Alan G. Watts
Professor of Biological Sciences (Neurobiology)
Adjunct Professor of Physiology & Biophysics
Research Topics
- Systems neuroscience
- Neural control of metabolism
- Ingestive behaviors
Research Overview
** WE CURRENTLY (November 2009) HAVE VACANCIES FOR POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS TO WORK ON BOTH OF THESE FULLY-FUNDED PROJECTS. If you are interested, please send enquiries and a cv to watts@usc.edu **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 blood glucose (glycemia)--are sensed by the brain, and then generate appropriate counter-regulatory responses.
How the brain and the body senses changes in blood glucose is a fundamental physiological process, the understanding of which is critical to the etiolology of both forms of diabetes. We are interested in how glucocorticoids and neurotransmitters interact with neurons in the hypothalamus, which is a major integrative locus for metabolic control. A major focus of our work 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 responsible for regulating metabolism in health and disease.
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.
Contact Information
- E-mail:
- watts@usc.edu
- Mailing Address:
- University of Southern California
Hedco Neuroscience Building, Rm 416
3641 Watt Way
Los Angeles, CA 90089 - Office Location:
- HNB416
- Office Phone:
- (213) 740-1497
- Lab Location:
- HNB416
- Lab Phone:
- (213) 740-1501
- Fax:
- (213) 741-0561
Education
- BSc (Hons): University of Wales, UK
- D.Phil: University of Oxford, UK
- Post-Doc: Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA
Selected Publications
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Salter-Venzon, D.S. & Watts, A.G. (2008) The role of hypothalamic ingestive behavior controllers in generating dehydration anorexia: a FOS mapping study. Am. J. Physiol. Reg. Comp. Physiol. 295: R1009-1019. -PubMed
Gorton, L. M., Khan, A.M., Bohland, M.A., Sanchez-Watts, G., Donovan, C. M. & Watts, A.G. (2007) A role for the forebrain in mediating time-of-day differences in glucocorticoid counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia. Endocrinology 148: 6026-6039. -PubMed
Khan, A.M., Ponzio, T.A., Sanchez-Watts, G., Stanley, B.G., Hatton, G.I. & Watts, A.G. (2007) Catecholaminergic control of MAP kinase signaling in paraventricular neuroendocrine neurons in vivo and in vitro: A proposed role during glycemic challenges. J. Neuroscience 27: 7344-7360. -PubMed
Fujita S, Bohland M, Sanchez-Watts G, Watts AG, Donovan CM. (2007) Hypoglycemic detection at the portal vein is mediated by capsaicin-sensitive primary sensory neurons. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 293: E96-E101.
-PubMed
Watts AG, Sanchez-Watts G. (2007) Rapid and preferential activation of Fos protein in hypocretin/orexin neurons following the reversal of dehydration-anorexia. J Comp Neurol. 502: 768-782.
-PubMed
Watts, A.G., Salter, D.S., & Neuner, C.M. (2007). Neural network interactions and ingestive behavior control during anorexia. Physiology & Behavior 91: 389-396. -PubMed
Watts AG, Khan AM, Sanchez-Watts G, Salter D, Neuner CM. (2006) Activation in neural networks controlling ingestive behaviors: what does it mean, and how do we map and measure it? Physiology & Behavior 89: 501-10.
-PubMed
Watts AG. (2005) Glucocorticoid regulation of peptide genes in neuroendocrine CRH neurons: a complxity beyond negative feedback. Front Neuroendocrinol. 26:109-30. Review. -PubMed