Amy F. T. Arnsten, Ph.D.
Distinguished Investigator

Dr. Amy F.T. Arnsten is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine. She received her B.A. with Honors in Neuroscience from Brown University in 1976, and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego in 1981. Dr. Arnsten performed post-doctoral research with Dr. Susan Iversen at the University of Cambridge in England and with Dr. Patricia Goldman-Rakic at Yale University.

Dr. Arnsten’s research focuses on the prefrontal cortex, elucidating the catecholamine and second messenger mechanisms that powerfully modulate working memory functions, and how these relate to genetic insults in neuropsychiatric illness. The prefrontal cortex is the brain region that mediates our highest order cognitive abilities, allowing us to plan and organize for the future, and to regulate our behavior, thoughts and feelings with insight, based on representational knowledge. These higher order abilities rely on prefrontal cortical networks that are highly sensitive to their chemical environment. Powerful intracellular pathways can disconnect these networks and shut down their function in a rapid and dynamic manner, and can cause loss of dendrites when activated for long time frames. Many of the genes altered in mental illness normally serve to inhibit these pathways. Rational treatments will aim to ameliorate these genetic insults and optimize the environment for strong prefrontal function. Arnsten’s research has already succeeded in identifying two new pharmacological agents now in clinical use to strengthen prefrontal cortical dysfunction in patients: 1) guanfacine, a nonstimulant for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Tourette’s Syndrome. Guanfacine is also being tested in traumatic brain injury and schizophrenia-spectrum illnesses; and 2) prazosin, which is now being used to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, including troops returning from Iraq. A third compound aimed at bipolar disorder and schizophrenia is in preclinical safety testing. Thus, by discovering the basic mechanisms that regulate prefrontal networks, the Arnsten lab has identified intelligent treatments for disorders of higher cognitive function.

View Project Summary for Amy F. T. Arnsten, Ph.D.

View all Distinguished Investigator Project Summaries