Christine Ann Denny, PhD

  • Associate Professor of Clinical Neurobiology (in Psychiatry)
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Overview

Academic Appointments

  • Associate Professor of Clinical Neurobiology (in Psychiatry)

Administrative Titles

  • Interim Associate Vice Chair of Animal Research, Department of Psychiatry
  • Director of Graduate Studies, Disease and Therapeutics PhD track in the Biomedical Life Sciences Program

Gender

  • Female

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • BS, 2005 Biology, Boston College
  • MS, 2006 Biology, Boston College
  • PhD, 2012 Biological Sciences, Columbia University - New York

Committees, Societies, Councils

American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)
Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP)
Molecular and Cellular Cognition Society (MCCS)
Society for Neuroscience (SfN)

Honors & Awards

2019 NIH Director’s Transformative Award
2018 Outstanding Recent Alumni Award, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University
2017 Gray Matters at Columbia Fellow
2016 Faculty Research Fellow, Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center
2013 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (DP5)

Research

My laboratory is interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory. We have developed a novel technique to label the cells that encode individual memories in the brains of mice. We are then able to indelibly tag these neurons using fluorescent molecules. Using these mice, we have shown how a number of conditions affect memory traces in the hippocampus, specifically in the dentate gyrus and CA3 subregions. Moreover, we have been able to optogenetically inhibit these cells and show their necessity for memory expression.

Currently, we are using these mice to investigate what happens to hippocampal memory traces in normal, aged, and Alzheimer’s diseased mice. By combining this unique murine line with disease models and optogenetic reporter lines, we hope to identify the altered memory circuits in these conditions and how to manipulate them in order to improve memory retrieval. We hope that these studies may halt, or even reverse, the process of Alzheimer's disease-related memory loss or cognitive ageing.

In a second line of research, we are also interested in understanding how rapid-acting antidepressants, such as ketamine, are able to improve mood and depressive-like behavior. Ketamine has been shown to have rapid-acting and long-lasting effects in rodents and humans following stressful situations. We have identified a number of conditions in which ketamine improves behavior and are interested in identifying the molecular mechanisms by which ketamine improves mood. Current studies are aimed at utilizing ketamine in conjunction with our murine line.

Research Interests

  • Cognitive/Systems Neuroscience
  • Models of Psychiatric Disorders
  • Neurobiology of Disease
  • Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
  • Stem Cell Biology

Selected Publications

1. Bulthuis NE, Quintana LI, Stackmann M, Denny CA*. Immediate-early genes Arc and c-Fos show divergent brain-wide expression following contextual fear conditioning. Nature Communications. 2025. In press. PMID: pending. PMCID: pending.

2. Jin M, Ogundare SO, Lanio M, Sorid S, Whye AR, Leal Santos S, Franceschini A, Denny CA*. A SMARTTR workflow for multi-ensemble atlas mapping and brain-wide network analysis. Elife. 2025 Jul 25;13:RP101327. doi: 10.7554/eLife.101327. PMID: 40709549; PMCID: PMC12296265.

3. Mastrodonato A, Jin M, Kee N, Lanio M, Tapia J, Quintana L, Muñoz Zamora A, Deng SX, Xu X, Landry DW, Denny CA*. Prophylactic (R,S)-Ketamine and (2S,6S)-Hydroxynorketamine Decrease Fear Expression by Differentially Modulating Fear Neural Ensembles. Biol Psychiatry. 2025 May 1;97(9):887-899. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.09.024. Epub 2024 Oct 9. PMID: 39389408; PMCID: PMC11978926.

4. Hunsberger HC, Lee S, Jin M, Lanio M, Whye A, Cha J, Scarlata M, Matthews LC, Jayaseelan K, Denny CA*; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Sex-Specific Effects of Anxiety on Cognition and Activity-Dependent Neural Networks: Insights From (Female) Mice and (Wo)men. Biol Psychiatry. 2025 May 1;97(9):900-914. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.09.016. Epub 2024 Sep 28. PMID: 39349155; PMCID: PMC11949853.

5. McGowan JC, Ladner LR, Shubeck CX, Tapia J, LaGamma CT, Anqueira-González A, DeFrancesco A, Chen BK, Hunsberger HC, Sydnor EJ, Logan RW, Yu TS, Kernie SG, Denny CA*. Traumatic Brain Injury-Induced Fear Generalization in Mice Involves Hippocampal Memory Trace Dysfunction and Is Alleviated by (R,S)-Ketamine. Biol Psychiatry. 2024 Jan 1;95(1):15-26. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.06.030. Epub 2023 Jul 8. PMID: 37423591; PMCID: PMC10772211.

6. Leal Santos S, Stackmann M, Muñoz Zamora A, Mastrodonato A, De Landri AV, Vaughan N, Chen BK, Lanio M, and Denny CA. (2021). Propranolol decreases fear expression by modulating fear memory traces. Biol Psychiatry. 89:1150-1161. PMID: 33766406.

7. Luna VM, Anacker C, Burghardt NS, Khandaker H, Andreu V, Millette A, Leary P, Ravenelle R, Jimenez JC, Mastrodonato A, Denny CA, Fenton AA, Scharfman HE, and Hen R. (2019) Adult-born hippocampal neurons bidirectionally modulate entorhinal inputs into the dentate gyrus. Science. 364:578-583. PMID: 31073064.

8. Lacagnina AF, Brockway ET, Crovetti CR, Shue F, McCarty MJ, Sattler KP, Lim SC, Santos SL, Denny CA, and Drew MR. (2019) Identification and manipulation of a hippocampal fear extinction engram. Nat Neurosci. 22:753-761. PMID: 30936555.

9. Perusini JN, Cajigas SA, Cohensedgh O, Lim SC, Pavlova IP, Donaldson ZR, and Denny CA*. (2017) Optogenetic stimulation of dentate gyrus memory traces improves cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Hippocampus. 27: 1110-1122. PMID: 28667669.

10. Brachman RA, McGowan JC, Perusini JN, Lim SC, Pham TH, Faye C, Gardier AM, Mendez-David I, David DJ, Hen R, and Denny CA*. (2016) Ketamine as a prophylactic against stress-induced depressive-like behavior. Biol Psychiatry. 79: 776-786. PMID: 26037911.

11. Denny CA, Kheirbek MA, Alba EL, Tanaka KF, Brachman RA, Laughman KB, Tomm NK, Turi GF, Losonczy A, and Hen R. (2014) Hippocampal memory traces are differentially modulated by experience, time, and adult neurogenesis. Neuron 83: 189-201. PMID: 24991962.

12. Denny CA, Burghardt NS, Schacter DM, Hen R, and Drew MR. (2012) 4- to 6-week-old adult-born hippocampal neurons influence novelty-evoked exploration and contextual fear conditioning. Hippocampus. 22: 1188-1201. PMID: 21739523.

For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov