|
|
Department of Biology and
Wildlife
University of Alaska
Fairbanks
Po Box
757000
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7000 |
After
completing his undergraduate work and a M.S degree in Biology at the
University of Groningen, Netherlands, Abel Bult-Ito received a Ph.D. in
Biology from Wesleyan University in 1993. Following postdoctoral positions
at Yale University and Michigan State University, he joined Middlebury
College as an Assistant Professor in 1997. Abel Bult-Ito moved to the
University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1999 and was promoted to
Associated Professor in 2003.
|
|
|
RESEARCH
INTERESTS OF THE BULT-ITO LABORATORY
My
research program currently focuses on the neural regulation of
thermoregulation and circadian (24-h) rhythms in mice and red-backed
voles. These traits represent key adaptations to the extreme environments
in Alaska. Unique mouse strains are employed that were bidirectionally
selected for thermoregulatory nest-building behavior. Selection resulted
in a 40-fold difference between the big and small nest-builders in the
amount of cotton used for a nest. In addition, the big and small
nest-builders are different in their circadian activity patterns and
neuroanatomical features of the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the
hypothalamus, the circadian clock in mammals. A major goal of the research
program is to identify causal relationships between the behavioral and
neuroanatomical differences between the selected lines employing
behavioral, neuroanatomical, (neuro-)physiological, pharmacological, and
molecular approaches. We are also developing these mouse lines as an
animal model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. In addition, we are
currently describing the circadian activity patterns and suprachiasmatic
nucleus neuroanatomy of the northern red-backed vole, Clethrionomys
rutilus, with the goal to investigate circadian rhythm adaptations in the
Arctic.
|
|
SELECTED
PUBLICATIONS
M.R.
Castillo, K.J. Hochstetler, D.M. Greene, S.I. Firmin, R.J. Tavernier, D.K.
Raap, A. Bult-Ito (2005) Circadian Rhythm of Core Body Temperature in Two
Laboratory Mouse Lines. Physiology & Behavior, in press.
D.R.
Van der Veen, M.R. Castillo, E.A. Van der Zee, K. Jansen, M.P. Gerkema, A.
Bult-Ito (2005) Circadian dynamics of vasopressin in mouse selection
lines: translation and release in the SCN. Brain Research, in press.
M.R.
Castillo, K.J. Hochstetler, R.J. Tavernier, Jr., D.M. Greene and A.
Bult-Ito (2004) Entrainment of the master circadian clock by scheduled
feeding. American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and
Comparative Physiology 287:R551-R555.
R.J.
Tavernier, A.L. Largen, and A. Bult-Ito (2004) Circadian organization of a
subarctic rodent, the northern red-backed vole (Clethrionomys rutilus).
Journal of Biological Rhythms 19:238-247.
K.J.
Hochstetler, T. Garland, Jr., J.G. Swallow, P.A. Carter, and A. Bult-Ito
(2004) Number of arginine-vasopressin neurons in the suprachiasmatic
nuclei is not related to level or circadian characteristics of
wheel-running activity in house mice. Behavior Genetics 34:131-136.
N.K.
McGrath-Hanna, D.M. Greene, R.J. Tavernier, and A. Bult-Ito (2003) Diet
and mental health in the Arctic: Is diet an important risk factor for
mental health in circumpolar peoples? – A review. International Journal
of Circumpolar Health 62:228-241.
|
