Research Interests
Please also visit my former lab website at Colgate University here
In 2011, I earned my PhD in Neuroscience from the Pennsylvania State University under the guidance of Dr. Sonia Cavigelli. At Penn State, I found that differences in maternal care within a litter show the opposite effects that others have shown between litters. Pups that received more licks than their siblings were less exploratory as adults compared to their low-licked littermates. In addition, rats that were less exploratory than their siblings at a post-weaning age also had decreased adult serotonin transporter expression in the brainstem compared to their more exploratory siblings.
Stemming off of my graduate work, I expanded these studies as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Joseph Lonstein's laboratory.
One project from the Lonstein lab examined the stability of anxiety-related behavior across reproductive stages within individual females. For this project, I investigating the roles of dopamine beta hydroxylase (DBH) in anxious and non-anxious postpartum females with and without recent offspring contact. You can find the outcome of this project in our paper published in Neuroscience in 2014.
Stemming off of my graduate work, I expanded these studies as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Joseph Lonstein's laboratory.
One project from the Lonstein lab examined the stability of anxiety-related behavior across reproductive stages within individual females. For this project, I investigating the roles of dopamine beta hydroxylase (DBH) in anxious and non-anxious postpartum females with and without recent offspring contact. You can find the outcome of this project in our paper published in Neuroscience in 2014.
My most recent project was selected to be highlighted in a special issue of Hormones and Behavior on the Parental Brain. In this study, we examined variability in maternal care among siblings and how that related to sibling differences in emotional and maternal behaviors, and serotonin-related mechanisms in the brain later in life.
My primary research interests lie in determining early-life predictors of adult sibling differences in anxiety-related behavior and physiology. Specifically, I am curious about 1: how variability in maternal care during the early postnatal period plays a role in sibling differences in anxiety found later in life with a particular focus on serotonergic and noradrenergic systems; and 2: the molecular mechanisms that regulate maternal behavior and postpartum anxiety.
I regularly attend and present at 3 conferences annually: Society for Neuroscience, International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, and Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology. I also attend the tri-annual Parental Brain conference. In June 2016, I presented in a symposium entitled, "Early life stress and serotonin: effects on social and emotional health" at the International Society for Behavioral Neuroscience in Budapest, Hungary.
My primary research interests lie in determining early-life predictors of adult sibling differences in anxiety-related behavior and physiology. Specifically, I am curious about 1: how variability in maternal care during the early postnatal period plays a role in sibling differences in anxiety found later in life with a particular focus on serotonergic and noradrenergic systems; and 2: the molecular mechanisms that regulate maternal behavior and postpartum anxiety.
I regularly attend and present at 3 conferences annually: Society for Neuroscience, International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, and Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology. I also attend the tri-annual Parental Brain conference. In June 2016, I presented in a symposium entitled, "Early life stress and serotonin: effects on social and emotional health" at the International Society for Behavioral Neuroscience in Budapest, Hungary.
Publications
Publications
**denotes undergraduate author
Jimenez A.G., Winward J.**, Smith D. M.**, Ragan C.M. Effects of short-term clomipramine on anxiety-like behavior, cellular metabolism, and oxidative stress in primary fibroblast cells of male and female rats (Submitted to Physiology and Behavior).
Winward J.**, Ragan C.M., Jimenez A.G. Cellular metabolic rates and oxidative stress profiles in primary fibroblast cells isolated from virgin females, reproductively experienced females, and male Sprague-Dawley rats. Physiological Reports. (In Press).
Gemmel M., Bögi E., Ragan C., Hazlett M., Dubovicky M., van den Hove D.L., Oberlander T.F., Charlier T.D., Pawluski J.L. Perinatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medication (SSRI) effects on social behaviors, neurodevelopment and the epigenome. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2018. 85:102-116 Review.
Ragan C.M., Harding K.M., Lonstein J.S. Early maternal care and emotional responses are associated with later adult maternal behavior and tryptophan hydroxylase 2 expression in the dorsal raphe in female rats. Hormones and Behavior special issue on Parental Behavior. 2016. 77: 62-71.
Ragan C.M. & Lonstein J.S. Postpartum anxiety is predicted by pre-mating anxiety and related to recent offspring contact and brain monoamines. Neuroscience. 2014. 3(256): 433-444.
Ragan C.M., Loken E.L., Stifter, C.A., Cavigelli S.A. Within-litter variance in early rat pup-mother interactions and adult offspring responses to physical and social novelty. Developmental Psychobiology. 2012. 54(2):199-206.
Cavigelli S.A., Ragan C.M., Barrett C.E.,** and Michael K.C. Within-litter variance in rat maternal behaviour. Behavioural Processes. 2010. 84(3): 696-704.
Cavigelli S.A., Ragan C.M., Michael K.C., Kovacsics C.E., Bruscke A.P. Stable temperament and glucocorticoid production both predict male rat life span. Physiology and Behavior. 2009. 98 (1-2): 205-214.
