Community

Henriette van Praag, Ph.D.

Our Research

The van Praag lab aims to understand the beneficial effects of exercise on brain function and behavior. In particular, we focus on the running-induced increase in new neurons in the adult rodent dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, a brain area that is essential for learning and memory. In mice, voluntary wheel running more than doubles the production of new neurons in the dentate gyrus, in association with enhanced synaptic plasticity and memory function.

We aim understand the underlying neuroanatomical, physiological and cellular mechanisms. To do so we employ multiple approaches. Using behavioral assays that are tailored to the role of the dentate gyrus in memory function we have found that running enhances pattern separation, the ability to distinguish between two very similar stimuli or events, in association with increased neurogenesis. We consider, however, that the proposed contribution of new neurons to behavior is not just a function of their quantity but also of the network they integrate into. We study the direct inputs to new neurons using a dual-virus method. In particular, we label proliferating progenitor cells in the dentate gyrus with retrovirus, followed by rabies virus as a retrograde tracer. Running substantially reorganizes the local hippocampal and distal (sub) cortical network of new neurons in a manner that benefits sparse encoding or pattern separation in the dentate gyrus. To begin to understand the underlying cellular mechanisms that elicit these changes in the brain we are investigating how muscle energy metabolism pathways can influence memory and adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Ongoing research is dedicated to further understanding the cross-talk between myokines and brain function, and to running-induced changes in neuronal circuitry and memory function.

Henriette van Praag
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Henriette van Praag

Henriette van Praag received her Ph.D. from Tel-Aviv University (Israel). She obtained postdoctoral training at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, NJ, followed by a position as a staff scientist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, CA. Dr. van Praag started her own research group at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore in 2007. She moved her laboratory to Florida Atlantic University in 2018. She is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine and FAU Brain Institute, and serves as co-Editor-in-Chief for the journal Brain Plasticity.
https://www.iospress.com/catalog/journals/brain-plasticity

Lab Publications

CONTACT US

Henriette van Praag, FAU Brain Institute     |     5353 Parkside Drive, MC-17, Jupiter, FL33458
hvanpraag@health.fau.edu     |     vanPraagLab@fau.edu |    1-561-529-6085

OUR LOCATIONS:

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Florida Atlantic Brain Institute Jupiter campus
Room 201F, MC-22
5353 Parkside Drive, Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone: 561.799.8100
Florida Atlantic Brain Institute Boca Raton campus
Room 103A, SE-43
777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: 561.297.4989