Dr Claire Gibson

Lecturer in Behavioural Neuroscience

School of Psychology

Henry Wellcome Building
University of Leicester
Lancaster Road
Leicester
LE1 9HN

Tel:+44(0)116 2297187

Research Interests

The potential of steroid hormones as protective factors for ischaemic stroke and cognitive decline.

Cerebral ischaemic stroke, in the UK, is the 3^rd leading cause of mortality, 1^st leading cause of morbidity and estimated to cost the NHS £2.8 bn per annum in direct costs. There is a real need for basic research to identify potential neuroprotective strategies in order to determine whether clinical investigation is warranted. Steroid hormones, such as oestrogens and progesterone, have been shown to have neuroprotective properties following stroke and my research focuses on investigating the mechanisms of progesterone neuroprotection and assessing the translational potential of progesterone treatment.

In addition, steroid hormones are believed to have an influence on cognitive functioning. My research is aimed at investigating how oestrogens affect cognitive functions over the normal life span and during cognitive disorders including dementia of the Alzheimer's type.

Investigating inflammatory mediators of ischaemic damage to identify potential therapeutic targets.

Inflammation is key contributor to the damage that occurs following ischaemic stroke and the identification of the key mediators of this inflammatory response will help identify potential therapeutic targets. My lab investigates, in collaboration with stroke clinicians at the University of Nottingham, the molecular mechanisms that mediate the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier in order to identify potential treatment strategies. In addition, I am pursuing an interest in the role of prostaglandins following ischaemic stroke in collaboration with Dr Grubb (Department of Cell Physiology & Pharmacology).

Publications since 2009 - full list available

Knight SR, Davidson C, Young AMJ, Gibson CL (2012) Allopregnanolone protects against dopamine-induced striatal damage following in vitro ischaemia via interaction at GABA_A receptors. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, In Press. (http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-JNE.html)

Radley E, Akram A, Grubb BD, Gibson CL (2012) Investigation of the mechanisms of progesterone protection following oxygen-glucose deprivation in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures. Neuroscience Letters 506: 131-135. (http://www.journals.elsevier.com/neuroscience-letters/)

Gibson CL, Coomber B, Murphy SP (2011) Progesterone is neuroprotective following cerebral ischemia in reproductively ageing female mice. Brain, 134: 2125-2133. (http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/)

Davidson C, Coomber B, Gibson CL, Young AMJ (2011) Effect of pre-ischaemic conditioning on hypoxic depolarization of dopamine efflux in the rat caudate brain slice measured in real-time with fast cyclic voltammetry. Neurochemistry International 59: 714-721. (http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/643/description)

Davidson C, Prados J, Gibson CL, Young AMJ, Barnes D, Sherlock R, Hutchinson CV (2011) Shedding light on photosensitive behavior in brown planaria (Dugesia Tigrina). Perception 40: 743-746. (http://www.perceptionweb.com/)

Davidson CD, Chauhan NK, Knight S, Gibson CL, Young AMJ (2011) Modelling ischaemia in vitro: effects of temperature and glucose concentration on dopamine release evoked by oxygen and glucose depletion in a mouse brain slice. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 202: 165-172.

(www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-neuroscience-methods/)

Gibson CL, Murphy SP (2010) Benefits of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors for acute brain injury; a systematic review of animal studies. Journal of Neurochemistry, 115: 806-813. (http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/jnc_enhanced/)

Coomber B, Gibson CL (2010) Sustained levels of progesterone prior to the onset of cerebral ischemia are not beneficial to female mice. Brain Research, 1361: 124-32. (http://journals.elsevier.com/00068993/brain-research/)

Gibson CL, Bath PMW, Sean SP (2010) G-CSF administration is neuroprotective following transient cerebral ischemia even in the absence of a functional NOS-2 gene. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 30: 739-743. (http://www.nature.com/jcbfm/index.html)

England TJ, Gibson CL, Bath PMW (2009) Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor in experimental stroke and its effects on infarct size and functional outome: a systematic review. Brain Research Reviews 62: 71-82.

Gibson CL, Coomber B, Rathbone J (2009) Is progesterone a candidate neuroprotective factor for treatment following ischemic stroke? The Neuroscientist 15: 324-332. (http://nro.sagepub.com/)

Coughlan T, Gibson C, Murphy S (2009) Progesterone, BDNF and neuroprotection in theinjured CNS. International Journal of Neuroscience, 1996: 1718-1740.