UCLA Neuroscience Program Ph.D. Admissions Neuroscience Faculty UCLA and Beyond  



David Glanzman
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

Email Address:  dglanzman@physci.ucla.edu
Work Email Address:  dglanzman@physci.ucla.edu

Work Address:
Gonda (Goldschmied) Center
Gonda (Goldschmied) Center
Phone Numbers:
(310) 206-4852 Laboratory
(310)206-9972 Office

Selected Publications:

Glanzman DL New tricks for an old slug: The critical role of postsynaptic mechanisms in learning and memory in Aplysia. Prog. Brain Res. 2008; 169C: 277-292.
Jami SA, Wright WG, Glanzman DL. Differential classical conditioning of the gill-withdrawal reflex in Aplysia recruits both NMDA receptor-dependent enhancement and NMDA receptor-dependent depression of the reflex. J Neurosci 2007; 27(12): 3064-8.
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Glanzman, D. L Simple minds: the neurobiology of invertebrate learning and memory. Invertebrate Neurobiology 2007; 347-380.
Villareal G, Li Q, Cai D, Glanzman DL The role of rapid, local, postsynaptic protein synthesis in learning-related synaptic facilitation in Aplysia. Curr. Biol. 2007; 17(23): 2073-2080.
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Glanzman DL. The cellular mechanisms of learning in Aplysia: of blind men and elephants.. Biol Bull 2006; 210(3): 271-9.
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Li Q, Roberts AC, Glanzman DL. Synaptic facilitation and behavioral dishabituation in Aplysia: dependence on release of Ca2+ from postsynaptic intracellular stores, postsynaptic exocytosis, and modulation of postsynaptic AMPA receptor efficacy.. J Neurosci 2005; 25(23): 5623-37.
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Roberts AC, Glanzman DL. Learning in Aplysia: looking at synaptic plasticity from both sides.. Trends Neurosci 2003; 26(12): 662-70.
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Ezzeddine Y, Glanzman DL. Prolonged habituation of the gill-withdrawal reflex in Aplysia depends on protein synthesis, protein phosphatase activity, and postsynaptic glutamate receptors.. J Neurosci 2003; 23(29): 9585-94.
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Chitwood RA, Li Q, Glanzman DL. Serotonin facilitates AMPA-type reponses in isolated siphon motor neurons of Aplysia in culture.. J Physiol 2001; 534(Pt 2): 501-10.
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Murphy GG, Glanzman DL. Cellular analog of differential classical conditioning in Aplysia: disruption by the NMDA receptor antagonist DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate.. J Neurosci 1999; 19(23): 10595-602.
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Bedi Supinder S, Cai Diancai, Glanzman David L Effects of axotomy on cultured sensory neurons of aplysia: long-term injury-induced changes in excitability and morphology are mediated by different signaling pathways.. Journal of neurophysiology. 2008; 100(6): 3209-24.
Fulton Daniel, Condro Michael C, Pearce Kaycey, Glanzman David L The potential role of postsynaptic phospholipase C activity in synaptic facilitation and behavioral sensitization in Aplysia.. Journal of neurophysiology. 2008; 100(1): 108-16.
Cai Diancai, Chen Shanping, Glanzman David L Postsynaptic regulation of long-term facilitation in Aplysia.. Current biology : CB. 2008; 18(12): 920-5.
Research Interest:

My laboratory's interests are in the cell biology of learning and memory in the marine snail Aplysia californica. This animal has a relatively simple nervous system that provides a valuable experimental model for understanding the cellular mechanisms that underlie simple forms of learning, such as habituation, sensitization, and classical conditioning. Another experimental advantage of Aplysia is that neurons that mediate specific behaviors can be placed into dissociated cell culture where they will reform their synaptic connections. These in vitro synapses are very useful for cellular and molecular studies of short- and long-term synaptic plasticity. Currently, my laboratory is investigating the modulation of AMPA-type glutamate receptors during learning in Aplysia. We have found that serotonin, an endogenous monoamine that plays a central role in learning in Aplysia, modulates the efficacy of AMPA-type receptors in the motor neurons. We wish to understand the cellular mechanisms of this modulation of AMPA-type receptors. One possibility is that serotonin affects the trafficking of AMPA receptors in the motor neurons, causing additional receptors to be delivered to postsynaptic sites via exocytosis. We also wish to understand the role of modulation of AMPA receptors in learning in Aplysia. We have recently shown that both serotonin-dependent synaptic facilitation and behavioral dishabituation in Aplysia appear to depend critically on modulation of AMPA receptor trafficking. In future work we will determine whether alteration of AMPA receptor trafficking plays a role in other forms of learning-related synaptic plasticity in Aplysia, such as LTP and LTD. We will also investigate whether habituation depends on down-regulation of AMPA receptor function in Aplysia motor neurons.