Rate My Professor Darrin Brager

The Brager Lab examines the cellular and molecular mechanisms of brain function, focusing on voltage-gated ion channels to link pathological neuronal activity with behavioral phenotypes in rodent models of neurological disorders such as Fragile X syndrome, temporal lobe epilepsy, depression, and tuberous sclerosis. Research employs electrophysiological methods including whole-cell somatic and dendritic patch clamp recordings, cell-attached and outside-out patch clamp recordings, synaptic physiology and plasticity studies, acute brain slice preparations, electrical and optogenetic stimulation, Ca²⁺ imaging, and supporting biochemical and histological techniques to explore deficits in neurotransmitter release, ligand-gated channels, voltage-gated channels, and dendritic disorders. Key publications encompass “Activity-dependent regulation of intrinsic excitability in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons” (Fan et al., Nature Neuroscience, 2005), “Plasticity of intrinsic excitability during long-term depression is mediated through mGluR-dependent changes in Ih in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons” (Brager and Johnston, Journal of Neuroscience, 2007), “Impaired dendritic expression and plasticity of h-channels in the fmr1⁻/y mouse model of Fragile X syndrome” (Brager et al., Cell Reports, 2012), “Cell-type specific channelopathies in the prefrontal cortex of the fmr1⁻/y mouse model of Fragile X syndrome” (Kalmbach et al., eNeuro, 2015), “Perisomatic changes in h-channels regulate depressive behaviors following chronic unpredictable stress” (Kim et al., Molecular Psychiatry, 2017), and “Reduced dendritic Na⁺ current impairs dendritic spike generation in L5 PFC neurons in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome” (Brandalise et al., Journal of Physiology, 2023).