Profile
Dr James Dachtler, Ph.D
Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Psychology
Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 49148
Room number: L12
Member of the Learning and Memory Processes Centre
Contact Dr James Dachtler (email at james.dachtler@durham.ac.uk)
I undertook my Ph.D at Cardiff University (2006-2010) with Prof. Kevin Fox and Prof. Mark Good examining how pre- and postsynaptic proteins were important for experience dependent plasticity and learning and memory. I moved to Leeds where I set up a lab to understand how deletions of the neurexin genes associated with autism and schizophrenia altered behaviour and synaptic function. I joined the Department of Psychology At Durham University in 2016 as a Alzheimer's Society Dementia Research Leader. Funders of my research include the Royal Society, Wellcome Trust, British Pharmacological Society and the Alzheimer's Society.
Research Interests
- Alzheimer's disease
- Amygdala function
- Autism
- Social behaviour
- Synaptic plasticity
Selected Publications
Chapter in book
- Reichelt, A.C. & Dachtler, J. (2015). The Role of Neurexins and Neuroligins in Autism. In The Molecular Basis of Autism. Hossein-Fatemi, S. New York: Springer. 361-381.
Journal Article
- Pervolaraki, E, Tyson, AL, Pibiri, F, Poulter, SL, Reichelt, AC, Rodgers, RJ, Clapcote, SJ, Lever, C, Andreae, LC & Dachtler, J (2019). The within-subject application of diffusion tensor MRI and CLARITY reveals brain structural changes in Nrxn2 deletion mice. Molecular Autism 10: 8.
- Reichelt, A.C., Loughman, A., Bernard, A., Raipuria, M., Abbott, K.N., Dachtler, J., Hao Van, T.T. & Moore, R.J. (2018). An intermittent hypercaloric diet alters gut microbiota, prefrontal cortical gene expression and social behaviours in rats. Nutritional Neuroscience
- Pervolaraki, E, Dachtler, J, Anderson, RA & Holden, AV (2018). The developmental transcriptome of the human heart. Scientific Reports 8(1): 15362
- Dachtler, J. & Fox, K. (2017). Do cortical plasticity mechanisms differ between males and females?. Journal of Neuroscience Research 95(1-2): 518-526.
- Pervolaraki, E, Dachtler, J, Anderson, RA & Holden, AV (2017). Ventricular myocardium development and the role of connexins in the human fetal heart. Scientific Reports 7(1): 12272.
- Dachtler, J., Elliott, C., Rodgers, R.J., Baillie, G.S. & Clapcote, S.J. (2016). Missense mutation in DISC1 C-terminal coiled-coil has GSK3β signaling and sex-dependent behavioral effects in mice. Scientific Reports 6: 18748.
- Kirshenbaum, G.S., Dachtler, J., Roder, J.C. & Clapcote, S.J. (2016). Transgenic rescue of phenotypic deficits in a mouse model of alternating hemiplegia of childhood. Neurogenetics 17(1): 57-63.
- Kirshenbaum, G.S., Dachtler, J., Roder, J.C. & Clapcote, S.J. (2015). Characterization of cognitive deficits in mice with an alternating hemiplegia-linked mutation. Behavioral Neuroscience 129(6): 822-831.
- Dachtler, J., Ivorra, J.L., Rowland, T.E., Lever, C., Rodgers, R.J. & Clapcote, S.J. (2015). Heterozygous deletion of α-neurexin I or α-neurexin II results in behaviors relevant to autism and schizophrenia. Behavioral Neuroscience 129(6): 765-776.
- Dachtler, J., Glasper, J., Cohen, R.N., Ivorra, J.L., Swiffen, D.J., Jackson, A.J., Harte, M.K., Rodgers, R.J. & Clapcote, S.J. (2014). Deletion of α-neurexin II results in autism-related behaviors in mice. Translational Psychiatry 4(11): e484.
- Hardingham, N., Dachtler, J. & Fox, K. (2013). The role of nitric oxide in pre-synaptic plasticity and homeostasis. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience 7: 190.
- Dachtler, J., Hardingham, N.R. & Fox, K. (2012). The role of nitric oxide synthase in cortical plasticity is sex specific. Journal of Neuroscience 32(43): 14994-14999.
- Dachtler, J., Hardingham, N.R., Glazewski, S., Wright, N.F., Blain, E.J. & Fox, K (2011). Experience-dependent plasticity acts via GluR1 and a novel neuronal nitric oxide synthase-dependent synaptic mechanism in adult cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 31(31): 11220-11230.
- Dachtler, J., Fox, K.D. & Good, M.A. (2011). Gender specific requirement of GluR1 receptors in contextual conditioning but not spatial learning. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 96(3): 461-467.
- Hardingham, N., Wright, N., Dachtler, J. & Fox, K. (2008). Sensory deprivation unmasks a PKA-dependent synaptic plasticity mechanism that operates in parallel with CaMKII. Neuron 60(5): 861-874.