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Alan Watts
Professor of Biological Sciences, Physiology and Biophysics
Contact Information
Office: HNB 416
Phone: (213)740-1497
E-mail:
watts@usc.edu
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Education
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 B.S. Applied Biology, University of Wales, UK, 1977
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Ph.D. Neuroendocrinology, Oxford University, 1983
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Description of Research
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Summary Statement of Research Interests
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Our work is directed towards understanding how the brain contributes to the development, manifestation, and complications of diabetes and obesity. We do this in two projects that focus on the neural control of energy metabolism.
The first project investigates how peripheral metabolism interacts with the brain to generate adrenocortical and sympathoadrenal hormonal responses. In particular, we are interested in the way that two critical metabolic signals—glucocorticoid hormones and hypoglycemia—are sensed by the brain, and then generate appropriate counter-regulatory responses. We are interested in how glucocorticoids and neurotransmitters interact with neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, which is a major integrative cell group for metabolic control. A major focus is on sets of hindbrain catecholaminergic neurons that project to the forebrain. These neurons are crucial for detecting and encoding information about blood glucose levels. We investigate the way that catecholaminergic neurons and glucocorticoids affect signal transduction and gene regulatory mechanisms in sets of forebrain neurons.
The second project investigates the neural basis of anorexia using dehydration as a physiological challenge. The goal here is to understand the structure and functional interactions between the neural systems that inhibit and stimulate feeding, particularly between the cortex, hypothalamus, and hindbrain.
The techniques we use include: whole animal physiology, in situ hybridization, immunocytochemistry (with confocal and conventional immunofluorescence), tract-tracing, behavioral analysis, and neuroinfomatics.
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Publications
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Book Chapter
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Watts, A., Salter, D. S.
(2004).
Neural Mechanisms of Anorexia. ‘The Handbook of Behavioral Neurobiology. Food and Fluid Intake’/Plenum Press..
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Journal Article
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Watts, A., Sanchez-Watts, G.
(2007).
Rapid and preferential activation of Fos protein in hypocretin/orexin neurons following the reversal of dehydration-anorexia. J. Comp.Neurol..
Vol. 502, pp. 768-782.
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Watts, A., Salter, D. S., Neuner, C. M.
(2007).
Neural network interactions and ingestive behavior control during anorexia. Pysiology & Behavior.
Vol. 91, pp. 389-396.
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Watts, A., Khan, A. M., Ponzio, T. A., Sanchez-Watts, G., Stanley, B. G., Hatton, G. I.
(2007).
Catecholaminergic control of MAP kinase signaling in paraventricular neuroendocrine neurons in vivo and in vitro: A proposed role during glycemic challenges. J.Neuroscience.
Vol. 27, pp. 7344-7360.
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Watts, A., Gorton, L. M., Khan, A. M., Bohland, M. A., Sanchez-Watts, G., Donovan, C. M.
(2007).
A role for the forebrain in mediating time-of-day differences in glucocorticoid counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia. Endocrinology..
Vol. 148, pp. 6026-6039.
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Watts, A., Khan, A. M., Cheng, W. C., Burns, G. A., Hahn, J.
(2006).
NeuroScholar's electronic laboratory notebook and its application to neuroendocrinology. Neuroinformatics.
Vol. 4, pp. 139-162.
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Watts, A., Sanchez-Watts, G., Salter, G., Neuner, C. M.
(2006).
Activation in neural networks controlling ingestive behaviors: what does it mean and how do we map and measure it?. Physiology & Behavior.
Vol. 89, pp. 501-520.
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Watts, A., Swanson, L. W., Sanchez-Watts, G.
(2005).
Comparison of melanin-concentrating hormone and hypocretin/orexin mRNA expression patterns in a new parcelating scheme of the lateral hypothalamic zone. Neuroscience Letters.
Vol. 387, pp. 80-84.
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Watts, A., Khan, A. M.
(2004).
Intravenous 2-deoxy-D-glucose Injection Rapidly Elevates Levels of the Phosphorylated Forms of p44/42 Mitogen Activated Protein Kinases (Erk 1/2) in Rat Hypothalamic Parvocellular Paraventricular Neurons. Endocrinology..
Vol. 145, pp. 351-359.
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Watts, A., Tanimura, S. M., Sanchez-Watts, G.
(2004).
Crh and Avp gene transcription in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus of unstressed rats: daily rhythms and their corticosterone dependence. Endocrinology..
Vol. 145, pp. 529-540.
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Honors and Awards
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Morton Jones Memorial Medal, International Congress of Neuroendocrinology, 2002
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NIH/NSF Career Development Award, 1996-2000
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Service to the Profession
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Editorships and Editorial Boards
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Associate Editor, Obesity, 07/01/2007-
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Editorial board member, Am. J. Physiol (Reg & Comp. Physiol.), 07/2007-
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Editorial board member, Endocrinology, 2005-2010
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Editorial board member, J. Neuroendocrinology, 2003-2008
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