beta 1-42 in Alzheimer's disease. Scientific Reports. 13: 2043
• Hong *Lu, Long Zuo, Kyle M. *Roddick, Peng Zhang, Shinichiro Oku, Jessica *Garden, Yuan Ge, Michael *Bellefontaine, Mathias Delhaye, Richard E. Brown, and Ann Marie Craig. (2023). Alternative splicing and heparan sulfation converge on neurexin-1 to control glutamatergic transmission and autism-related behaviors. Cell Reports. 47(7): 112714.
• O’Leary TP and Brown RE. (2022). Visuo-spatial learning and memory impairments in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease: Effects of age, sex, albinism and motor impairments.Genes, Brain and Behaviour. 21: e12794
• Simanaviciute, U., Brown, R.E., *Wong, A., *Fertan, E., and Grant, R.A. (2022). Abnormal whisker movements in the 3xTg-AD mouse model of Alzheimer’s Disease. Genes Brain and Behavior. 21: e12813.Fertan E and Brown RE. (2022). Age-Related Deficits in Working Memory in 5xFAD Mice in the Hebb Williams Maze. Behavioural Brain Research. 424: 113806.
• Roddick KM, *Fertan E, *Schellinck HM and Brown RE. (2022). A signal detection analysis of olfactory learning in 12-month-old 5xFAD mice. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 88: 37-44
• Richard E. Brown and Thalia *Garvock-de Montbrun. (2021). Broca’s Brains: A lesson in the importance of saving the history of neuroscience. Hektoen International: A Journal of Medical Humanities. 2021: 1.
• Richard E. Brown, Thaddeus *Bligh and Jessica *Garden. (2021). The Hebb Synapse Before Hebb. Theories of synaptic function/change in learning before Hebb (1949). Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 15: 732195.
• Gendron WH,  Fertan E, Pelletier S, Roddick KM, O’Leary,TP,  Anini Y, Brown RE. (2021). Age related weight loss in female 5xFAD mice from 3 to 12 months of age. Manuscript number: BBRES-D-20-01230. Behavioural Brain Research, 2021, 406, 113214.
• Fertan E, Wong AA, Purdon MK, Weaver ICCG, and Brown RE.  The Effect of Background Strain on the Behavioural Phenotypes of the MDGA2+/- Mouse Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder.   Genes Brain and Behaviour, 2021; 20: e12696. 18 pages.
• Luke M, Brown RE, Rutishauser U, and Clarke DB. Polysialylated – neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) promotes recovery of vision after the critical period.  Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, 2020, 107, 103537.
• O’Leary, T. P., Stover, K., Mantolino, H.M., Darvesh, S., and Brown R. E. Olfactory memory from 3 to 15 months of age in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer disease. Behavioural Brain Research, 2020, 393: 112731.  doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112731.
• Brown, RE.  Donald O. Hebb and the Organization of Behavior: 17 years in the writing. Molecular Brain, 2020, 13: 55.  28 pages.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s13041-020-00567-8
• Cooke MB, O’Leary TP,  Harris P, Brown RE,  Snyder JS.  Pathfinder: open source software for analyzing spatial navigation search strategies  F1000 Research, 2020, 8:1521 Last updated: 15 June 2020. (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.20352.2)
• Brown RE.  Why study the history of neuroscience? Front. Behav. Neurosci. 2019. 13:82.  doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00082
• Fertan E, Brown, RE and Weaver, ICG. Cognitive Decline, Cerebral-Spleen Tryptophan Metabolism,Cytokine Production and Regulation of the Txnip Gene in 3xTg-AD Mice". The American Journal of Pathology, 2019 Jul; 189(7): 1435-1450. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2019.03.006.
• Ezgi Gür, Emre Fertan, Kindree Alkins, Aimée A. Wong, Richard E. Brown & Fuat Balci. Interval Timing is Disrupted in Female 5xFAD Mice: An Indication of Altered  Memory Processes.  J Neuro Res. 2019;Jul; 97(7): 817-827. doi: 10.1002/jnr.24418.
• O’Leary, T. P., Mantolino, H.M., Stover, K. and Brown R. E.  Age-related deterioration of motor function in male and female  5xFAD mice from 3-16 months of age.  Genes, Brain and Behaviour, 2018.  Nov 13:e12538. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12538.
• Grant RA, Wong AA, Fertan E, Brown RE.   Whisker exploration behaviours in the 5xFAD mouse are affected by sex and retinal degeneration. Genes, Brain and Behaviour, 2018, Oct 23:e12532. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12532.
• Langille JJ, Brown RE. The Synaptic Theory of Memory: A Historical Survey and Reconciliation of Recent Opposition.  Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 2018, Oct 26; 12: 52.    doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2018.00052.           PMID: 30416432
• Garvock-de Montbrun T, Fertan E, Stover K, Brown RE.  Motor deficits in 16-month-old male and female 3xTg-AD mice.  Behavioural Brain Research, 2019, 356:305-313. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.09.006.  PMID: 30208295
• Lorusso L, Piccolino M, Motta S, Gasparello A, Barbara JG, Bossi-Régnier L, Shepherd GM, Swanson L, Magistretti P, Everitt B, Molnár Z, Brown R. Neuroscience without borders: Preserving the history of Neuroscience. European Journal of Neuroscience. 2018, 48(5):2 099-2109. doi: 10.1111/ejn.14101.
• Kane AE, Shin S, Wong AA, Fertan E, Faustova, N., Howlett, SE, and Brown RE.  Sex differences in healthspan predict lifespan in the 3x Tg-AD mouse model of Alzheimer's Disease.  Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 12 June 2018, Volume 10, article 172, 10 pages.https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00172
• Brown, RE and Bolivar, S. The importance of behavioural bioassays in neuroscience. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 2018, 300, 68-76.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2017.05.022.

