Human brain comprises only ~2% of the body weight but it accounts for ~20% of total oxygen utilization of the whole body, indicating the overwhelming energy demand of the brain. Glutamate and ?-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are the major excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the matured mammalian central nervous system. These neurotransmitters are involved in many functions such as motor, behavior, cognition, emotion, etc. Majority of brain energy is used to support neurotransmission, and for the processes associated with it. Dysfunction in these pathways is associated with many neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. Our current research is focused on to understand the energetics of neurotransmission in different neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer`s disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, depression, Parkinson`s disease, and addiction.

The major goals of these studies are following:

• Understand quantitatively the impacts of different neurological disorders on the homeostasis of neurometabolites specific to neurons and astroglia.
• Evaluate the energetics of glutamatergic and GABAergic neurotransmission, and energy demand of neurons and astrocyctes with progress of these disorders.
• Evaluate the efficacy of different interventions to improve neural function in different disorders.
• Develop novel approach to study neurotransmitter metabolism in brain.

Selected Publications

Patel AB, Veeraiah P, Shameem M, Mahesh Kumar M, Saba K (2021) Impaired GABAergic and Glutamatergic Neurometabolic Activity in Aged Mice Brain as Measured by 1H-[13C]-NMR Spectroscopy. FASEB J doi:10.1096/fj.20200 1704RR

Pati S, Saba K, Salvi SS, Tiwari P, Chaudhari PR, Verma V, Mukhopadhyay S, Kapri D, Suryavanshi S, Clement JP, Patel AB, Vaidya VA (2020) Chronic postnatal chemogenetic activation of forebrain excitatory neurons evokes persistent changes in mood behavior. eLife 9:e56171.

Mishra PK, Kumar A, Behar KL, Patel AB (2018) Sub-Anesthetic Ketamine Reverses Neuronal and Astroglial Metabolic Activity Deficits in a Social Defeat Model of Depression. Journal of Neurochemistry 146(6): 722-734.

Patel AB, Tiwari V, Veeraiah P, Saba K (2018) Increased Astroglial Activity and Reduced Neuronal Function Across Brain in A?PP-PS1 Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 38(7):1213-1226.

Patel AB, Lai JCK, Chowdhury GMI, Hyder F, Rothman DL, Shulman RG, Behar KL (2014) Direct Evidence for Activity-Dependent Glucose Phosphorylation in Neurons With Implications for the Astrocyte-to-Neuron Lactate Shuttle. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111:5385-5390.

Veeraiah P, Noronha JM, Maitra S, Bagga P, Khandelwal N, Chakravarty S, Kumar A, Patel AB (2014) Dysfunctional Glutamatergic and GABAergic Activities in Prefrontal Cortex of Mice in Social Defeat Model of Depression. Biol Psychiatry 76:231-238.