Colleen McClung

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Colleen Ann McClung is an American chronobiologist and neuroscientist. She is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh and a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Contents

Education and career

In 1990, McClung began her undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1994 with a major in biology and a minor in Chemistry. [1] In the year of 1995, McClung became a student at the graduate department of the University of Virginia, and in 2001 she received a PhD in biology from the same institution. [1] In 2001, McClung started her postdoctoral work in the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center working with Eric J. Nestler; she remained there until 2003 when she became an instructor in the department of psychiatry at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. From 2005 until 2011, she was an assistant professor at the same department. In 2011, McClung became an associate professor at the Psychiatry Department at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. In 2017, she was promoted to professor. [1]

Research

McClung's research focuses on discovering, analyzing and studying the molecular and biological mechanisms of diseases such as drug addiction, schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar disorder, with a primary interest in understanding their association with circadian rhythms. During her Ph.D. McClung worked on the use of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system to study the genetics of drugs sensitization. [2] [3] [4] McClung went on to study the relationship of circadian rhythms with the development of psychiatric disorders. [5] McClung has also used microarray technologies to examine gene expression changes in the mouse brain in the context of psychiatric disorders, specially addiction. [6] Her work on disrupting clock genes in mice and has led mice to develop bipolar disorder, [7] [8] and shown how circadian rhythms can control moods in people. [9]

Awards and honors

In 2015 McClung was elected a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Fellow (2015). [10] In 2021 she received the Colvin Prizewinner for Outstanding Achievement in Mood Disorder Research from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. [11] [ better source needed ]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amphetamine</span> Central nervous system stimulant

Amphetamine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. Amphetamine was discovered as a chemical in 1887 by Lazăr Edeleanu, and then as a drug in the late 1920s. It exists as two enantiomers: levoamphetamine and dextroamphetamine. Amphetamine properly refers to a specific chemical, the racemic free base, which is equal parts of the two enantiomers in their pure amine forms. The term is frequently used informally to refer to any combination of the enantiomers, or to either of them alone. Historically, it has been used to treat nasal congestion and depression. Amphetamine is also used as an athletic performance enhancer and cognitive enhancer, and recreationally as an aphrodisiac and euphoriant. It is a prescription drug in many countries, and unauthorized possession and distribution of amphetamine are often tightly controlled due to the significant health risks associated with recreational use.

The mesolimbic pathway, sometimes referred to as the reward pathway, is a dopaminergic pathway in the brain. The pathway connects the ventral tegmental area in the midbrain to the ventral striatum of the basal ganglia in the forebrain. The ventral striatum includes the nucleus accumbens and the olfactory tubercle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dextroamphetamine</span> CNS stimulant and isomer of amphetamine

Dextroamphetamine is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and enantiomer of amphetamine that is prescribed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. It is also used as an athletic performance and cognitive enhancer, and recreationally as an aphrodisiac and euphoriant.

The life-process model of addiction is the view that addiction is not a disease but rather a habitual response and a source of gratification and security that can be understood only in the context of social relationships and experiences. This model of addiction is in opposition to the disease model of addiction. It was originated and advocated by Stanton Peele in his book The Truth About Addiction and Recovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suprachiasmatic nucleus</span> Part of the brains hypothalamus

The suprachiasmatic nucleus or nuclei (SCN) is a small region of the brain in the hypothalamus, situated directly above the optic chiasm. It is the principal circadian pacemaker in mammals, responsible for generating circadian rhythms. Reception of light inputs from photosensitive retinal ganglion cells allow it to coordinate the subordinate cellular clocks of the body and entrain to the environment. The neuronal and hormonal activities it generates regulate many different body functions in an approximately 24-hour cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adderall</span> Drug mixture used mainly to treat ADHD and narcolepsy

Adderall and Mydayis are trade names for a combination drug called mixed amphetamine salts containing four salts of amphetamine. The mixture is composed of equal parts racemic amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which produces a (3:1) ratio between dextroamphetamine and levoamphetamine, the two enantiomers of amphetamine. Both enantiomers are stimulants, but differ enough to give Adderall an effects profile distinct from those of racemic amphetamine or dextroamphetamine, which are marketed as Evekeo and Dexedrine/Zenzedi, respectively. Adderall is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. It is also used illicitly as an athletic performance enhancer, cognitive enhancer, appetite suppressant, and recreationally as a euphoriant. It is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the phenethylamine class.

