Dr. Frick will recruit a new graduate student for Fall 2024 admission to the Clinical PhD program.
Web Site: Neuroendocrinology of Memory Lab
Degree:
Ph.D., M.A., The Johns Hopkins University
Research Interests:
The primary focus of our research is to understand how sex-steroid hormones, aging, and environmental factors affect hippocampal function and hippocampal-dependent memory. This work is motivated by the rapidly expanding elderly population worldwide, which will greatly increase the prevalence of age-related cognitive decline and dementia. Our ultimate goal is to help mitigate the impact of cognitive aging on the individual and society by facilitating the development of treatments to reduce or prevent age-related memory decline in humans. To this end, we utilize rodents as research subjects because rodent species offer an unparalleled opportunity to examine systems-level and cellular-level questions about memory formation in a mammalian system where the effects of aging, hormones, and environmental stimulation are similar to those in humans. Our studies combine a variety of approaches including behavioral, biochemical, pharmacological, genetic, and anatomical methods in order to gain a more detailed picture of the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of aging, estrogens, progestagens, and environmental enrichment on the hippocampus and hippocampal memory formation.
Courses Taught:
Psych 101: Introduction to Psychology
Psych 645: Hormones and Behavior
Psych 682: The Aging Brain
Selected Publications
Kim, J., Schalk, J. C., Koss, W. A., Gremminger, R. L., Taxier, L. R., Gross, K. S., & Frick, K. M. (2019, November).
Dorsal hippocampal actin polymerization is necessary for activation of G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) to increase CA1 dendritic spine density and enhance memory consolidation. The Journal of Neuroscience,
39(48), 9598-9610.
Taxier, L. R., Philippi, S. M., Fortress, A. M., & Frick, K. M. (2019, August).
Dickkopf-1 blocks 17β-estradiol-enhanced object memory consolidation in ovariectomized female mice. Hormones and Behavior,
114, 104545.
Tuscher, J. J., Taxier, L. R., Fortress, A. M., & Frick, K. M. (2018, December).
Chemogenetic inactivation of the dorsal hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex, individually and concurrently, impairs object recognition and spatial memory consolidation in female mice. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory,
156, 103-116.
Hanson, A. M., Sampathi Perera, K. L., Kim, J., Pandey, R. K., Sweeney, N. K., Lu, X., Imhoff, A., Mackinnon, A. C., Frick, K. M., Donaldson, W. A., & Sem, D. S. (2018, June).
A-C estrogens as potent and selective estrogen receptor-beta agonists (SERBAs) to enhance memory consolidation under low-estrogen conditions. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry,
61(11), 4720-4738.
Frick, K. M., Tuscher, J. J., Koss, W. A., Kim, J., & Taxier, L. R. (2017, July (3rd Quarter/Summer)).
Estrogenic regulation of memory consolidation: A look beyond the hippocampus, ovaries, and females. Saldanha, C., & Robinson, T. (Eds.).
Physiology and Behavior,
187, 57-66.
Koss, W. A., & Frick, K. M. (2016, November). Sex differences in hippocampal function. Journal of Neuroscience Research, 95(1-2), 539-562 (Invited review for Special issue entitled, “An Issue Whose Time Has Come: Sex/Gender Influences on Nervous System Function”).
Tuscher, J. J., Szinte, J. S., Starrett, J. R., Krentzel, A. A., Fortress, A. M., Remage-Healey, L., & Frick, K. M. (2016, May). Inhibition of local estrogen synthesis in the hippocampus impairs memory consolidation in ovariectomized female mice. Hormones and Behavior, 83, 60-67.
Kim, J., Szinte, J. S., Boulware, M. I., & Frick, K. M. (2016, March). 17β-estradiol and agonism of G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor enhance hippocampal memory via different cell-signaling mechanisms. Journal of Neuroscience, 36(11), 3309-3321.
Tuscher, J. J., Luine, V. N., Frankfurt, M., & Frick, K. M. (2016, January (1st Quarter/Winter)). Estradiol-mediated spine changes in the dorsal hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex of ovariectomized female mice depend on ERK and mTOR activation in the dorsal hippocampus. Journal of Neuroscience, 36(5), 1483-1489.
Frick, K. M. (2015, September). Molecular mechanisms underlying the memory-enhancing effects of estradiol. Hormones and Behavior, 74, 4-18 (Invited review for Special issue entitled, “Estradiol and Cognition” for the 2015 Society for Neuroscience meeting).
Frick, K. M., Kim, J., Tuscher, J. J., & Fortress, A. M. (2015, September).
Sex steroid hormones matter for learning and memory: Estrogenic regulation of hippocampal function in male and female rodents. Learning and Memory,
22(9), 472-493 (Invited review for Special issue for the Molecular and Cellular Cognition Society meeting at the 2015 Society for Neuroscience meeting).
Tuscher, J. J., Fortress, A. M., Kim, J., & Frick, K. M. (2015, May).
Regulation of object recognition and object placement by ovarian sex steroid hormones. Behavioural Brain Research,
285, 140-157 (Invited review for Special issue entitled, “Object Recognition Memory in Rats and Mice”).
Twining, R. C., Tuscher, J. J., Doncheck, E. M., Frick, K. M., & Mueller, D. (2013, May).
17β-Estradiol is necessary for extinction of cocaine seeking in female rats. Learning & Memory,
20, 300-306.
Fortress, A. M., Kim, J., Poole, R. L., Gould, T. J., & Frick, K. M. (2013, February).
Estradiol-induced epigenetic changes and memory consolidation in middle-aged mice. Learning and Memory,
21(9), 457-467.
Fortress, A. M., Schram, S. L., Tuscher, J. J., & Frick, K. M. (2013, July (3rd Quarter/Summer)).
Canonical Wnt signaling is necessary for object recognition memory consolidation. Journal of Neuroscience,
33(31), 12619-12626.
Zhao, Z., Fan, L., Fortress, A. M., Boulware, M. I., & Frick, K. M. (2012, February).
Hippocampal histone acetylation regulates object recognition and the estradiol-induced enhancement of object recognition. Journal of Neuroscience,
32(7), 2344-2351.
Fan, L., Zhao, Z., Orr, P. T., Chambers, C. H., Lewis, M. C., & Frick, K. M. (2010, March).
Estradiol-induced object memory consolidation in middle-aged female mice requires dorsal hippocampal extracellular signal-regulated kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation. Journal of Neuroscience,
30(12), 4390-4400.
Fernandez, S. M., Lewis, M. C., Pechenino, A. S., Harburger, L. L., Orr, P. T., Gresack, J. E., Schafe, G. E., & Frick, K. M. (2008, August).
Estradiol-induced enhancement of object memory consolidation involves hippocampal extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation and membrane-bound estrogen receptors. Journal of Neuroscience,
28(35), 8660-8667.