Bethany Plakke

Contact Information

Office: BH 413

Lab website: https://bplakke.owlstown.net/

Research Interests

Our lab's research uses rodent models of autism to examine the neurobiology of the disorder and study social interactions, repetitive behaviors, and changes in cognitive flexibility. Our primary model is of Fragile X syndrome, which is the number one cause of intellectual disability. Fragile X rats are created by modifying the Fmr1 gene (Fmr1 knock out) which results in the loss of FMR protein. Projects include using electrophysiology to record from the medial prefrontal cortex during cognitive performance to assess differences in brain function between knock out and wild type animals. We are also interested in understanding change across the life-span and have projects that examine adolescent development as well as in aged animals. Lastly, we have a collaboration with Dr. Julio Hernandez-Pavon to use transcranial magnetic stimulation to improve cognitive performance in rats.

Student Involvement

The lab is actively recruiting students! Interested undergraduate or graduate students should email Dr. Plakke. Students will have the opportunity to design experiments as well as participate in collecting and analyzing data. A variety of techniques including behavioral handling and training of animals, histology, ELISA assays, and immunohistochemistry can be learned by students. Students can develop a project and present the work at regional or national conferences and can gain valuable experience sharing their research.

Representative Publications

C. King, B. Plakke, Maternal choline supplementation modulates cognition and inducesanti-inflammatory signaling in the prefrontal cortices of adolescent rats exposed to maternal immune activation., Brain, Behav. Immun. - Heal. 40 (2024) 100836. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2024.100836.

C. King, B. Plakke, Maternal choline supplementation in neurodevelopmental disorders: mechanistic insights from animal models and future directions., Nutr. Neurosci. (2024) 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1028415X.2024.2377084.

C. King, L.G. Rogers, J. Jansen, B. Sivayokan, J. Neyhard, E. Warnes, S.E. Hall, B. Plakke, Adolescent treadmill exercise enhances hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression and improves cognition in autism-modeled rats., Physiol. Behav. 284 (2024) 114638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114638.

C. King, T. Maze, B. Plakke, Altered prefrontal and cerebellar parvalbumin neuron counts are associated with cognitive changes in male rats., Exp. Brain Res. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-024-06902-y.

B. Sivayokan, C. King, I. Mali, M. Payne, H. Strating, E. Warnes, S.H. Bossmann, B. Plakke, Aerobic exercise improves cognitive flexibility and modulates regional volume changes in a rat model of autism., Behav. Brain Res. 471 (2024) 115136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115136.

C. King, I. Mali, H. Strating, E. Fangman, J. Neyhard, M. Payne, S.H. Bossmann, B. Plakke, Region-Specific Brain Volume Changes Emerge in Adolescence in the Valproic Acid Model of Autism and Parallel Human Findings., Dev. Neurosci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1159/000538932.

I. Mali, M. Payne, C. King, T.R. Maze, T. Davison, B. Challans, S.H. Bossmann, B. Plakke, Adolescent female valproic acid rats have impaired extra-dimensional shifts of attention and enlarged anterior cingulate cortices., Brain Res. 1800 (2023) 148199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2022.148199.

Payne, M., Mali, I., Shrestha, T., McKinnell, Z. E., Bossman,S., Plakke, B. (2021). Increased volumes of lobule VI in a valproic acid model of autism are associated with worse set-shifting performance in male Long-Evan rats. Brain Research,1765, 147495.

McKinnell, Z.E. , Maze, T., Challans, B., Ramos, A., Plakke, B. (2021). Valproic acid treated Long-Evans rats are impaired on attentional set-shifting. Behavioural Brain Research, 397, 112966.

Plakke, B., Romanski, L.M. (2016). Neural circuits in auditory and audiovisual memory. Brain Research. 1640 (Pt B), 278-288.

Plakke, B., Hwang, J., Romanski, L.M. (2015). Inactivation of primate prefrontal cortex impairs auditory and audiovisual working memory. The Journal of Neuroscience, 35(26): 9666-9675.