Dr James Dachtler, Ph.D

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

• 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.

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