Substance dependence, also known as drug dependence, is a biopsychological situation whereby an individual's functionality is dependent on the necessitated re-consumption of a psychoactive substance because of an adaptive state that has developed within the individual from psychoactive substance consumption that results in the experience of withdrawal and that necessitates the re-consumption of the drug. A drug addiction, a distinct concept from substance dependence, is defined as compulsive, out-of-control drug use, despite negative consequences. An addictive drug is a drug which is both rewarding and reinforcing. ΔFosB, a gene transcription factor, is now known to be a critical component and common factor in the development of virtually all forms of behavioral and drug addictions, but not dependence.

According to proponents of the concept, sexual addiction, also known as sex addiction, is a state characterized by compulsive participation or engagement in sexual activity, particularly sexual intercourse, despite negative consequences. The concept is contentious; neither of the two major mainstream medical categorization systems recognise sex addiction as a real medical condition, instead categorizing such behavior under labels such as compulsive sexual behavior.

Sensitization is a non-associative learning process in which repeated administration of a stimulus results in the progressive amplification of a response. Sensitization often is characterized by an enhancement of response to a whole class of stimuli in addition to the one that is repeated. For example, repetition of a painful stimulus may make one more responsive to a loud noise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protein c-Fos</span> Mammalian protein found in Homo sapiens

Protein c-Fos is a proto-oncogene that is the human homolog of the retroviral oncogene v-fos. It is encoded in humans by the FOS gene. It was first discovered in rat fibroblasts as the transforming gene of the FBJ MSV. It is a part of a bigger Fos family of transcription factors which includes c-Fos, FosB, Fra-1 and Fra-2. It has been mapped to chromosome region 14q21→q31. c-Fos encodes a 62 kDa protein, which forms heterodimer with c-jun, resulting in the formation of AP-1 complex which binds DNA at AP-1 specific sites at the promoter and enhancer regions of target genes and converts extracellular signals into changes of gene expression. It plays an important role in many cellular functions and has been found to be overexpressed in a variety of cancers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CLOCK</span> Human protein and coding gene

CLOCK is a gene encoding a basic helix-loop-helix-PAS transcription factor that is known to affect both the persistence and period of circadian rhythms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FOSB</span> Protein

Protein fosB, also known as FosB and G0/G1 switch regulatory protein 3 (G0S3), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the FBJ murine osteosarcoma viral oncogene homolog B (FOSB) gene.

Behavioral addiction, process addiction, or non-substance-related disorder is a form of addiction that involves a compulsion to engage in a rewarding non-substance-related behavior – sometimes called a natural reward – despite any negative consequences to the person's physical, mental, social or financial well-being. In the brain's reward system, a gene transcription factor known as ΔFosB has been identified as a necessary common factor involved in both behavioral and drug addictions, which are associated with the same set of neural adaptations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric J. Nestler</span> Neuroscientist of addiction and depression

Eric J. Nestler is the Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience, Director of the Friedman Brain Institute, and Dean for Academic Affairs at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Chief Scientific Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. His research is focused on a molecular approach to drug addiction and depression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Addiction</span> Disorder resulting in compulsive behaviours

Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behaviour that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use often alters brain function in ways that perpetuate craving, and weakens self-control. This phenomenon – drugs reshaping brain function – has led to an understanding of addiction as a brain disorder with a complex variety of psychosocial as well as neurobiological factors that are implicated in addiction's development. Classic signs of addiction include compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, preoccupation with substances or behavior, and continued use despite negative consequences. Habits and patterns associated with addiction are typically characterized by immediate gratification, coupled with delayed deleterious effects.

