Maria Medalla, PhD
Associate Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Anatomy & Neurobiology

PhD, Boston University
BS, University Philippines



Dr. Medalla’s work combines cellular in vitro electrophysiological methods with multi-scale anatomic techniques to understand the biophysical and synaptic properties of neurons within prefrontal cortical (PFC) networks in non-human primate and rodent animal models. Her expertise includes patch-clamp recording, pathway tract-tracing, multiple immunohistochemical labeling techniques for light and electron microscopy (EM), 3D serial EM, and confocal microscopy. The major goal of her work is to understand how distinct limbic, sensory and motor networks interact and are controlled by the PFC – the central executive of the brain. Her current focus is on the medial prefrontal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in rhesus monkeys, an area important for attention, emotions and context-to-action transformations, and is selectively disrupted in many affective disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders.

Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences




Mechanisms underlying extracellular vesicle mediated changes in inflammation, neural circuitry and plasticity following cortical injury in aged monkeys
07/15/2022 - 06/30/2027 (Multi-PI)
PI: Maria Medalla, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Aging
5R01AG078460-02

Prefrontal-cingulate functional networks in aging monkeys: neural circuit substrates of cognitive aging
09/01/2023 - 08/31/2026 (Multi-PI)
PI: Maria Medalla, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Aging
1RF1AG083206-01

Epigenetic determinants in oligodendrocyte maturation in Down Syndrome
07/01/2022 - 06/30/2024 (Multi-PI)
PI: Maria Medalla, PhD
NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke
1R21NS125469-01A1

Circuit structure and dynamics in prefrontal-limbic networks
04/01/2019 - 01/31/2024 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health
5R01MH116008-05

Transcriptomic, physiological, and neurochemical profiling of cortico-limbic projection neurons in monkey anterior cingulate cortex
01/01/2022 - 11/30/2023 (Multi-PI)
PI: Maria Medalla, PhD
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health
5R21MH126250-02

The efficacy of curcumin to facilitate recovery of function in a rhesus monkey model of cortical injury
09/30/2018 - 08/31/2021 (Multi-PI)
PI: Maria Medalla, PhD
NIH/National Institute on Aging
1R56AG059693-01

Physiology and Structure of Prefrontal Projections to Memory and Motor Circuits
09/23/2015 - 06/30/2019 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health
5R00MH101234-05

Physiology and Structure of Prefrontal Projections to Memory and Motor Circuits
08/15/2013 - 07/31/2015 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health
5K99MH101234-02



Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2024 Primate inhibitory neurons in hippocampal CA3-CA1 intrinsic circuits 1R01MH136013-01
2024 Circuit structure and dynamics in prefrontal-limbic networks 2R01MH116008-06
2023 Prefrontal-cingulate functional networks in aging monkeys: neural circuit substrates of cognitive aging 1RF1AG083206-01
2023 Mechanisms underlying extracellular vesicle mediated changes in inflammation, neural circuitry and plasticity following cortical injury in aged monkeys 5R01AG078460-02
2023 Transcriptomic, physiological, and neurochemical profiling of cortico-limbic projection neurons in monkey anterior cingulate cortex 5R21MH126250-02
2023 Circuit structure and dynamics in prefrontal-limbic networks 5R01MH116008-05
2022 Mechanisms underlying extracellular vesicle mediated changes in inflammation, neural circuitry and plasticity following cortical injury in aged monkeys 1R01AG078460-01
2022 Epigenetic determinants in oligodendrocyte maturation in Down Syndrome 1R21NS125469-01A1
2022 Transcriptomic, physiological, and neurochemical profiling of cortico-limbic projection neurons in monkey anterior cingulate cortex 1R21MH126250-01A1
2022 Circuit structure and dynamics in prefrontal-limbic networks 5R01MH116008-04
Showing 10 of 19 results. Show All Results

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.

