Deranda Lester
Experimental Psychology Doctoral Student
University of Memphis
Department of Psychology
Division of Behavioral Neuroscience
As I am currently within a year of completing graduate school, I decided to create a website in which to display my educational,
research, and teaching experiences. My undergraduate years were spent at Millsaps college in Jackson, MS, where I earned a BS in
psychology with minors in biology and chemistry. This background positioned me perfectly to enter psychology graduate school focusing
on brain functioning and its relation to behavior. The past 6 years I have worked in the lab of Dr. Charles Blaha at the University of
Memphis. My research studies have involved the use of electrochemical techniques to investigate aspects of dopamine transmission in regards
to drug addiction and Parkinson’s disease. My CV is also available in pdf format here. If you would like to contact me, please feel free to
email me (deranda@derandalester.com). Most of my published papers and poster presentations are available in pdf format through links below.
The majority of studies in our lab utilize in vivo fixed potential amperometry (FPA), an electrochemical method that has been valuable in elucidating the modulation of forebrain dopamine activity by other neurotransmitter systems. Click here to read more about FPA coupled with a carbon fiber recording electrode for the real-time monitoring of stimulation-evoked dopamine transmission.
Lester, D.B., Rogers, T.D., & Blaha, C.D. (in press). Acetylcholine-Dopamine interactions in the pathophysiology and treatment of CNS disorders. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics. (Download)
Lester, D.B., Miller, A.D., & Blaha, C.D. (2010). Muscarinic Receptor Blockade in the Ventral Tegmental Area Attenuates Cocaine Enhancement of Laterodorsal Tegmentum Stimulation-Evoked Accumbens Dopamine Efflux in the Mouse. Synapse, 64, 216-223. (Download)
Schmidt, L.S., Miller, A.D., Lester, D.B., Bay-Richter, C., Schulein, C., Frikke-Schmidt, H., Wess, J., Blaha, C.D., Woldbye, D., Fink-Jensen, A., & Wortein, G. (2010). Increased amphetamine-induced locomotor activity, sensitization, and accumbal dopamine release in M5 muscarinic knockout mice. Psychopharmacology, 207, 547-558. (Download)
Lester D.B., Rogers, T.D., Garris P.A., Lee, K.H., Mohseni P., & Blaha C.D. (2009) Neuronal pathways involved in deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 1, 3302-3305. (Download)
Lee, K.H., Blaha, C.D., Garris, P.A., Mohseni, P., Horne, A.E., Bennet, K.E., Agnesi, F., Bledsoe, J.M., Lester, D., Kimble, C., Min, H., Kim, Y., & Cho, Z. (2009). Evolution of deep brain stimulation: human electrometer and smart devices supporting the next generation of therapy. Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface, 12, 85-103. (Download)
Lester, D.B., Miller, A.D., Pate, T.D., & Blaha, C.D. (2008). Midbrain acetylcholine and glutamate receptors modulate accumbal dopamine release. NeuroReport, 19, 991-995. (Download)
Miller, A.D., Forster, G.L., Lester, D.B., & Blaha, C.D. (2008). Mesopontine cholinergic and glutamatergic modulation of mesoaccumbens dopaminergic neurotransmission. In HN David (Ed), The Nucleus Accumbens: Neurotransmitters and Related Behaviours (pp. 111-136). Philadelphia, PA; Old City Publishing. (Download)
Blaha, C.D., Lester, D.B., Ramsson, E.S., Lee, K.H., & Garris, P.A. (2008). Striatal dopamine release evoked by subthalamic stimulation in intact and 6-OHDA-lesioned rats: Relevance to deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s Disease. In P. Phillips, S. Sandberg, S. Ahn, & A. Phillips (Eds.), Monitoring Molecules in Neuroscience (pp. 395-397). Vancouver, Canada.(Download)
Lester D.B., Rogers, T.D., Garris P.A., Lee, K.H., Mohseni P., & Blaha C.D. (2010). Candidate pathways mediating dopamine release in the striatum following deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. Manuscript submitted to Neuroscience Letters for publication.
Lester, D.B., & Blaha, C.D. (2010). Substantia nigra compacta cholingeric, glutamatergic, and GABAergic receptors modulate striatal dopamine release evoked by electrical stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. Unpublished manuscript.
Lester, D.B., Rogers T.D., & Blaha, C.D. (2010). Cholinergic and glutamatergic pathways involved in striatal dopamine release evoked by electrical stimulation of the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus. Unpublished manuscript.
Dickson, P.E., Rogers,T.D., Lester, D.B., Goldowitz, D., Mittleman, G., & Blaha, C.D. (2010). Adolescent nicotine exposure results in a persistent genotype-dependent increase in dopamine transporter uptake efficience in the nucleus accumbens shell. Unpublished manuscript.
