Jennifer Bizon

Dr. Bizon’s NIH-funded research program is broadly focused on determining the neural processes that support memory and executive functions and that contribute to the decline of these functions across the lifespan. Using rodent models, the Bizon laboratory employs an integrative approach that combines cognitive assessments with cellular, molecular, and pharmacological methodologies. The laboratory has uncovered disruptions in both glutamatergic and GABAergic signaling in the aged prefrontal cortex that contribute to impairments in cognitive flexibility, working memory and decision making. Moreover, the Bizon lab has identified deficits in olfactory discrimination abilities in aged subjects that predict impairments in hippocampal-dependent memory function. Finally, Dr. Bizon has demonstrated that pharmacological targeting of GABAergic signaling reverses several aspects of cognitive dysfunction in aged rats, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, and olfactory discrimination learning. The long-term goal of the Bizon lab is to use these findings from aged rodent models to develop therapeutics that promote personal independence and quality of life in older adults.

Interests: memory, executive functions, rodent model, aging, cognitive flexibility, working memory, decision making, hippocampus, cognitive dysfunction, therapeutics.