Hendrik Steenland


Phone: (403) 394-3970
e-mail: hendrik.steenland@uleth.ca
Lab: EP 1207

Position

Postdoctoral Fellow

Supervision

Dr. B. McNaughton and Dr. D. Euston

Area of Interests

Neural reactivation in sleep and wakefulness.

Degrees

  • BSc. in Neuroscience Specialist Program University of Toronto (2003).
  • MSc. in Physiology at the University of Toronto (2005).
  • Ph.D in Physiology at the University of Toronto (2010).

Biography and Interests

Hendrik is primarily interested in the neurobiology of sleep and wakefulness. Hendrik’s early studies in his MSc. focused on the neurotransmitter control of motor neurons during sleep. The goal of this work was to explain which neurotransmitter systems are involved in the motor atonia that occurs during sleep. He found that the NMDA receptor was a primary target for transmission of motor output during wakefulness but was largely turned off during sleep. Hendrik undertook a Ph.D to examine neocortical changes that occur from wakefulness to sleep in genetic mice. The goal of this research was to examine whether fear learning could influence subsequent sleep and memory. Hendrik first developed a method to examine fear memory using electromyography of the neck, so that fear experiments could be conducted during the dark phase (i.e. when rodents are naturally awake). He examined prefrontal cortex circuits (e.g. brain waves and spike activity) during fear learning, sleep and memory to find that prefrontal slow waves could be potentiated with either fear conditioning or genetic manipulation of memory. However, his data also indicated that brain wave changes that occur, in the prefrontal cortex, during wakefulness have some predictive strength over subsequent memory. Since fear behavior involves the absence of motor movement and is a learned behavior, Hendrik combined his training in motor physiology with recordings of the neocortex to examine what sort of learning occurs in the prefrontal cortex (anterior cingulate) when an animal learns a fear behavior. His current findings indicate that the anterior cingulate cortex may contribute significantly to affective-motor integration during fear behavior. Hendrik joined the Polaris group in 2010 at the University of Lethbridge and is working under the guidance of Dr. B. McNaughton and Dr. D. Euston. He is currently focusing on how neurons in the hippocampus and cortex communicate during sleep and is also attempting to examine how cortical circuits involved in learning may produce sustained wakefulness.

Recent Publications

  1. Predicting aversive events and terminating fear in the mouse anterior cingulate cortex during trace fear conditioning.
    Steenland HW, Li XY, Zhuo M.
    J Neurosci. 2012 Jan 18;32(3):1082-95.
  2. In vivo whole-cell patch-clamp recording of sensory synaptic responses of cingulate pyramidal neurons to noxious mechanical stimuli in adult mice.
    Koga K, Li X, Chen T, Steenland HW, Descalzi G, Zhuo M.
    Mol Pain. 2010 Sep 28;6:62.
  3. CaMKIV over-expression boosts cortical 4-7 Hz oscillations during learning and 1-4 Hz delta oscillations during sleep.
    Steenland HW, Wu V, Fukushima H, Kida S, Zhuo M.
    Mol Brain. 2010 May 24;3:16.
  4. Neck electromyography is an effective measure of fear behavior.
    Steenland HW, Zhuo M.
    J Neurosci Methods. 2009 Mar 15;177(2):355-60.
  5. Enhancement of presynaptic glutamate release and persistent inflammatory pain by increasing neuronal cAMP in the anterior cingulate cortex.
    Wu LJ, Steenland HW, Kim SS, Isiegas C, Abel T, Kaang BK, Zhuo M.
    Mol Pain. 2008 Sep 29;4:40.
  6. Presynaptic and postsynaptic amplifications of neuropathic pain in the anterior cingulate cortex.
    Xu H, Wu LJ, Wang H, Zhang X, Vadakkan KI, Kim SS, Steenland HW, Zhuo M.
    J Neurosci. 2008 Jul 16;28(29):7445-53.
  7. Endogenous glutamatergic control of rhythmically active mammalian respiratory motoneurons in vivo.
    Steenland HW, Liu H, Horner RL.
    J Neurosci. 2008 Jul 2;28(27):6826-35.
  8. Synaptic imbalance, stereotypies, and impaired social interactions in mice with altered neuroligin 2 expression.
    Hines RM, Wu L, Hines DJ, Steenland HW, Mansour S, Dahlhaus R, Singaraja RR, Cao X, Sammler E, Hormuzdi SG, Zhuo M, El-Husseini A. J Neurosci. 2008 Jun 11;28(24):6055-67.
  9. GluR3 subunit regulates sleep, breathing and seizure generation.
    Steenland HW, Kim SS, Zhuo M.
    Eur J Neurosci. 2008 Mar;27(5):1166-73.
  10. Hot receptors in the brain.
    Steenland HW, Ko SW, Wu LJ, Zhuo M.
    Mol Pain. 2006 Nov 8;2:34. Review.
  11. Endogenous excitatory drive modulating respiratory muscle activity across sleep-wake states.
    Chan E, Steenland HW, Liu H, Horner RL.
    Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006 Dec 1;174(11):1264-73.
  12. Respiratory activation of the genioglossus muscle involves both non-NMDA and NMDA glutamate receptors at the hypoglossal motor nucleus in vivo.
    Steenland HW, Liu H, Sood S, Liu X, Horner RL.
    Neuroscience. 2006;138(4):1407-24. Epub 2006 Feb 14.