Office: 102 Sheen Science Center B
Phone: 727-864-7899
Fax: 727-864-8382
Email: gerdemgl@eckerd.edu

Degrees

Ph.D. Pharmacology; Vanderbilt University 2001
B.S. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Centre College 1995

Professional Experience

Visiting Scholar, Dept of Pharmacology; University of Arizona Health Sciences Center; Tucson, Arizona. 2007-present.

Research Associate, Dept of Pharmacology; University of Arizona Health Sciences Center; Tucson, Arizona. 2001-2007.

Research Fellow, Mind & Life Summer Research Institute (www.mindandlife.org); Garrison Institute, New York. 2007

Courses Taught

Cell Biology (BI202), General and Molecular Physiology (BI308), Others TBA

Research Interests
Neurosciences, pharmacology, synaptic plasticity, drug addiction

My research focuses on the endocannabinoid signalling system, and its influence on neurophysiology, homeostasis, memory and behavior. The endocannabinoids are bioactive lipids, derived and released from cellular membranes in response to various patterns of physiological stimulation. In mammals, endocannabinoids activate the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors, so named because these cell surface receptor proteins are also the principal targets of (phyto-)cannabinoid compounds derived from Cannabis sativa, especially the psychoactive constituent Δ ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). I have had opportunity to study this system from the level of cellular neurophysiology, using techniques of electrophysiology and biochemistry, to the levels of learning and behavior. Of special interest to me are the roles of endocannabinoids and CB1 receptors in mediating certain forms of synaptic plasticity in the brain – thought to represent learning and memory at the cellular level.

In particular, I have studied a brain network called the basal ganglia, which is critical for motor function and the formation of procedural, habitual memories. As a postdoc, I researched the function of the CB1 receptor in the striatum (part of the basal ganglia) of rats as they acquired habitual foraging routines, and found that endocannabinoid signalling is a critical factor involved in the consolidation of these habitual memories. This builds upon my PhD research, which demonstrated that striatal neurons release endocannabinoids, as retrograde synaptic messengers... in this way endocannabinoids travel backwards across synapses, and appear to act as a molecular learning signal to induce a long-lasting synaptic plasticity. My work has contributed to a larger body of research pointing to the endocannabinoid system as a promising target for therapeutic treatment of a variety of neurological diseases involving the basal ganglia, ranging from Parkinson’s Disease and related dyskinesias, to Tourette’s Syndrome, and even addiction disorders (in some sense, all of these can be characterized as disorders of unwanted habitual routines).

Together with collaborators at the University of Arizona (where I maintain an appointment of Visiting Scholar) and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio, I am co-directing a new, NSF-funded project to study the role of endocannabinoid signalling in the physiological benefits and evolutionary origins of endurance running behaviors. This project offers considerable potential for undergraduate research experience.

At Eckerd I hope to pursue other questions of interest, especially regarding the evolutionary and developmental biology of cannabinoid receptors and their physiological functions. There is evidence that retrograde endocannabinoid signalling is an evolutionarily ancient system, by which diverse organisms fine-tune synaptic properties to modulate neuronal function. I am very interested to investigate the expression of cannabinoid receptors, and the function of endocannabinoids and related bioactive lipids, in invertebrate nervous systems.

Research Grants

Co-Principal Investigator, "Neurobiological Rewards in the Evolution of Endurance Running in Humans and Cursorial Mammals." Funded by the National Science Foundation, 2008. Collaboration with Dr. David Raichlen (Univ Arizona) and Dr. Andrea Giuffrida (Univ Texas at San Antonio).

Postdoctoral research, “The Functional Neurobiology of Cannabinoids in Brain” (U01 DA14263-04). Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse; 2002-2007.

Predoctoral research, “Cannabinoid Modulation of Neostriatal Glutamate Release.” National Research Service Award, (F31 DA05928). Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse; 1999-2001.

Collaborators

David Raichlen, University of Arizona

Andrea Giuffrida, UT Health Sciences Center

Ted Garland, UC Riverside

Other Interests
Music and nature. Philosophies of nonviolence and interdependence. Traditional West African percussion, and other hand drumming. I am fascinated by spiritual practices of contemplative, yogic and shamanic traditions, and the intersection of these practices (and world views) with the perspectives of modern neuroscience. Meditation, hiking, and camping are all important in my life.

Selected publications/manuscripts

Gerdeman, G.L., Schechter, J.B. and French, E.D. (in preparation) Striatal CB1 cannabinoid receptors serve a necessary function in stimulus-response habit learning.

Keeney, B.K., Raichlen, D.A., Meek, T.H., Wijeratne, R.S., Middleton, K.M., Gerdeman, G.L. and Garland, T. (in review) Differential response to a selective cannabinoid receptor antagonist (SR141716: rimonabant) in female mice from lines selectively bred for high voluntary wheel-running behaviour.

Gerdeman, G.L., Schechter, J.B. and French, E.D. (2008, in press) Context-specific reversal of locomotor sensitization to cocaine by the CB1 receptor antagonist rimonabant. Neuropsychopharmacology, advance online publication, 5 December 2007; doi:10.1038/sj.npp.1301648.

Gerdeman, G.L. (2008) Endocannabinoids at the synapse – retrograde signaling and presynaptic plasticity in the brain. In Cannabinoids and the Brain, Attila Köfalvi, ed. (Springer: New York) pp. 203-236.

Gerdeman, G.L. and Fernández-Ruiz, J. (2008) The endocannabinoid system in the physiology and pathology of the basal ganglia. In Cannabinoids and the Brain, Attila Köfalvi, ed. (Springer: New York) pp. 423-483.

Ronesi, J., Gerdeman, G. L. and Lovinger, D. M. (2004) Disruption of endocannabinoid release and striatal long-term depression by postsynaptic blockade of endocannabinoid membrane transport. Journal of Neuroscience, 24(7): 1673-1679.

Gerdeman, G. L., Partridge, J. P., Lupica, C. R. and Lovinger, D. M. (2003) It could be habit forming: drugs of abuse and striatal synaptic plasticity. Trends in Neurosciences, 26(4): 184-192.

Gerdeman, G.L. and Lovinger, D.M. (2003) Emerging roles for endocannabinoids in long-term synaptic plasticity. British Journal of Pharmacology, 140: 781-789.

Gerdeman, G. L., Ronesi, J. and Lovinger, D. M. (2002) Postsynaptic endocannabinoid release is critical to long-term depression in the striatum. Nature Neuroscience 5: 446-451.

Gerdeman, G. and Lovinger, D. M. (2001) CB1 cannabinoid receptor inhibits synaptic release of glutamate in rat dorsolateral striatum. Journal of Neurophysiology 85: 468-471.