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Mona El-Sayed |
The Role of Acetylcholin α7 Nicotine Receptors in Working Memory and Attention.
The homomer α7nAChR is expressed in relatively high amounts in
the brain and is a target for nicotine along with several more
selective drugs. Nicotin intake enhances attention and α7nAChR
knock-out mice show decreased attention as well as working memory. It
has been shown that α7nAChR is the main nAChR mediating this
effect. Together with schizophrenic patients being smokers in a large
number, this could mean that nicotine has a self-medicating function on
these patients.
I am interested in characterising and identifying systems in the brain
that are activated by α7nAChR ligands and how α7nAChR
signal intracellularly as well as what implications this signalling has
on neuron function. Further I am interested in the role of
α7nAChR in sensory-motor function, memory processes and
schizophrenia.
| 2010 - | PhD student at the Neurobiology Research Unit, Rigshospitalet |
| 2008 - 2010 | Master Student at the Neurobiology Research Unit |
| 2007 - 2010 | MSc in Humanbiology, University of Copenhagen |
| 2002 - 2006 | BSc in Biology, University of Copenhagen |
Holm P, Ettrup A, Klein AB, Santini MA, El-Sayed M, Elvang AB, Stensbøl TB, Mikkelsen JD, Knudsen GM, Aznar (2010). Plaque deposition dependent decrease in 5-HT2A serotonin receptor in AbetaPPswe/PS1dE9 amyloid overexpressing mice J Alzheimers Dis. 2010;20(4):1201-13.