Jennifer Donegan, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (IMAGE)

The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center

Jennifer Donegan, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

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Jennifer Donegan, graduate student at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, is lead author of a January 2014 report in the Journal of Neuroscience. The research found that neutralizing the cytokine interleukin-6 in the brain impaired reversal learning in both stressed and nonstressed rats. Reversal learning is a form of cognitive flexibility that is diminished in psychiatric diseases such as depression, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. Cognitive flexibility is the ability to change previously learned thoughts and behaviors in response to changes in the environment. Cytokines are proteins produced by the immune system.

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UT Health Science Center at San Antonio

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