Anna Patten

Research Interests

My research focuses on learning and memory and the functioning of the hippocampus. I am particularly interested in examining learning and memory following prenatal ethanol exposure, which results in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Throughout my time as a PhD student, I studied the effects of alcohol on hippocampal function, and saw that long-term potentiation (LTP, the synaptic plasticity process thought to underlie learning and memory) was significantly affected long-term in animals exposed to alcohol during the prenatal period. I determined that one of the factors contributing to the deficit was a decrease in antioxidant levels in the hippocampus. Based on these results, I used postnatal supplementation to try and rescue learning and memory. The two compounds I used were N-acetylcysteine, a compound that increases glutathione, the major antioxidant in the brain, and omega-3 fatty acids, also known to enhance antioxidants including glutathione. Postnatal supplementation with either of these supplements was able to rescue the antioxidant deficits in the brains of animals exposed to alcohol and also enhanced LTP. These results indicate that dietary supplementation with antioxidant rich products can potentially rescue learning and memory deficits associated with FASD.

As a Postdoctoral Fellow I am continuing my work into nutrition and the brain, with particular focus on enhancing cognition using natural dietary supplements high in antioxidants and determining how these nutrients might cause such significant benefits on learning and memory.

Representative publications

Anna R. Patten, Christine J. Fontaine and Brain R. Christie (2014). A comparison of the different animal models of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and their use in studying complex behaviors (Invited Review). Frontiers in Pediatrics, section Child and Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry. 2: 93. doi: 10.3389/fped.2014.00093.

Anna R. Patten, Patricia S. Brocardo, Claire Sakiyama, Ryan Wortman, Athena Noonan, Joana Gil-Mohapel and Brian R. Christie (2013). Impairments in hippocampal synaptic plasticity following prenatal ethanol exposure are dependent on glutathione levels. Hippocampus. 23: 1463-1475. doi: 10.1002/hipo.22199.

Anna R. Patten, Helle Sickmann, Roger Dyer, Shelia Innis and Brian R. Christie (2012). Omega-3 Fatty Acids Reverse the Long-Term Deficits in Hippocampal Synaptic Plasticity Caused by Prenatal Ethanol Exposure. Neuroscience Letters. 13(551): 7-11. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2013.05.051.

Anna R. Patten, Patricia Brocardo, Brian Christie (2013). Omega-3 supplementation can restore glutathione levels and prevent oxidative damage caused by prenatal ethanol exposure. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 24(5):760-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2012.04.003.

Anna R. Patten, Helle Sickmann, Tessa Kucharsky, Brett Hryciw, Roberta Parton, Aimee Kernick and Brian R. Christie (2013). Long-term exercise is needed to enhance synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. Learning and Memory. 20(11):642-7 doi: 10.1101/lm.030635.113.

Anna R. Patten*, Daniel Moller*, Joana Gil-Mohapel, Brian R. Christie (2012). Liquid diets reduce cell proliferation but not neurogenesis in the adult rat hippocampus. Neuroscience. S0306-4522(13) 00796-3 (E-pub ahead of print). doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.09.024.          * = Shared first-authorship.