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Demetrio Sierra

TitlePhD
Faculty RankAssistant Professor
InstitutionUniversity of Puerto Rico
DepartmentSchool of Medicine
AddressUPR-Medical Sciences Campus
San Juan PR 936
Phone7877582525 x1572
Fax7877670788
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    Collapse Biography 
    Collapse awards and honors
    2011Mt. David Fellow, Bates College, Lewiston, ME
    2012Travel Award, Federation of Neuroscience Societies (FENS)
    2012Travel Award, Federation of Neuroscience Societies (FENS)
    2012Travel Award and Poster Finalist, National Neurotrauma Society Symposium, Phoenix, AZ
    2014 - 2016NARSAD Young Investigator Fellowship, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
    2015 - 2016Early Career Institute in Neuroscience Fellowship, University of Florida - Gainesville
    2015RCMI Travel Award, Univ of Puerto Rico School of Medicine

    Collapse Overview 
    Collapse overview
    The goal of my research is to test the hypothesis that traumatic brain injury (TBI) contributes to the development of fear and anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). TBI affects approximately 2 million civilians and soldiers each year, many of who are diagnosed with mental health conditions like PTSD. There are common mechanisms that contribute to the neurobiology of TBI and PTSD, and both conditions can result in impaired learning and emotional regulation. However, the idea that TBI itself is a driver for development of PTSD remains controversial. My research aims to explore the effects of TBI on the neural mechanisms of fear conditioning and extinction, a rodent model for PTSD. Overall, this work could help establish a biological link between TBI and the development of fear and anxiety disorders, which could lead to the development of novel approaches for treatments.

    Collapse Bibliographic 
    Collapse selected publications
    Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
    Newest   |   Oldest   |   Most Cited   |   Most Discussed   |   Timeline   |   Field Summary   |   Plain Text
    PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
    1. Gatica RI, P?rez-Valenzuela E, Sierra-Mercado D, Fuentealba JA. The expression of amphetamine sensitization is dissociable from anxiety and aversive memory: Effect of an acute injection of amphetamine. Neurosci Lett. 2017 01 18; 638:21-26. PMID: 27939979.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    Translation:Animals
    2. Ishizawa Y, Ahmed OJ, Patel SR, Gale JT, Sierra-Mercado D, Brown EN, Eskandar EN. Dynamics of Propofol-Induced Loss of Consciousness Across Primate Neocortex. J Neurosci. 2016 07 20; 36(29):7718-26. PMID: 27445148.
      Citations: 35     Fields:    Translation:Animals
    3. Sierra-Mercado D, McAllister LM, Lee CC, Milad MR, Eskandar EN, Whalen MJ. Controlled cortical impact before or after fear conditioning does not affect fear extinction in mice. Brain Res. 2015 May 05; 1606:133-41. PMID: 25721797.
      Citations: 12     Fields:    Translation:Animals
    4. Patel SR, Sierra-Mercado D, Martinez-Rubio C, and Eskandar EN. Chatper 12 Human Single Neuron Reward Processing in the Basal Ganglia and Anterior Cingulate, in Single Neuron Studies of the Human Brain: Probing Cognition. 2015; Chapter 12.
    5. Sierra-Mercado D, Deckersbach T, Arulpragasam AR, Chou T, Rodman AM, Duffy A, McDonald EJ, Eckhardt CA, Corse AK, Kaur N, Eskandar EN, Dougherty DD. Decision making in avoidance-reward conflict: a paradigm for non-human primates and humans. Brain Struct Funct. 2015 Sep; 220(5):2509-17. PMID: 24969127.
      Citations: 5     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimals
    6. Sotres-Bayon F, Sierra-Mercado D, Pardilla-Delgado E, Quirk GJ. Gating of fear in prelimbic cortex by hippocampal and amygdala inputs. Neuron. 2012 Nov 21; 76(4):804-12. PMID: 23177964.
      Citations: 246     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    7. Sierra-Mercado D, Padilla-Coreano N, Quirk GJ. Dissociable roles of prelimbic and infralimbic cortices, ventral hippocampus, and basolateral amygdala in the expression and extinction of conditioned fear. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2011 Jan; 36(2):529-38. PMID: 20962768.
      Citations: 595     Fields:    Translation:Animals
    8. Sotres-Bayon F, Corcoran KA, Peters J, Sierra-Mercado D. Neural correlates of individual variability in fear extinction. J Neurosci. 2008 Nov 19; 28(47):12147-9. PMID: 19020008.
      Citations: 9     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimals
    9. Sierra-Mercado D, Dieguez D, Barea-Rodriguez EJ. Brief novelty exposure facilitates dentate gyrus LTP in aged rats. Hippocampus. 2008; 18(8):835-43. PMID: 18481283.
      Citations: 15     Fields:    Translation:Animals
    10. Devan BD, Pistell PJ, Daffin LW, Nelson CM, Duffy KB, Bowker JL, Bharati IS, Sierra-Mercado D, Spangler EL, Ingram DK. Sildenafil citrate attenuates a complex maze impairment induced by intracerebroventricular infusion of the NOS inhibitor Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester. Eur J Pharmacol. 2007 Jun 01; 563(1-3):134-40. PMID: 17362916.
      Citations: 11     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    11. Sierra-Mercado D, Corcoran KA, Lebr?n-Milad K, Quirk GJ. Inactivation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex reduces expression of conditioned fear and impairs subsequent recall of extinction. Eur J Neurosci. 2006 Sep; 24(6):1751-8. PMID: 17004939.
      Citations: 111     Fields:    Translation:Animals
    12. Devan BD, Bowker JL, Duffy KB, Bharati IS, Jimenez M, Sierra-Mercado D, Nelson CM, Spangler EL, Ingram DK. Phosphodiesterase inhibition by sildenafil citrate attenuates a maze learning impairment in rats induced by nitric oxide synthase inhibition. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2006 Jan; 183(4):439-45. PMID: 16320087.
      Citations: 25     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    13. Devan BD, Sierra-Mercado D, Jimenez M, Bowker JL, Duffy KB, Spangler EL, Ingram DK. Phosphodiesterase inhibition by sildenafil citrate attenuates the learning impairment induced by blockade of cholinergic muscarinic receptors in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2004 Dec; 79(4):691-9. PMID: 15582676.
      Citations: 27     Fields:    Translation:Animals
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