Legacy Research Institute

Barbara A. Sorg, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist
R.S. Dow Endowed Chair of Neuroscience
Legacy Research Institute

Phone: 503-413-1934  |  Email: bsorg@downeurobiology.org 

CV (Updated April 2021) | Peer Reviewed Publications
R.S. Dow Neuroscience Laboratories
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4913-4910

Short Bio:

Dr. Sorg received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park in Biochemistry.  She completed a post-doc at Washington State University in Pullman where she was eventually hired on as tenure-track Assistant Professor and was promoted to Full Professor in 2004. She served as Director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program for 14 years and Co-director of the Translational Addiction Research Program for the past 8 years at WSU. 

Dr. Sorg joined LRI in 2019 to advance her translational research program while continuing her basic research into mechanisms of cocaine addiction and methods for treatment. 

Publication Highlights:

Cocaine exposure modulates perineuronal nets and synaptic excitability of fast-spiking interneurons in the medial prefrontal cortex. ML Slaker, ET Jorgensen, DM Hegarty, X Liu, Y Kong, F Zhang, RJ Linhardt, TE Brown, SA Aicher and BA Sorg. 
eNeuro (2018) Oct 4;5(5)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30294670

Sleep disruption elevates oxidative stress in parvalbumin-positive cells of the rat cerebral cortex JH Harkness, PN Bushana, RP Todd, WC Clegern, BA Sorg and JP Wisor. Sleep (2019) Jan 1;42(1):zsy20
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30371896

Diurnal changes in perineuronal nets and parvalbumin neurons in the rat medial prefrontal cortex
Harkness JH, Gonzalez AE, Bushana PN, Jorgensen ET, Hegarty DM, Di Nardo AA, Prochiantz A, Wisor JP, Aicher SA, Brown TE, Sorg, BA
Brain Struct Funct.(2021) May;226(4):1135-1153
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33585984

Impact of perineuronal nets on electrophysiology of parvalbumin interneurons, principal neurons, and brain oscillations: A review.
Wingert, JC, and Sorg, BA  Front Synaptic Neurosci (2021) In Press

Research Interests:

• Perineuronal nets in cocaine addiction
  
  
• Circadian rhythms, sleep, and memory
  
  
• Role of the prefrontal cortex in cocaine-associated memories

Research Focus:

The main projects in my lab focus on how to prevent relapse to cocaine in rats. We use conditioned place preference and drug self-administration models to determine how to diminish drug-associated memories that are thought to cause relapse behavior.

To diminish drug-associated memories, we examine the process of reconsolidation, wherein prior memories can be recalled and subsequently disrupted with appropriate pharmacological agents so that only the recalled memory is diminished. We focus on using specific pharmacological or chemogenetic agents in the prefrontal cortex to disrupt consolidation and reconsolidation of the memories associated with cocaine, thereby suppressing drug-seeking behavior and relapse.

Most of our studies focus on an extracellular matrix structure called the perineuronal net, which is important for acquiring and maintaining drug-associated memories. One function of perineuronal nets is to allow for normal firing of their underlying fast-spiking, parvalbumin interneurons, which regulate the excitatory:inhibitory balance in the brain. We have found that both parvalbumin and perineuronal nets change with the day:night cycle and are most likely regulated by circadian rhythms. Recent studies in our lab use in vivo electrophysiology to decipher how brain oscillations and single cells respond during cocaine-seeking behavior in rats to better understand how brain oscillations might be modified to prevent relapse in humans. 

Current Lab Members:

• Jonathan Anguiano (Research Assistant)
• Abby Gilgor (Research Assistant)
• Angela Gonzales (Graduate Student)
• Jonny Ramos (Research Assistant)
• Sebastian Reynolds (Research Assistant)
• Jereme Wingert (Research Assistant)