Associate Professor
Year Started at JMU: 2006
brown3jw@jmu.edu
Contact Info
Research Description
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a leading cause of post neonatal infant mortality. Abnormal development in serotonin secreting neurons in select brainstem areas may be at the cause. I am interested in exploring how brainstem serotonin helps coordinate cardiovascular and thermoregulatory protective responses to stress. I am also interested in how environmental stress, like hypoxia or thermal stress, affects the body. This has numerous applications for animal care and post-surgical recovery clinically.
Courses
- Human Physiology (BIO 270)
- Pathophysiology for Physician Assistants (BIO 516 and BIO 517)
- Introductory Neuroscience (BIO301)
Education
- PhD in Physiology, 2006, East Carolina University
- BS in Biology/Pre-Medicine, 1997, Eastern Mennonite University
Publications
- Le, NMP,* Cockburn CL,* Nowell KN,* Brown JW. Activation of GABAA or 5HT1A receptors in the raphé pallidus abolish the cardiovascular responses to exogenous stress in conscious rats. Brain Research Bulletin 86 (2011) 360– 366. DOI:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2011.09.018.
- Le NMP,* Brown JW. Effect of Thermopreference on Circadian Thermoregulation in Sprauge-Dawley and Fisher 344 Rats.Journal of Thermal Biology 37 (2012) 309–315. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2011.09.006.
- Brown, J. W., Sirlin, E. A., Benoit, A. M., Hoffman, J. M., & Darnall, R. A. (2008). Activation of 5-HT1A receptors in medullary raphé disrupts sleep and decreases shivering during cooling in the conscious piglet. American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 294(3), R884-94. DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.00655.2007
*indicates student co-author
Biology Department
