Department of Psychology

Research Interests

Dr. McIntyre's research centers on developing a fuller understanding of the mechanisms of neuroplasticity as reflected in both epilepsy and learning/memory. The experiments are broadly based in electrophysiology, anatomy and behaviour. The electrophysiological work is often accomplished in whole animals and makes extensive use of the kindling model of epilepsy. Additional electrophysiological studies are conducted using in vitro slice preparations of various temporal areas. Most particularly the work concentrates on the perirhinal cortex and its relationhips both anatomically and functional with other limbic structures, most notably the piriform and entorhinal cortices, the amygdala and hippocampus. In this work, the perirhinal cortex is showing itself to be important in both convulsive seizure development and several forms of learning. Research is supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR).

Publications

Schwabe, K., Gravrilovici, C., McIntyre, D.C. and Poulter, M.O.  (2005)  Differential neurosteroid activity on GABAA receptors in seizure-prone and seizure-resistant rats. Journal of Neurophysiology (in press)

Reinhart, C.J., McIntyre, D.C., Metz, G. A. S., Pellis, S. M. (2005) Play fighting in kindling-prone (FAST) and kindling-resistant (SLOW) rats. Journal of Comparative Psychology (in press)

Gilby K.L., Goncalves da Silva A. and McIntyre D.C. (2005) Differential GABAA subunit expression following status epilepticus in seizure-prone and seizure-resistant rats: A putative mechanism for refractory behavior. Epilepsia (in press)

Gilby, K.L., Kelly, M.E., McIntyre, D.C and Robertson, H.A. (2005) Neuroprotection and neurorescue by clomethiazole following hypoxic-ischemic injury: A functional evaluation using afterdischarge thresholds and kindling. Neuroscience 131(4):785-92.

Xu, B., Fahnestock, M., McIntyre, D.C. and Racine, R.J. (2004) Strain differences affect in induction of status epilepticus and seizure-induced morphological changes. European Journal of Neuroscience Jul;20(2):403-18.

Reinhart, C.J., McIntyre, D.C. and Pellis, S.M. (2004) The development of play fighting in kindling-prone (FAST) and kindling-resistant (SLOW) rats: How does the retention of phenotypic juvenility affect the complexity of play? Developmental Psychobiology Sep;45(2):83-92.

Shin, R. Merali, Z., Anisman, H. and McIntyre, D.C. (2004) Amygdala amino acid and monoamine levels in genetically fast and slow kindling rat strains during massed amygdala kindling. European Journal of Neuroscience Jul;20(1):185-94.

Foster, J.A., Puchowicz, M.J., McIntyre, D.C. and  Herkenham, M. (2004) Activin mRNA induced during amygdala kindling shows a spatiotemporal progression that tracks the spread of seizures. J. Comparative Neurology Aug 9;476(1):91-102.

McIntyre, D.C., McLeod, W. and Anisman, H. (2004) Working and reference memory in seizure-prone and seizure-resistant rats: Impact of amygdala kindling. Behavioral Neuroscience . Apr;118(2):314-23.

McIntyre, D.C. (2004) Kindling. Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. 3; 1-3

Flynn, C., Monfils, M-H., Kleim, J.A., Kolb, B., McIntyre, D.C., and Teskey, G.C. (2004) Differential neuroplastic changes in neocortical movement representations and dendritic morphology in epilepsy-prone and epilepsy-resistant rat strains following high-frequency stimulation. European J. Neuroscience April;19(8):2319-28.

Racine, R.J., Steingart, M. Bureau, Y. and McIntyre, D.C. (2003) Differential sensitivity of genetically Fast versus Slow Kindling rats strains to GABAergic convulsive agents. Neuropharmacology. 45(7): 918-924.

Kelly, O.P.,  McIntosh,J.,  McIntyre, D.C., Merali, Z. and Anisman, H . (2003) Anxiety in rats selectively bred for fast and slow kindling rates: situation-specific outcomes. Stress   6: 289-295.

Anisman, H, and McIntyre, D.C. (2002) Conceptual, spatial and cue learning in the Morris water-maze in Fast or Slow kindling rats: attention deficit comorbidity.  Journal of  Neuroscience. 22(17): 7809-7817.

McIntyre, D.C., Hutcheon, B., Schwabe, K. and  Poulter, M.O.  (2002) Divergent GABAA receptor mediated synaptic transmission in genetically seizure-prone and seizure-­resistant rats. Journal of Neuroscience. 22(22): 9922-9931.

Anisman, H. and McIntyre, D.C. (2002) Impulsivity and attention deficits in rats bred for seizure susceptibility. Iberoamericana de informacian cientifica . A4 1-6.

Shin, R. Merali, Z., Anisman, H. and McIntyre, D.C. (2002) Changes in extracellular levels of amygdala amino acids in genetically Fast versus Slow kindling rat strains. Brain Research, 946:31-42.

Kelly M.E., Staines, W.A. and McIntyre, D.C. (2002) Secondary generalization of

hippocampal kindled seizures: role of the piriform cortex. Brain Research  957:152-161.

 McIntyre, D.C., Poulter, M.O. and Gilby, K. (2002) Kindling: some old some new. Epilepsy Research . 50: 79-92.

Coulter, D.A., McIntyre, D.C. and Löscher, W. (2002) Animal models of limbic epilepsy: What can they tell us? Brain Pathology , 12: 240-257.

Recent Book Chapters
McIntyre D.C. and Schwartzkroin, P.A  (2006) The Limbic System: Structure and Function, In J. Engel and T. Pedley (Eds.), EPILEPSY: A comprehensive  textbook , Lippincott-Raven, New York (in press).

McIntyre, D.C., Kelly, M.E. and Staines, W.A. (2005) The pathophysiology of seizure circuitry in status epilepticus. MIT Press  (in press).

McIntyre, D.C. and Gilby, K.L. (2005) Parahippocampal Networks, Intractability and the Chronic Epilepsy of Kindling, In  Warren Blume (Ed.) Intractable Epilepsy Conference Advances, pp77-83 in Neurology, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia.

McIntyre, D.C. and Gilby, K.L. (2005) Electrophysiological and anatomical differences, behavioral comorbidities and gene expression in Fast and Slow kindling rat strains, In M.E. Corcoran & S.L. Moshe (Eds.) Kindling 6 , pp 171-181, Kluver Press, New York.

McIntyre, D.C. (2005) The kindling model. In Pitkanen, A., Moshe, S. and Schwartzkroin, P.A. (Eds.) Models of Seizures and Epilepsy , pp. 351-365, Elsevier, San Diego.