Susan L. Ingram

Assistant Professor

Department of Psychology

WSU-Vancouver

 

(360) 546-9748

ingram@vancouver.wsu.edu

 

Education: Ph.D.,Oregon Health & Science University, Pharmacology and Neuroscience

 

Courses Offered:

 

Neuro 301/Bio 492 - Introduction to Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain Ð The brain controls all of our lives; what we sense, how we move, and what we think.   The study of the brain (or neuroscience) is interdisciplinary in that it encompasses diverse scientific disciplines such as medicine, biology, psychology, molecular biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics.  Neuroscience is the fastest growing discipline in experimental biology throughout the world.  This course surveys the many aspects of neuroscience and lays down the foundation for understanding the nervous system control of human behaviors.

 

Link to Current Syllabus

 

Bio 407 - Biology of Women - This course will examine biological sex differentiation and reproductive anatomy. It will cover women's reproductive life from menarche to menopause, including such topics as birth control, infertility, and pregnancy. Women's health issues such as sexually transmitted diseases, breast cancer, eating disorders, osteoporosis, and heart disease will also be covered. Biol/WSt 407 fulfills three hours of biological science (B) or three hours of Tier III capstone (T) for General Education Requirements (GER) for graduation.

 

 

Research Areas:

Neural Mechanisms of Morphine Tolerance and Dependence

Chronic morphine administration induces adaptations in neurons resulting in opioid tolerance and dependence.  The periaqueductal gray area (PAG) neurons are an integral part of the descending pathway that modulates pain impulses in the spinal cord and these neurons are implicated in the expression of many behavioral signs of opioid withdrawal.  However, the cellular mechanisms underlying the changes observed after chronic opioid administration are not understood.  My laboratory uses whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from brain-slices of the PAG to study the cellular mechanisms of opiate tolerance and dependence.  We have previously found that chronic morphine treatment changes the efficacy of coupling of µ-opioid receptors to their effectors resulting in an increased release of GABA from PAG neurons.  We are interested in further exploring these changes within the context of the involvement of PAG neurons in the descending pain pathway and their resulting effects on pain modulation.  We are collaborating with the laboratory of Dr. Michael Morgan so that we might correlate cellular changes in the PAG with behavioral measures of pain and tolerance to morphine.

 

Regulation of Synaptic Transmission in the Midbrain by the Dopamine Transporter

The laboratory is also interested in the cellular mechanisms associated with other drugs of abuse such as psychostimulants (cocaine and amphetamines).  The main cellular target for cocaine and amphetamine are the monoamine neurotransmitter transporters.  These transporters are also the targets for therapeutic drugs for disorders such as depression and attention deficit disorder.  Although the transporters are primarily known for regulating the extracellular concentrations of neurotransmitters through reuptake of released neurotransmitters, they have significant electrical activities as well.  Our recent studies of the electrical properties of the monoamine transporters have shown that these transporters have a potential role in modulating excitability of midbrain neurons (see recent publications).   Future studies are planned to determine the relevance of transporter-associated currents in the regulation of synaptic transmission in monoaminergic neurons associated with reward pathways within the midbrain.

 

 

 

 