Boggiano M. M., Cavigelli S. A., Dorsey J. R., Thomas J. M., Pritchett C. E., Ragan C.M., Chandler-Laney P.C. Effect of a cage divider permitting social stimuli on stress and food intake in rats. Physiology and Behavior. 2008. 95(1-2): 222–228.
Sabunciyan S., Yolken R., Ragan C.M., Potash J., Nimgaonkar V.L., Dickerson F., Llenos I.C., and Weis S. Polymorphisms In The Homeobox Gene OTX2 May Be a Risk Factor for Bipolar Disorder. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics. 2007. 144B (8): 1083-1086.
Book Chapter
Cavigelli S.A., Michael K.C., Ragan C.M. Behavioral, physiological, and health biases in laboratory rodents: a basis for understanding mechanistic links between human personality and health. In: Animal Personalities: Behavior, Physiology and Evolution (Ed. by C. Carere and D. Maestripieri), Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Publications in Preparation
Higham C,.** Ransohoff J.,** Smith D.,** Ragan C.M., The effects of acute vs. chronic clomipramine treatment on anxiety and Dnmt3a expression in the medial prefrontal cortex in adult male and female rats.
Dufort, C.M.**, Gore C.B.**, Nuveen J.P.**, Subaldo A.J.**, McCain, S.E.** Ragan C.M., The effects of maternal care and early postnatal clomipramine treatment on offspring anxiety and microrna-16 expression in the adult rat brain
**denotes undergraduate author
Jimenez A.G., Winward J.**, Smith D. M.**, Ragan C.M. Effects of short-term clomipramine on anxiety-like behavior, cellular metabolism, and oxidative stress in primary fibroblast cells of male and female rats (Submitted to Physiology and Behavior).
Winward J.**, Ragan C.M., Jimenez A.G. Cellular metabolic rates and oxidative stress profiles in primary fibroblast cells isolated from virgin females, reproductively experienced females, and male Sprague-Dawley rats. Physiological Reports. (In Press).
Gemmel M., Bögi E., Ragan C., Hazlett M., Dubovicky M., van den Hove D.L., Oberlander T.F., Charlier T.D., Pawluski J.L. Perinatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medication (SSRI) effects on social behaviors, neurodevelopment and the epigenome. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2018. 85:102-116 Review.
Ragan C.M., Harding K.M., Lonstein J.S. Early maternal care and emotional responses are associated with later adult maternal behavior and tryptophan hydroxylase 2 expression in the dorsal raphe in female rats. Hormones and Behavior special issue on Parental Behavior. 2016. 77: 62-71.
Ragan C.M. & Lonstein J.S. Postpartum anxiety is predicted by pre-mating anxiety and related to recent offspring contact and brain monoamines. Neuroscience. 2014. 3(256): 433-444.
Ragan C.M., Loken E.L., Stifter, C.A., Cavigelli S.A. Within-litter variance in early rat pup-mother interactions and adult offspring responses to physical and social novelty. Developmental Psychobiology. 2012. 54(2):199-206.
Cavigelli S.A., Ragan C.M., Barrett C.E.,** and Michael K.C. Within-litter variance in rat maternal behaviour. Behavioural Processes. 2010. 84(3): 696-704.
Cavigelli S.A., Ragan C.M., Michael K.C., Kovacsics C.E., Bruscke A.P. Stable temperament and glucocorticoid production both predict male rat life span. Physiology and Behavior. 2009. 98 (1-2): 205-214.
Boggiano M. M., Cavigelli S. A., Dorsey J. R., Thomas J. M., Pritchett C. E., Ragan C.M., Chandler-Laney P.C. Effect of a cage divider permitting social stimuli on stress and food intake in rats. Physiology and Behavior. 2008. 95(1-2): 222–228.
Sabunciyan S., Yolken R., Ragan C.M., Potash J., Nimgaonkar V.L., Dickerson F., Llenos I.C., and Weis S. Polymorphisms In The Homeobox Gene OTX2 May Be a Risk Factor for Bipolar Disorder. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics. 2007. 144B (8): 1083-1086.
Book Chapter
Cavigelli S.A., Michael K.C., Ragan C.M. Behavioral, physiological, and health biases in laboratory rodents: a basis for understanding mechanistic links between human personality and health. In: Animal Personalities: Behavior, Physiology and Evolution (Ed. by C. Carere and D. Maestripieri), Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Publications in Preparation
Higham C,.** Ransohoff J.,** Smith D.,** Ragan C.M., The effects of acute vs. chronic clomipramine treatment on anxiety and Dnmt3a expression in the medial prefrontal cortex in adult male and female rats.
Dufort, C.M.**, Gore C.B.**, Nuveen J.P.**, Subaldo A.J.**, McCain, S.E.** Ragan C.M., The effects of maternal care and early postnatal clomipramine treatment on offspring anxiety and microrna-16 expression in the adult rat brain