Exercise addiction is a state characterized by a compulsive engagement in any form of physical exercise, despite negative consequences. While regular exercise is generally a healthy activity, exercise addiction generally involves performing excessive amounts of exercise to the detriment of physical health, spending too much time exercising to the detriment of personal and professional life, and exercising regardless of physical injury. It may also involve a state of dependence upon regular exercise which involves the occurrence of severe withdrawal symptoms when the individual is unable to exercise. Differentiating between addictive and healthy exercise behaviors is difficult but there are key factors in determining which category a person may fall into. Exercise addiction shows a high comorbidity with eating disorders.

Cocaine addiction is the compulsive use of cocaine despite adverse consequences. It arises through epigenetic modification and transcriptional regulation of genes in the nucleus accumbens.

Behavioral epigenetics is the field of study examining the role of epigenetics in shaping animal and human behavior. It seeks to explain how nurture shapes nature, where nature refers to biological heredity and nurture refers to virtually everything that occurs during the life-span. Behavioral epigenetics attempts to provide a framework for understanding how the expression of genes is influenced by experiences and the environment to produce individual differences in behaviour, cognition, personality, and mental health.

Addiction vulnerability is an individual's risk of developing an addiction during their lifetime. There are a range of genetic and environmental risk factors for developing an addiction that vary across the population. Genetic and environmental risk factors each account for roughly half of an individual's risk for developing an addiction; the contribution from epigenetic risk factors to the total risk is unknown. Even in individuals with a relatively low genetic risk, exposure to sufficiently high doses of an addictive drug for a long period of time can result in an addiction. In other words, anyone can become an individual with a substance use disorder under particular circumstances. Research is working toward establishing a comprehensive picture of the neurobiology of addiction vulnerability, including all factors at work in propensity for addiction.

Sleep is known to play an important role in the etiology and maintenance of bipolar disorder. Patients with bipolar disorder often have a less stable and more variable circadian activity. Circadian activity disruption can be apparent even if the person concerned is not currently ill.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "BIOGRAPHY". McClung Lab. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  2. McClung, Colleen; Hirsh, Jay (1998-01-15). "Stereotypic behavioral responses to free-base cocaine and the development of behavioral sensitization in Drosophila". Current Biology. 8 (2): 109–112. doi: 10.1016/S0960-9822(98)70041-7 . ISSN   0960-9822. PMID   9427649. S2CID   16198115.
  3. "Fruit flies might explain cocaine addiction". National Post. 1998-01-13. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  4. Larkin, Marilynn (1998). "High flies may speed addiction research". The Lancet. 351 (9098): 271. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)78260-X. S2CID   54237161.
  5. Vergano, Dan (2007-06-21). "Making circadian rhythms tick". The Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  6. McClung, Colleen A.; Nestler, Eric J. (2003). "Regulation of gene expression and cocaine reward by CREB and ΔFosB". Nature Neuroscience. 6 (11): 1208–1215. doi:10.1038/nn1143. ISSN   1546-1726. PMID   14566342. S2CID   38115726.
  7. "Learned this week". The Vancouver Sun. 2007-03-24. p. 41. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  8. Talan, Jamie (2006-11-02). "Clues to mental illness". Newsday (Suffolk Edition). p. 36. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  9. McClung, Colleen A. (2013-08-15). "How Might Circadian Rhythms Control Mood? Let Me Count the Ways..." Biological Psychiatry. 74 (4): 242–249. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.02.019. ISSN   0006-3223. PMC   3725187 . PMID   23558300.
  10. "Members of the American College of Neuropharmacology" (PDF). Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  11. "Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Awards 2021 Outstanding Achievement Prizes to Nine Leading Psychiatric Researchers". New York [New York]: NASDAQ OMX's News Release Distribution Channel. 20 Oct 2021.