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Joseph B. Travers, MS, PhD

Academic Title

Professor Emeritus

Academic Division

Biosciences

Education

MS/Specialty
University of Wyoming, 1977, Psychology

PhD
University of Wyoming, 1979, Psychology (Neuroscience)

Postdoctoral Fellow
The Rockefeller University, New York, 1982

Contact

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Email: 
travers.1@osu.edu
Phone: 
614-292-6365
Office Address: 
4155 Postle Hall
305 W. 12th Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
Lab Phone: 
614-292-4046

Research Interests

Taste plays a critical role in the decision to ingest palatable, nutritious food or to reject oftentimes bitter, poisonous substances.  The fundamental neural circuits responsible for this decision are in the brainstem and include neurons in the reticular formation that are necessary for coordinated oromotor function. Using neuroanatomical, neurophysiological and neuropharmacological approaches to analyze how these circuits process sensory information to switch between multiple behaviors.

Research Summary

Taste plays a critical role in the decision to ingest palatable, nutritious food or to reject oftentimes bitter, poisonous substances. The fundamental neural circuits responsible for this decision are in the brainstem and include neurons in the reticular formation that are necessary for coordinated oromotor function. Using neuroanatomical, neurophysiological and neuropharmacological approaches to analyze how these circuits process sensory information to switch between multiple behaviors.

Publications

Chen, Z., Boxwell, A., Conte, C., Haas, T., Harley, A, Terman, D.H., Travers, S.P., Travers, J.B. Kv4 channel expression and kinetics in GABAergic and non-GABAergic rNST neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology, In Press.

Travers, J.B. and Travers, S.P. Microcircuitry of the Rostral Nucleus of the Solitary Tract, in Handbook of Brain Microcircuits, ed. (Shepherd, G.M. and Grillner, S.). Second Edition. Oxford University Press. 284-292, 2018.

Goldwyn, J.H., Slabe, B.R. Travers, J.B., Terman, D. Gain control with A-type potassium currents: IA as a switch between divisive and subtractive inhibition. PLOS Computational Biology.  14(7), e1006292, 2018.

Travers, S.P., Breza, J.,Harley, J., Zhu, J. Travers, J.B. Neurons with diverse phenotypes project from the caudal to the rostral nucleus of the solitary tract. Journal of Comparative Neurology,  526(14): 2319-2338. 2018.

Boxwell, A., Terman, D, Frank, M, Yanagawa, Y., Travers, J.B. A computational analysis of signal fidelity in the rostral nucleus of the solitary tract. Journal of  Neurophysiology, 119:771-785, 2018. PMC5899313. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29093172

Chen, Z., Travers, S.P. and Travers, J.B. Inhibitory modulation of optogenetically-identified neuron subtypes in the rostral solitary nucleus. Journal of Neurophysiology,  116:391-403, 2016. PMC4969383. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27146980

Boxwell, A.J., Chen, Z., Mathes, C.M., Spector, A.C., Le Roux, C.W., Travers, S.P., Travers, J.B. Effects of high-fat diet and gastric bypass on neurons in the caudal solitary nucleus. Physiology and Behavior, 152(B): 329-339, 2015. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26216080

Nasse, J. and Travers, J.B. Adrenoreceptor Modulation of Oromotor Pathways in the Rat Medulla. J.  Neurophysiology, 112:580-593, 2014. PMCID: 4122702. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=24805080

Boxwell, A.J., Yanagawa, Y., Travers, S.P., Travers, J.B. The Mu-opioid receptor DAMGO presynaptically suppresses solitary tract-evoked input to neurons in the rostral solitary nucleus. J. Neurophysiology, 109:2815-2826, 2013. PMCID: 3680801. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/pubmed/23486207

Walton, J.C., Chen, Z., Travers, J.B., Nelson, R.J. Exogenous Melatonin Reproduces the Effects of Short Day Lengths on Hippocampal Function in Male White-Footed Mice, Peromyscus leucopus. Neuroscience, 248:403-413, 2013. PMCID. 3830612. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/pubmed/23806713

Chen, Z., Travers, S.P., and Travers, J.B. Activation of NPY Receptors Suppresses Excitatory Synaptic Transmission in a Taste-Feeding Network in the Lower Brainstem. Am, J. Physiol. 302:1401-1410, 2012. PMC3378339. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/pubmed/22513746

Travers, J. B., Motor Control of Feeding and Drinking.   Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Elsevier Ltd, p. 1001-1007, 2010.

Travers, J.B., Herman, K. and Travers, S.P. Suppression of 3rd ventricular NPY-elicited feeding following medullary reticular formation infusions of muscimol. Behavioral Neuroscience, 124:225-33, 2010 PMC2853031. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/pubmed/20364882

Venugopal, S., Boulant, J.A., Chen, Z.., and Travers, J.B. Intrinsic membrane properties of pre-oromotor neurons in the intermediate zone of the medullary reticular formation. Neuroscience, 168:31-47, 2010.  PMCID: 2982195. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/pubmed/20338224.

Walton, J.C., Chen, Z., Weil, Z.M., Travers, J.B., Pyter, L.M., Nelson, R.J. Photoperiod-mediated impairment of long term potentiation and learning and memory in male white-footed mice. Neuroscience. 175:127-32, 2010. PMC3029474. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/pubmed/21145376.