Benjamin Clark Lab

Director: Benjamin Clark

Recent Grants:

Cortical-hippocampal coupling during spatial learning and during sleep in mice modelling tau and Ab aggregation features of Alzheimer's disease, NIH/NIA (R01 AG070094-01; PI: AA Wilber, Florida State University), 2021 – 2026; Role: Co-I

Completed Grants:

1. Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Neural Representations of Space. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 2017 – 2019. Role: Co-PI with Dr. Derek Hamilton at University of New Mexico.

2. Neural Mechanisms of Spatial Disorientation in Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s Association Research Grant. 2017 – 2020. Role: PI.

3. The Contributions of Declines in Functional Connectivity to Cognitive Aging, National Institute on Aging, 2016 – 2020. Role: Co-I with Dr. Sara Burke at University of Florida.

Press:

http://www.dailylobo.com/article/2018/06/alzheimers-research-grant

https://news.unm.edu/news/unm-researchers-seek-novel-path-to-understanding-alzheimers-disease?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

https://psych.unm.edu/research/grants/grant/neural-mechanisms-of-spatial-disorientation-in-alzheimers-disease.html

Research Interests

Neurobiology of spatial navigation and memory
Developmental alcohol exposure and spatial memory
Alzheimer's disease and spatial memory

Selected Publications

Pentkowski NS, Rogge-Obando KK, Donaldson TN, Bouquin SJ, Clark BJ. (2021). Anxiety and Alzheimer’s disease: behavioral analysis and neural basis in rodent models of Alzheimer’s-related neuropathology. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 127:647-658.
Harvey RE, Berkowitz LE, Savage DD, Hamilton DA, Clark BJ. (2020). Altered hippocampal place cell representation and theta rhythmicity following moderate prenatal alcohol exposure. Current Biology. 30(18):3556-3569.
Sanchez LM, Goss J, Wagner J, Davies S, Savage DD, Hamilton DA, Clark BJ. (2019). Moderate prenatal alcohol exposure impairs performance in an object-place paired-associate task. Behavioural Brain Research. 360:228-234.
Clark BJ, Simmons CM, Berkowitz LE, Wilber AA. (2018). The retrosplenial-parietal network and reference frame coordination for spatial navigation. Behavioral Neuroscience. 132:416-429.
Clark BJ, Harvey RE. (2016). Do the anterior and lateral thalamic nuclei make distinct contributions to spatial representation and memory? Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. 133:69-78.

Lab

- Undergraduate Research Assistants:
  - Claire Benton (ASSURE Scholar), Project: Prenatal alcohol and spatial memory.
  - Ariyana Lacour, Project: Cortical-hippocampal dynamics and spatial memory in Alzheimer’s disease.
  - Kenda Pina (New Mexico AMP Scholar), Project: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and spatial memory.
  - Rhudovic Ramos, Project: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and cholinergic systems.
  - Kehiry Trejo Rico, Project: Prenatal alcohol and spatial memory.
  - Zara Roy (Honors Program), Project: Prenatal alcohol and sex differences in anxiety.
  - Jessica Walker, Project: Alzheimer’s disease and sex differences in anxiety and depression.
  - Enhui Wang, Project: Prenatal alcohol and spatial memory.
  Graduate Students:
  - Lilliana Sanchez (NIAAA T32 Fellow), Project: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and brain dynamics during paired-associate learning and memory.
  - Gabriela Acosta, Project: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, thalamus, and memory.
  - Tia Donaldson, Project: Alzheimer’s disease and locus coeruleus.

Please contact me via email If you are interested in obtaining undergraduate research experience or pursuing graduate studies in my laboratory.

More information at Dr. Clark's Lab website.