Expertise

Behavioral/Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuropsychopharmacology, Aging, Alzheimer’s Disease, Substance Abuse, Mental Illness

Biography

Vinay Parikh, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Cognition and Neuroscience area of the Department of Psychology at Temple University. Additionally, he holds an affiliated faculty appointment in the Center for Substance Abuse Research at Lewis Katz School of Medicine. Dr. Parikh also serve as the Director of Neuroscience Program of the College of Liberal Arts, and in this role, he provides strategic leadership, direction, and guidance for all educational and professional activities in the program.

Dr. Parikh’s research interests broadly focus on neuromodulation of cognition in health and disease. For many years, his laboratory is engaged in delineating the contributions of cholinergic, glutamatergic signaling in neuromodulation of distinct cognitive processes, specifically those involved in attention, and executive functions. His research has also focused on the role of neurotrophins as key regulators of neurochemical circuit adaptations and cognitive functioning in aging and psychiatric disorders such as drug addiction and schizophrenia. Recent areas of interest include neural substrates of cognitive reserve and resilience, and identification of biomarkers predictive of age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementia. He has authored/co-authored over 80 publications that include peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters and has delivered more than 150 scientific presentations and invited talks at professional conferences and institutions. Dr. Parikh serves as an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience and as an editorial board member for European Journal of Neuroscience. He also serves on numerous grant review panels and scientific/education advisory committees.

Dr. Parikh earned PhD in Life Sciences/Pharmacology from Punjabi University (India), following which he worked at Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. where he held the position of Group Leader in the New Drug Discovery Program. He relocated to the United States in 2001 and joined the Medical College of Georgia (Augusta, GA) as a postdoctoral fellow to obtain training in Neurochemistry/Psychopharmacology. He integrated perspectives of Systems and Behavioral/Cognitive Neuroscience into his research by acquiring further postdoctoral training from the Ohio State University (Columbus, OH) and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), respectively. He is a Temple faculty since 2009.

Curriculum Vitae | Website

Selected Publications

• Duggan MR, Lu A, Foster TC, Wimmer ME, Parikh V. Exosomes in age-related cognitive decline: Mechanistic insights and improving outcomes. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 2022; 14: 834775.
• Duggan MR, Joshi S, Strupp J, Parikh V. Chemogenetic inhibition of prefrontal projection neurons constrains top-down control of attention in young but not aged rats. Brain Structure and Function 2021; 226: 2357-2373.
• Yegla B, Joshi S, Strupp J, Parikh V. Dynamic interplay of frontoparietal cholinergic innervation and cortical reorganization in the regulation of attentional capacities in aging. Neurobiology of Aging 2021; 105: 186-198.
• Duggan MR, Parikh V. Microglia and modifiable life factors: Potential contributions to cognitive resilience in aging. Behavioral Brain Research 2021; 405:113207.
• Parikh V, Bangasser DA. Cholinergic signaling modes and cognitive control of attention. Current Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience 2020; 45:71-87.       
• Eck S, Xu S-J, Telenson A, Duggan MR, Cole RD, Wicks B, Bergmann J, Lefebo H, Shore M, Shepard K, Akins M, Parikh V, Heller EA, Bangasser DA. Stress regulation of sustained attention and the cholinergic attention system. Biological Psychiatry 2020; 88: 566-575.   
• Cole RD, Zimmerman M, Kutlu MG, Matchanova A, Gould TJ, Parikh V. Cognitive rigidity and BDNF-mediated frontostriatal glutamate neuroadaptations during spontaneous nicotine withdrawal.  Neuropsychopharmacology 2020; 45: 866-876.
• Duggan MR, Joshi S, Tan Y, Slifker M, Ross EA, Wimmer M, Parikh V. Transcriptomic changes in the prefrontal cortex of rats as a function of age and cognitive engagement. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 2019; 163: 10735.  
• Koshy Cherian A, Parikh V, Wang Q, Wu Q, Mao-Draayer Y, Blakely RD, Sarter M. Hemicholinium-3 sensitive choline transport in human T lymphocytes: Evidence for use as a proxy for brain choline transporter (CHT) capacity. Neurochemistry International 2017; 108: 410-416.
• Parikh V, Kutlu M, Gould TJ. nAChR dysfunction as a common substrate for schizophrenia and comorbid nicotine addiction: current trends and perspectives. Schizophrenia Research 2016; 171:1-15.    
• Yegla B, Parikh V. Rejuvenating procholinergic treatments for cognition enhancement in AD: current challenges and future prospects. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 2015; 8:254.     
• Yegla B, Parikh V. Effects of sustained proNGF blockade on attentional capacities in aged rats with compromised cholinergic system. Neuroscience 2014; 261:118-132.     
• Parikh V, Ji J, Decker MW, Sarter M. Prefrontal β2 subunit-containing and α7 nAChRs differentially control glutamatergic and cholinergic signaling. The Journal of Neuroscience 2010; 30: 3518-3530.    
• Parikh V, Kozak R, Martinez V, Sarter M. Prefrontal acetylcholine release controls cue detection on multiple time scales. Neuron 2007; 56: 141-54.
• Sarter M, Parikh V. Choline transporters, cholinergic transmission and cognition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2005; 6:48-56.
• Parikh V, Evans DR, Khan MM, Mahadik SP. Nerve growth factor levels in never-medicated first-episode psychotic patients and medicated chronic schizophrenic patients. Schizophrenia Research 2003; 60:117-123.

Courses Taught

• NSCI 2122: Cellular Neuroscience
• PSY 3566: Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
• NSCI 5002: Neurochemistry
• PSY 3561: Psychopharmacology
• PSY 8310: Topical Seminar in Cognitive Psychology
• NSCI 3087: Techniques in Neuroscience
• NSCI 4197: Writing-intensive Capstone in Neuroscience