Leah M. Pyter
Post-doctoral
Researcher
Institute for Mind
and Biology
Ph.D., Neuroscience
Research Interests
My broad research interests
are to examine how changes to both internal and external environments alter
brain and behavior. My current
research focuses on how peripheral mammary tumor formation triggers changes in
affective state (e.g., depressive-like behaviors) in rats and seeks to specify
the neuroendocrine and immunological mediators of
this process. Depression and
anxiety disorders are comorbid with a number of
chronic diseases including coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. In cancer patients, these affective
disturbances are assumed to be either
(1) a consequence of an individuals’ knowledge that s/he has been
diagnosed with a life-threatening disease or (2) a consequence of
chemotherapeutic drugs. In part,
perhaps, because of these assumptions, the issues of whether and how tumors
affect brain function have remained more or less entirely neglected. My work is influenced by the established
body of research indicating that acute
infection triggers production of peripheral cytokines, which act in the
brain to induce transient states of depression and anxiety. In common with acute infections, chronic
disease states also yield increases in cytokine production. Therefore, I have begun to test whether
and how chronic exposure to tumor-induced cytokine production affects depression
and anxiety behaviors in a rat mammary tumor model. The data clearly indicate that mammary
tumors increase depressive-like behaviors, alter HPA function, and increase
local, circulating, and limbic system cytokine expression.
I also continue to pursue my
interest in understanding the adaptive
significance of seasonal changes in behavior, reproduction, and immune function
in Siberian hamsters.