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College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Psychology

Sayamwong (Jom) Hammack

Biobehavioral Psychology

Sayamwong (Jom) Hammack

Sayamwong (Jom) Hammack
Associate Professor

Education
  • B.S. Florida State University, 1995
  • M.A. University of Colorado, 1998
  • Ph.D. University of Colorado, 2001
C.V. (PDF)
Email: sayamwong.hammack@uvm.edu
Phone: (802) 656-1041
Room: 336

Office Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 9:00 - 10:30

Website: http://www.uvm.edu/~neurogp/?Page=hammacklabresearch.html

Areas
My research interests involve understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of stress, emotion and resilience. I use a variety of techniques to investigate these mechanisms, which include assessing conditioned and unconditioned fear and anxiety, pharmacological manipulations, neuroanatomical techniques, molecular, and intracellular electrophysiological techniques. I am particularly interested in the involvement of serotonin and stress-related neuropeptides in mediating the behavioral consequences of exposure to stressful stimuli, as well as the neurochemical changes mediating stress-resilience (for example, why does exercise reduce anxiety and make you more resilient in the face of stressors). Specific questions include:

  • What is the role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) in mediating fear/anxiety behaviors, and how does it accomplish this role?
  • How do brain areas that mediate fear/anxiety behaviors (such as the BNST) respond to serotonin, and is the response to serotonin altered by inescapable stress, chronic stress, or exercise?
  • What are the roles of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) in mediating the behavioral and physiological consequences of stressor exposure?
  • How does exercise alter brain circuits that mediate fear/anxiety behaviors?

Accepting Students Fall 2013
Professor Hammack is especially interested in accepting students who enter the program in the Fall of 2013.

Representative Publications

  • Hammack, S.E., Cooper, M.A., Lezak, K.R., (2012) Overlapping neurobiology of learned helplessness and conditioned defeat: Implications for PTSD and mood disorders, Neuropharmacology, 62(2):565-75.
  • Ressler, K.J., Mercer, K.B., Bradley, B., Jovanovic, T., Mahan, A., Kerley, K., Norrholm, S.D., Kilaru, V., Smith, A.K., Myers, A.J., Ramirez, M., Engel, A., Hammack., S.E., Toufexis, D., Braas, K.M., Binder, E.B., May, V. (2011) PTSD is associated with the PAC1 receptor and dysregulation of PACAP, Nature, 470: 492-497.
  • Hammack, S.E., Roman, C.W., Lezak, K.R., Kocho-Schellenberg, M., Grimmig, B., Falls, W.A., Braas, K., May, V. (2010) Roles for pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP) expression and signaling in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) in mediating the behavioral consequences of chronic stress, Journal of Molecular Neuroscience, in press.
  • Hammack, S.E., Guo, J., Hazra, R., Dabrowska, J., Myers, K.M., Rainnie, D.G. (2009) The response of neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to serotonin: Implications for anxiety, Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry, 33(8): 1309-20.
  • Hammack, S.E., Cheung, J., Rhodes, K.M., Schutz, K.C., Falls, W.A., Braas, K.M., May, V. (2009, in press) Chronic stress increases pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA expression in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST): roles for PACAP in anxiety-like behavior, Psychoneuroendocrinology.
  • Fox, J.H., Hammack, S.E., Falls, W.A. (2008) Exercise is associated with reduction in the anxiogenic effect of mCPP on acoustic startle, Behavioral Neuroscience 122(4), 943-8.
  • Hammack, S.E., Mania, I., Rainnie, D.G. (2007) Differential expression of intrinsic membrane currents in defined cell types of the anterolateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, Journal of Neurophysiology 98(2), 638-56.
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