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  1. DeVries SA, Conner B, Dimovasili C, Moore TL, Medalla M, Mortazavi F, Rosene DL. Immune proteins C1q and CD47 may contribute to aberrant microglia-mediated synapse loss in the aging monkey brain that is associated with cognitive impairment. Geroscience. 2024 Apr; 46(2):2503-2519.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37989825; PMCID: PMC10828237; DOI: 10.1007/s11357-023-01014-x;
     
  2. Medalla M, Zikopoulos B. Laminar Excitatory Inputs to the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex: Implications for Periadolescent Synaptic Plasticity and Circuit Pathology. Biol Psychiatry. 2023 Aug 15; 94(4):280-282. PMID: 37495330
     
  3. Medalla M, Chang W, Ibañez S, Guillamon-Vivancos T, Nittmann M, Kapitonava A, Busch SE, Moore TL, Rosene DL, Luebke JI. Layer-specific pyramidal neuron properties underlie diverse anterior cingulate cortical motor and limbic networks. Cereb Cortex. 2022 05 14; 32(10):2170-2196.View Related Profiles. PMID: 34613380; PMCID: PMC9113240; DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab347;
     
  4. Tsolias A, Medalla M. Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Localization on Distinct Excitatory and Inhibitory Neurons Within the ACC and LPFC of the Rhesus Monkey. Front Neural Circuits. 2021; 15:795325. PMID: 35087381; PMCID: PMC8786743; DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2021.795325;
     
  5. Bottenfield KR, Bowley BGE, Pessina MA, Medalla M, Rosene DL, Moore TL. Sex differences in recovery of motor function in a rhesus monkey model of cortical injury. Biol Sex Differ. 2021 10 09; 12(1):54.View Related Profiles. PMID: 34627376; PMCID: PMC8502310; DOI: 10.1186/s13293-021-00398-9;
     
  6. Chang W, Weaver CM, Medalla M, Moore TL, Luebke JI. Age-related alterations to working memory and to pyramidal neurons in the prefrontal cortex of rhesus monkeys begin in early middle-age and are partially ameliorated by dietary curcumin. Neurobiol Aging. 2022 01; 109:113-124.View Related Profiles. PMID: 34715442; PMCID: PMC8671373; DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.09.012;
     
  7. Delpech JC, Pathak D, Varghese M, Kalavai SV, Hays EC, Hof PR, Johnson WE, Ikezu S, Medalla M, Luebke JI, Ikezu T. Wolframin-1-expressing neurons in the entorhinal cortex propagate tau to CA1 neurons and impair hippocampal memory in mice. Sci Transl Med. 2021 09 15; 13(611):eabe8455.View Related Profiles. PMID: 34524859; PMCID: PMC8763211; DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abe8455;
     
  8. Ash PEA, Lei S, Shattuck J, Boudeau S, Carlomagno Y, Medalla M, Mashimo BL, Socorro G, Al-Mohanna LFA, Jiang L, Öztürk MM, Knobel M, Ivanov P, Petrucelli L, Wegmann S, Kanaan NM, Wolozin B. TIA1 potentiates tau phase separation and promotes generation of toxic oligomeric tau. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 03 02; 118(9).View Related Profiles. PMID: 33619090; PMCID: PMC7936275; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2014188118;
     
  9. Go V, Sarikaya D, Zhou Y, Bowley BGE, Pessina MA, Rosene DL, Zhang ZG, Chopp M, Finklestein SP, Medalla M, Buller B, Moore TL. Extracellular vesicles derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells enhance myelin maintenance after cortical injury in aged rhesus monkeys. Exp Neurol. 2021 03; 337:113540.View Related Profiles. PMID: 33264634; PMCID: PMC7946396; DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2020.113540;
     
  10. Calderazzo SM, Busch SE, Moore TL, Rosene DL, Medalla M. Distribution and overlap of entorhinal, premotor, and amygdalar connections in the monkey anterior cingulate cortex. J Comp Neurol. 2021 03; 529(4):885-904.View Related Profiles. PMID: 32677044; PMCID: PMC8214921; DOI: 10.1002/cne.24986;
     
Showing 10 of 34 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 34 publications over 16 distinct years, with a maximum of 6 publications in 2020

YearPublications
20051
20061
20071
20091
20101
20121
20132
20141
20153
20174
20181
20193
20206
20214
20222
20232


2018 Boston University: Spivack Emerging Leader
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72 E. Concord St Housman (R)
Boston MA 02118
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