Bachelor of Arts in Biology at Illinois Wesleyan University. Bloomington, IL. USA 8/1981-5/1985
Graduate Fellow. Southern Illinois University, Department Behavior Analysis & Therapy. Carbondale, Illinois. USA. 1985-1988
Master of Science in Behavioral Psychology at Southern Illinois
University, Graduate School. Carbondale, IL. USA. 8/1985-6/1988
Thesis: A Call-in Procedure to Increase Compliance of
Relaxation Training.
Therapist. Center for Comprehensive Services for the traumatic brain injured. Carbondale, Illinois. USA. 1988-1990
Therapist/Clinical Supervisor. Family therapy and crisis intervention. Youth Service Bureau, Springfield, Illinois. USA. 1990-1993
Research Assisstant Laboratory of behavioural pharmacology. Northwestern University, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois. USA. 1993-1995
Ph.D. in Neuroscience with emphasis on neurodegeneration. at
Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital. Huddinge, Sweden 7/1997-11/2000
Thesis: Effects of Neonatal Handling and Enriched Environment
on Neurotrophins and Cognitive Function.
Post-doctoral Research Fellow, laboratory of experimental geriatrics at Karolinska Institutet, Department NEUROTEC, Sweden. 2001-2002
Post-doctoral Research Fellow, group of environment, behaviour
& well being of laboratory animals Karolinska Institutet, Department
of Neuroscience, Sweden 2002-present
ABSTRACT
Environmental stimulation plays a critical role in the development
and maintenance of behaviours and neural processes. Two experimental models
that have guided research on behavioural and neural plasticity are Postnatal
handling and Environmental enrichment.
The development, maintenance and function of the nervous system depend
on neurotrophic factors. The neurotrophic factors constitute a group of
target derived protein family with highly diverse functions for neurones
survival, guidance, growth and phenotypic maturation. Three neurotrophic
factors were examined in this thesis: Nerve growth factor (NGF) including
NGF receptors, Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and Neurotrophin-3
(NT-3). The studies included in this thesis investigated the relationship
of environment neurotrophins and behaviour. Postnatal handling of rats
has been shown to alter the development of the stress response system at
the cortical level. The underlying mechanism and the effects on cognitive
function following postnatal handling are still unclear. In paper I, the
behavioural effects of chronic mild stress on postnatal handled (H) and
nonhandled (NH) rats were examined. In addition we also examined if exposure
to mild stress would alter hippocampal nerve growth factor levels. In contrast
to the reported deleterious effect of acute strong stress, exposure to
mild stimulation for five months following postnatal handling resulted
in improved spatial learning in H rats and increased production of hippocampal
nerve growth factor in NH rats. Nonhandling lowered NGF levels and impaired
spatial learning. To analyse further the influence of environmental effects
on behaviour and NGF levels, we examined in paper II whether exposure to
differential housing conditions would counteract the effects of early experience.
After weaning, the H and NH animals were divided into 4 groups and were
housed in either enriched (EC) or isolated (IC) environmental conditions.
We found that housing in enrichment following nonhandling increased hippocampal
NGF levels, and improved spatial learning. Our results therefore suggest
that environmental enrichment has the potential to reduce the cognitive
and neurochemical deficits in the nonhandled animals. In paper III, we
examined the effects of long-term differential housing on NGF levels, its
receptors and their relationship to cognitive function. Adults rats were
housed in either enriched or isolated conditions for one year. At middle
age, the EC animals had significantly higher levels of NGF in the hippocampus,
entorhinal and visual cortices compared to the IC animals. Immunohistochemical
analysis of the brain medial septal area also showed larger cell size and
higher staining fibre density in both the low-affinity and the high-affinity
NGF receptors. Middle aged EC rats performed better than IC rats in acquisition
of spatial learning and had lower locomotion scores in the open field test.
