معرفی
Dr. Christa McIntyre is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), affiliated with the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. She holds roles including Cognition and Neuroscience Program Head (2016–2017) and Neuroscience Program Head (2014–2016). Her research focuses on neural mechanisms underlying stress effects on memory and fear extinction, particularly exploring how emotional arousal influences synaptic plasticity and memory consolidation.
Dr. McIntyre earned a B.A. in Psychology from American University (1994), a Ph.D. in Psychobiology from the University of Virginia (2000), and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Neurobiology at the University of California, Irvine (2006). She joined UTD in 2006 as an Assistant Professor, advancing to her current rank in 2013.
Her research employs techniques like in vivo microdialysis, immunohistochemistry, and optogenetics to study amygdala-hippocampal interactions in memory storage. Key areas include PTSD treatment via vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), which her work has shown enhances fear extinction and generalization across sensory modalities. Recent studies also investigate VNS applications for autism spectrum disorder and migraine relief through glucocorticoid signaling modulation.
Dr. McIntyre has received notable awards, including the Aage Møller Teaching Award (2013) and multiple NIH grants totaling over $3.5 million. Her lab, the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Lab, collaborates on patents related to paired plasticity and VNS-enhanced exposure therapy. Current research emphasizes translating preclinical findings into clinical tools for anxiety and memory disorders.
