M. Bruce MacIver

Title
Associate Professor

Department
Anesthesia

Research Interests
CNS depressants in hippocampal and neocortical brain slices; whole cell patch clamp and field EEG recordings to compare anesthetic actions on synaptic currents and cortical circuit function.

Email
maciver@stanford.edu

Phone
725-5851

Fax
725-5872

Address
SUMC S 288
Mail Code: 5117

Faculty Research Description
Neuropharmacology

Cellular, synaptic and molecular mechanisms of action of central nervous system drugs; especially barbiturates, opiates, anesthetics and other CNS depressants.

We use electrophysiological recording techniques and selective pharmacological probes, in hippocampal and cortical brain slices and in chronically instrumented animals, to investigate the sites and mechanisms of action for CNS active agents.

The long-term goal of our studies is to provide physiological background information required for the rational design of safer and more effective anesthetics and analgesics. Our recent studies have focussed on anesthetic effects at glutamate and GABA-mediated synapses as important targets for the CNS depressant effects of these agents. Depressed glutamate-mediated excitatory neurotransmission appears to be a common effect produced by most general anesthetics.

We are currently studying agent specific actions at AMPA and NMDA glutamate receptor subtypes. Enhanced GABA-mediated inhibitory neurotransmission also appears to play an important role for many anesthetics. Anesthetics appear to act at both pre- and post-synaptic sites to alter neurotransmission in higher brain centers. Thus, discrete synaptic targets could provide fruitful avenues for the development of safer and more effective therapeutic agents for analgesia and anesthesia.

Lukatch, H.S. and MacIver, M.B. (1997) Physiology, pharmacology and topography of cholinergic neocortical ocillations in vitro. Journal of Neurophysiology, 77:2427-2445.

MacIver, M.B., Mikulec, A.A., Amagasu, S.M. and Monroe, F.A. (1996) Volatile anesthetics depress glutamate transmission via presynaptic actions. Anesthesiology, 85(4):823-34.

MacIver M.B., Tanelian D.L. Structural and Functional Specialization of Ad and C Fiber Free Nerve Endings Innervating Rabbit Corneal Epithelium. J. Neurosci. 13(10):4511-4524, 1993.

Tanelian D.L., Kosek P., Mody I., MacIver M.B. The role of the GABA receptor/chloride channel complex in anesthesia. Anesthesiology. 78(4):757-776, 1993.

Lukatch, H.S. and MacIver, M.B. Voltage-clamp analysis of halothane effects on GABA(A fast) and GABA(A slow) inhibitory currents. Brain Res. 1997 Aug 8; 765(1): 108-112.

Areas of Study
Cellular Neurobiology
Membrane Excitability
Molecular Neurobiology
SBRC
Ph.D.