2009-2011: Research Assistant Professor, SUNY Downstate, Robert F. Furchgott Center for Neural and Behavioral Science
2017-2023: Assistant Professor, University of Vermont, Department of Neurological Sciences
2024- Present Associate Professor, University Of Vermont, Department of Neurological Sciences
My name is Jeremy Barry, and I'm an assistant professor in the department of Neurological Sciences. I’ve carved out a unique niche that bridges basic and translational science by employing a systems neuroscience approach to the origins of cognitive deficits that accompany pediatric seizures. The culmination of this work has been my formalization of the temporal coordination theory, which states that a network’s ability to dynamically organize cell activity relative to theta oscillations, both within and between relevant neural circuits, is necessary for normal cognition and is frequently disrupted as a long-term consequence of seizures experienced in early life. This theory is therefore of great relevance to basic scientists interested in the organization of spike timing in relation to cognition as well as translational scientists that are concerned with how neurological insults in early development affect cognitive outcomes. Apart from my success in both formulating and providing initial evidence for a new theory, I have become recognized for pushing the boundaries of technical limitations in neuroscience research. I was the first to formally characterize the electrophysiological properties of propagating action potentials along axons in freely moving animals, carried out pioneering work that suggests preempting transcriptional factor changes following pediatric seizures can improve cognitive outcomes, and have recently developed new tools for the simultaneous optical control and measurement of oscillations in the medial septum in order to effectively pace oscillations in both subfields of the dorsal hippocampus. My work with in vivo optogenetics is now serving as a foundation for multiple NIH grants that aim to further test the temporal coordination theory in spatial cognition and incorporate closed-loop optical interfaces with hippocampal circuit physiology in order to correct pathological spike timing changes caused by early-life seizures.
2013-2016: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
2011-2013: Postdoctoral Fellow, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
2008-2009: Postdoctoral Fellow, SUNY Downstate, Brooklyn, NY
2001-2008: PhD, SUNY Downstate, Brooklyn, NY
1998-2001: Master of Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. Johns, NL, Canada
1993-1997: Bachelor of Arts, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada
2015 American Epilepsy Society Fellow
Original Research:
1. Holzer M, Schmitz C, Pei Y, Graber H, Abdul RA, Barry J.M., Muller R, Barbour R. (2006). 4D functional imaging in the freely moving rat. Conference proceedings : Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Conference 1:29-32. PMID: 17945970.
2. Fenton A.A., Lytton, W.W., Barry, J.M., Lenck-Santini, P.P., Zinyuk, L.E., Kubík, S., Bures, J., Poucet, B., Muller, R.U., Olypher, A.V. (2010). Attention-like modulation of hippocampus place cell discharge. J. Neurosci, (13): 4613-25. PMCID: 2858227.
3. Barry, J.M., and Muller, R.U. (2011). Updating the hippocampal representation of space: Place cell firing fields are controlled by a novel spatial stimulus. Hippocampus 21(5), 481-494. PMID: 20087890.
4. Barry, J.M., Rivard, B., Fox, S.E., Fenton, A.A., Sacktor, T.C., and Muller, R.U. (2012). Inhibition of PKMzeta disrupts the stable spatial discharge of hippocampal place cells in a familiar environment. J. Neurosci, 32(40):13753-62. PMCID: 3752127.
5. Jenks KR, Lucas MM, Duffy BA, Robbins AA, Gimi B, Barry J.M., Scott RC. (2013). Enrichment and training improve cognition in rats with cortical malformations. PloS one 8:e84492. PMCID: PMC3866176.
6. Robbins AA, Fox SE, Holmes GL, Scott RC, Barry J.M. (2013). Short duration waveforms recorded extracellularly from freely moving rats are representative of axonal activity. Frontiers in neural circuits 7:181. PMID: 24348338.
7. Hernan AE, Alexander A, Jenks KR, Barry J.M., Lenck-Santini PP, Isaeva E, Holmes GL, Scott RC. (2014). Focal epileptiform activity in the prefrontal cortex is associated with long-term attention and sociability deficits. Neurobiology of disease 63:25-34. PMID: 2426973.
8. Barry, J.M. (2015). Axonal activity in vivo: technical considerations and implications for the exploration of neural circuits in freely moving animals. Frontiers in neuroscience 9:153. PMID: 25999806.
9. Holmes, G.L., Tian, C., Hernan, A.E., Flynn, S., Camp, D., Barry, J.M. (2015). Alterations in sociability and functional brain connectivity caused by early-life seizures are prevented by bumetanide. Neurobiology of disease 77, 204-219. PMID: 25766676.
10. Barry, J.M., Choy, M., Dube, C., Robbins, A., Obenaus, A., Lenck-Santini, P.P., Scott, R.C., Baram, T.Z., Holmes, G.L. (2015). T2 relaxation time post febrile status epilepticus predicts cognitive outcome. Exp Neurol 269, 242-252. PMID: 25939697.
11. Barry, J.M., Tian, C., Spinella, A., Page, M., Holmes, G.L. (2016). Spatial cognition following early-life seizures in rats: Performance deficits are dependent on task demands. Epilepsy Behav 60, 1-6. PMID: 27152463.
12. Barry, J.M., Holmes, G.L. (2016). Why are children with epileptic enecephalopathies enecephalopathic? In press: Journal of Child Neurology. PMID 27515946.
13. Barry, J.M., Sakkaki, S., Barriere, S.J., Patterson, K.P., Lenck-Santini, P.P., Scott, R.C., Baram, T.Z., Holmes, G.L. (2016). Temporal Coordination of Hippocampal Neurons Reflects Cognitive Outcome Post-febrile Status Epilepticus. EBioMedicine 7, 175-190. PMID 27322471.
14. Blumberg, B., Flynn, S., Barriere, S., Mouchati, P., Scott, R., Holmes, G., Barry, J.M. (2016). Efficacy of non-selective optogenetic control of the medial septum over hippocampal oscillations: the influence of speed and implications for cognitive enhancement. Physiological Reports 4(23). PMID: 27923975.
In Review:
1. Patterson, K.*, Barry, J.M.*, Curran, M., Singh-Taylor, A., Page, M., Noam, Y., Holmes, G.L., Baram, T.Z. (2017). Enduring cognitive deficits provoked by long febrile seizures are mediated by functional and structural effects of the neuronal repressive silencing factor (NRSF/REST1). Under Revision, Journal of Neuroscience.