Publications

  1. Ingram, S.L., Martenson, M.E. and Baumann, T.K. (1993). Responses of cultured adult monkey trigeminal ganglion neurons to capsaicin. Neuroreport 4:460-462.
  2. Ingram, S.L. and Williams, J.T.  (1994).  Opioid inhibition of Ih via adenylyl cyclase.  Neuron 13(1):179-186.
  3. Martenson, M.E., Ingram, S.L. and Baumann, T.K. (1994). Potentiation of rabbit trigeminal responses to capsaicin in a low pH environment. Brain Research 651:143-147.
  4. Ingram, S.L. and Williams, J.T. (1996).  Modulation of Ih by cyclic nucleotides in guinea pig primary afferent neurons. Journal of Physiology 492(1):97-106.
  5. Vaughn, C.W., Ingram, S.L. and Christie, M.J. (1996). Actions of the ORL1 receptor ligand nociceptin on membrane properties of rat periaqueductal gray neurons in vitro. Journal of Neuroscience 17(3):996-1003.
  6. Baumann, T.K., Burchiel, K.J., Ingram, S.L. and Martenson, M.E. (1996). Responses of adult human dorsal root ganglion neurons in culture to capsaicin and low pH. Pain 65:31-38.
  7. Ingram, S., Wilding, T.J., McCleskey, E.W. and Williams, J.T. (1997). Efficacy and kinetics of opioid action on acutely dissociated neurons. Molecular Pharmacology 52:136-143.
  8. Vaughan, C.W., Ingram, S.L., Connor, M. and Christie, M.J. (1997). How opioids inhibit GABA release. Nature 390:411-414.
  9. Connor, M., Ingram, S.L., Christie, M.J. (1997). Cortistatin increase of a potassium conductance in rat locus coeruleus in vitro. British Journal of Pharmacology 122:1567-1572.
  10. Ingram, S.L., Vaughan, C.W., Bagley, E., Connor, M., and Christie, M.J. (1998). Enhanced opioid efficacy in opioid dependence is due to an altered signal transduction pathway. Journal of Neuroscience 18(24): 10269-76.
  11. Nguyen, V.H., Ingram, S.L., Kassiou, M., Christie, M.J. (1998). Sigma-binding site ligands inhibit K+ currents in rat locus coeruleus neurons in vitro. European Journal of Pharmacology 361(1):157-163.
  12. Christie, M.J., Vaughan, C.W., and Ingram, S.L. (1999). Opioids, NSAIDS and 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors act synergistically in brain via arachidonic acid metabolism. Inflammation Research 48(1): 1-4.
  13. Ingram, S.L. and Amara, S.G. (2000). Arachidonic acid stimulates a novel cocaine-sensitive cation conductance associated with the human dopamine transporter, Journal of Neuroscience 20(2):550-557.
  14. Ingram, S.L. (2000) Cellular and molecular mechanisms of opioid action, Progress in Brain Research: Nervous System Plasticity and Chronic Pain, 129:483-492.
  15. Carneiro,  A.M., Ingram, S.L., Beaulieu, M., Sweeney, A., Amara, S.G., Thomas,  S.M.,  Caron, M.G. and Torres, G.E. (2002). The multiple LIM domain-containing adaptor protein Hic-5 synaptically co-localizes and interacts with the dopamine transporter, Journal of Neuroscience 22:7045-54.

16. Ingram, S.L., Prasad, B.M. and Amara, S.G. (2002) Dopamine transporter-mediated conductances increase excitability of midbrain dopamine neurons. Nature Neuroscience 5:971-8.

17. Connor, M., Bagley, E.E., Mitchell, V.A., Ingram, S.L., Christie, M.J., Humphrey, P.A., and Vaughan, C.W. (2004) Cellular actions of somatostatin on rat periaqueductal grey neurons in vitro. British Journal of Pharmacology doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0705894

18. Morgan, M.M., Tierney, B.W. and Ingram, S.L. (2005). Intermittent dosing prolongs tolerance to the antinociceptive effect of morphine microinjection into the periaqueductal gray. Brain Research, 1059:173-178.

19. Morgan, M.M., Fossum, E.N., Levine, C.S., & Ingram, S.L. (2006). Antinociceptive tolerance revealed by cumulative intracranial microinjections of morphine into the periaqueductal gray in the rat. Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior. 85(1):214-219

20. Heinricher, M.M. and Ingram, S.L. (2007).  The brainstem and nociceptive modulation. Handbook of the Senses, Academic Press: Elsevier (London), in press.

21. Saugstad, J.A. & Ingram, S.L. (2007). Group I Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors. Humana Press, Inc., in press.

22. Ingram, S.L., Fossum, E.N., & Morgan, M.M. (2007). Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence for opioid tolerance in adolescent rats. Neuropsychopharmacology. Mar;32(3):600-6. Epub 2006 Jun 28.

23. Meyer, P.J., Fossum, E.N., Ingram, S.L. & Morgan, M.M. (2007). Analgesic tolerance to microinjection of the µ-opioid agonist DAMGO into the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray. Neuropharmacology. 52(8):1580-5. Epub 2007 Mar 12.

24.  Ingram, S.L., Macey, T.A., Fossum, E.N., & Morgan, M.M. (2007). Increased potency of opioid agonists is associated with tolerance to repeated morphine administration. Neuropsychopharmacology advance online publication 28 November 2007; doi: 10.1038/sj.npp.1301634.

25.  Fossum, E.N., Lisowski, M., Macey, T.A., Ingram, S.L., & Morgan, M.M. (2008). Repeated administration of DMSO reduces the antinociceptive potency of morphine microinjected into the PAG. Brain Research, In press.