Alexander Baez
Education:
B.S. SUNY, Stony Brook University (2016)
Current Position:
6th Year MSTP
4th Year Graduate Student
Advisor:
Joshua Plotkin, PhD, Neurobiology & Behavior
Graduate Program:
Neuroscience
Research Interest:
My research interests primarily surround neuropharmacological and brain circuit physiology interactions. One essential brain area, which to me conjures associations to a beehive of neuropharmacological chaos and complexity, is the Striatum region of the basal ganglia. The Striatum (which can be subdivided into further functional regions) is the main input nucleus of the ‘basal ganglia’ and integrates motor, sensory, associative, reward, and other signals towards producing appropriate behavioral initiations and outputs.
My PhD thesis research involves testing how perturbations of synaptic inputs from the Cortex to the Striatum in mice can lead to anxiety and compulsive motor behaviors. My contributions thus far include highlighting a secondary, exacerbating, neuromodulatory dysfunction in the SAPAP3-null OCD-like mouse model. My current focus is on characterizing and modifying this newly identified neuropharmacological dysregulation and applying this knowledge to identify effective treatments of striatal dysregulations in humans.
Publications:
Malgady, J., Baez, A., et al. “Non-synaptic Alterations in Striatal Excitability and Cholinergic Modulation in a SAPAP3 Mouse Model of Compulsive Motor Behavior.” Cell Reports. 2023 (In Review)
Baez A., Van Brunt T., Moody G., Wollmuth L. P., & Hsieh H. Voltage dependent allosteric modulation of IPSCs by benzodiazepines. Brain Research. 2020; 1736, 146699. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2020.146699