Rogers, T.D., Lester, D.B., & Blaha, C.D. (2010). Evaluation of parameter changes in deep brain stimulation in a levodopa-treated parkinsonian animal model. Poster session presented at the Student Research Forum at the University of Memphis.
Lester, D.B., Rogers, T.D., Mohseni, P., Garris, P.A., Lee, K.H., & Blaha, C.D. (2009). Neuronal pathways and subthalamic nucleus receptor subtypes involved in striatal dopamine release evoked by stimulation of the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 45.12.
Rogers, T.D., Lester, D.B., Mohseni, P., Lee, K.H., Garris, P.A., & Blaha, C.D. (2009). Evaluation of parameter changes in deep brain stimulation in a levodopa-treated parkinsonian animal model. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 45.1.
Dickson, P.E., Rogers, T.D., Lester, D.B., Miller, M.M., Matta, S.G., Chesler, E.J., Goldowitz, D., Kobor, M.S., Blaha, C.D., & Mittleman, G. (2009). Adolescent nicotine exposure results in a persistent genotype-dependent increase in dopamine transporter uptake efficiency in the nucleus accumbens shell. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 345.16.
Lester, D.B., Pate, T.D., & Blaha, C.D. (2009). Pathways involved in deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus for treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Poster session presented at the Student Research Forum at the University of Memphis.
Tillery, R., Lester, D.B., & Blaha, C.D. (2009). Contributions of acetylcholine receptors during subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation: relevance to Parkinson’s disease. Paper presented at the Mid-south Psychology Conference, Lambuth University, Jackson, TN.
Lester, D.B., Pate, T.D., Mohseni, P., Garris, P.A., Lee, K.H., & Blaha, C.D. (2008). Dopamine pathways involved in subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 141.5.
Pate, T.D., Lester, D.B., Miller, A.D., Mittleman, G., & Blaha, C.D. (2008). Midbrain nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine and ionotropic glutamate receptors mediate dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens of mice. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 660.3.
Blaha, C.D., Lambert, R., Lester, D.B., Pate, T.D., Mohseni, P., Garris, P.A., & Lee, K.H. (2008) Assessment of burst-like and continuous-intermittent stimulation of the nigrostriatal pathway to evoke sustained striatal extracellular concentrations of dopamine: Relevance to deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 640.1.
Lee, K., Brewer, D., Bledsoe, J., Bennet, K., Mohseni, P., Garris, P., Horne, A., Agnesi, F., & Blaha, C. (2007, November). Current-isolated burst-patterned deep brain stimulation results in optimization of striatal dopamine release in the rat. Poster session presented at the 12th Asian Australasian Congress of Neurosurgical Surgeon / World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies, 13th Interim Meeting, Japan.
Lester, D.B., Miller, A.D., Dickson, P.E., Mittleman, G., & Blaha, C.D. (2007). Effects of acute muscarinic receptor blockade on cocaine-induced elevations in laterodorsal tegmentum stimulation-evoked accumbens dopamine levels. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 272.6.
Call, S.B., Mittleman, G., Lester, D.B., Buckholdt, K., Goldowitz, D., & Blaha, C.D. (2006). Ethanol self-administration in a schedule-induced polydipsia task is reduced in both genders of dopamine transporter knockout mice. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 393.1.
Brewer, D.L., Mittleman, G., Goldowitz, D., Call, S.B., &Blaha, C.D. (2006). Neurochemical analysis of a mutant mouse pedigree that shows no sensitization to cocaine. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts.
Brewer, D.L., Mittleman, G., Goldowitz, D., Miller, A.D, & Blaha, C.D. (2005). Behavioral and neurochemical analysis of two novel mutants hyporesponsive to cocaine: an undate from the TMGC consortium. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 800.9.
While in graduate school at the University of Memphis, I have taught the following undergraduate courses: Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods, and Online Physiological Psychology (through Regents Online Degree Program). See my CV for more details on the courses that I have taught.
I am also interested in teaching the following courses (or a variation on the following courses): Psychological Statistics, Perception, Psychological Disorders (or Abnormal Psychology), Physiological Psychology, Drugs and Behavior, Learning and Memory, Animal Behavior, Mind Brain and Intelligence, and Neuroscience.
A video created by the University of Memphis to display the research of our lab. In the video, I present Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease and how our research can be applied to better the benefits of this neurosurgical approach.
Neurochemistry Lab of Dr. Charles Blaha Univ. of Memphis, Dept. of Psych.
In this lab, we are interested in a Systems Neuroscience approach for understanding the neurobiological bases of incentive-motivated behaviors, neuropsychiatric disorders, and drug addiction using state of the art in vivo electrochemical recording techniques.
The above picture shows an example set-up of in vivo fixed potential amperometry for evaluation of the effects of intra-SNc or PPT lidocaine infusions on STN electrical stimulation-evoked dopamine release in the striatum.