Awards and Honours

• University Research Professor, Dalhousie University, 2009-2014.
• Senior Visiting Research Professor, St. John's College, and the Department of Psychology, University of Oxford, UK. 2008-2009.
• Faculty of Science Killam Research Professor, Dalhousie University, 2002-2007.
• Faculty of Science Award for Teaching Excellence,  Dalhousie University, March 2006.
• Dalhousie Association of Psychology Students (DAPS) Professor of the Year Award, March 2012.

Memberships

• Alzheimer's Association International Society (ISTAART)
• Canadian Association of Neuroscientists  2007-
• International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society
• International Brain Research Organization (IBRO)
• International Society for Developmental Psychobiology
• Society for Neuroscience

Employment  

Professor, Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, 1988-present.

Teaching

Psychology/Neuroscience 2170: Hormones and Behaviour (lecture).
Psychology/Neuroscience 3161: Measuring Behaviour (lecture and laboratory)
Psychology/Neuroscience 4740: Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (Seminar)
Psychology/Neuroscience 4587: Topics in the History of Neuroscience

Service and Activity

Chairman, Psychology Department, Dalhousie University, 1989-1996
Chairman, NSERC of Canada Psychology Grants Committee (GSC12), 1996-97
Director, Neuroscience Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S. Canada, 1997-1999.
President, CSBBCS, 1998-99.
Chairman, Psychology Department, Dalhousie University, July 2002 - 2008.
President, International Behavioural and Neurogenetics Society (IBANGS), 2010-2011
Taught in the IBRO neuroscience school in Yaounde Cameroon organized by Dr. Carine Nguemeni. July 2018.
Taught in the IBRO School at Entebbe Uganda, organized by Nilesh Patel and myself.  June 2017
Taught at the IBRO/ISN Neuroscience School on Phytochemical-based neuroscience research in Ibadan Nigeria, organized by Dr. James Olopade. February 2017
Fellow of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS), May 2017.
Associate Dean of Science (Research), Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada. Sept 2014 - August 2016.
Visiting Professor, Wolfson College, Oxford. Sept. 2013-August 2014.