Joseph T. Coyle

Research focuses on the role of glutamate as the major excitatory neurotransmitter in brain and how disturbances in excitatory neurotransmission may account for the symptoms of neuropsychiatric disorders. How excessive activation of glutamate receptors causes neuronal death, in part, through reactive oxygen species, and has been implicated in stroke, Alzheimer's Disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has been an area of investigation in the laboratory. The laboratory has developed evidence that the core symptoms of schizophrenia may result from reduction in function of a subtype of glutamate receptors. The clinical pharmacologic implications of these findings are also a focus of investigation.