In order to determine if environmentally induced changes in NGF levels
are associated with other neurotrophic factors and in different brain regions,
we assessed in paper IV, NGF, BDNF and NT-3 levels in the cerebral cortex,
hippocampal formation, basal forebrain, and hind brain of EC and IC middle
aged rats. In general we found that NGF and BDNF levels were increased
in all selected brain regions in the EC rats compared to age-matched IC
rats. NT-3 levels were higher in the basal forebrain and cerebral cortex
of EC animals. These findings provide possible biochemical basis of behavioural
and morphological alterations that have been shown to occur with stimulus-rich
environment. The results confirmed and extended our earlier observations
that environmental stimulation results in increased production of trophic
factors and structural reorganisation in specific brain regions known to
be important for cognitive function. Paper V examined neurotrophins levels
in separated hemispheres of H and NH animals. We found that postnatal handling
increased NGF levels in the hippocampus. Furthermore hemispheric asymmetry
in NT-3 levels was noted in the hippocampus, and also laterality of NGF
levels in the dentate gyrus of the H rats. Our results also revealed higher
NT-3 in the left basal forebrain and cerebellum of the H rats. Behavioural
testing of H and NH rats caused changes in NGF and NT-3 levels in the basal
forebrain, hippocampal and cerebellum.
These findings implicate neurotrophins in environmentally induced changes
in brain and cognitive function.
Keywords: Postnatal handling, Postnatal nonhandling, Enriched environment,
Isolated environment Neurotrophins, Behaviour, Rat.
Subchronic MK-801 treatment to juvenile rats
attenuates environmental effects on adult spatial learning.
Liljequist R, BG Henriksson, N Latif, T Pham, B Winblad & AH Mohammed
Behavioural Brain Research vol. 56, 107-114 (1993).
Effects of neonatal stimulation on later cognitive
function and hippocampal nerve growth factor.
T.M. Pham, S. Söderström, B.G. Henriksson & A.H. Mohammed
Behavioural Brain Research vol 86,113-120 (1997).
Effects of environmental enrichment on cognitive
function and hippocampal NGF in the non-handled rats.
T.M. Pham, S. Söderström, B. Winblad & A.H. Mohammed
Behavioural Brain Research vol. 103, 63-70 (1999).
Neonatal handling in rats induces long-term
effects on dynorphin peptides.
K. Ploj, T.M. Pham, L. Bergström, A.H. Mohammed, B.G. Henriksson
& I. Nylander.
Neuropeptides vol. 33, 468-474 (1999).
Changes in brain nerve growth factor levels
and nerve growth factor receptors in rats exposed to environmental enrichment
for one year.
T.M. Pham, B. Ickes, D. Albeck, S. Söderström, A-Ch. Granholm
& A.H. Mohammed.
Neuroscience vol. 94, 279-286 (1999).
Inhalation of low concentrations of toluene
induces persistent effects on a learning retention task, beam-walk performance,
and cerebrocortical size in the rat.
M. von Euler, T.M. Pham, M. Hillefors, B. Bjelke, B. Henriksson, and
G. von Euler.
Experimental Neurology vol. 163, 1-8 (2000)
Long-term environmental enrichment leads to
regional increases in neurotrophin levels in rat brain.
B. Ickes, T.M. Pham, L.A. Sanders, D. Albeck, A.H. Mohammed & A-Ch.
Granholm.
Experimental Neurology vol. 164, 45-52 (2000).
Selective nicotinic receptor consequences in
APPswe transgenic mice.
Paterson, D., Bednar, I., Marutle, A., Pham, TM., Svedberg, M., Hellström-Lindahl,
E., Mousavi, M., Court, J., Morris, C., Perry, E., Mohammed, A., Zhang,
X., & Nordberg, A.
Molecular & Cellular Neuroscience 20, 354-365 (2002).
Environmental influences on brain Neurotrophins
in rats.
Pham, TM., Winblad, B., A-Ch. Granholm & Mohammed, A.
Pharmacology Biochemistry & Behavior 73, (1) 167-175 (2002).