Neuroscience Faculty & Staff

Expertise

I am trained as a Clinical Psychologist with a specialty in neuropsychology (how the brain impacts cognitive abilities). My research interests span neurodegenerative disorders (such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease), music and dementia, healthy aging, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and epilepsy.  I especially love mentoring undergraduate students as they develop their research skills as student scientists.  I am also the Director of Butler’s Neuroscience minor.

Teaching

Courses I teach regularly at Butler include:

     Biological Bases of Behavior (PS 235)

     Advanced Applied Neuroscience (PS 412)

     Food: Pasture, Table, Body and Mind (NW 261)

     Music First! Engaging Student Scientists in Community-Based Research (ID 345)

     Mental Illness: Biological, Psychological, and Sociological Perspectives (SW 275)

Education and Training

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation (APPCN Approved), Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Fellow

San Diego State University/ University of California, San Diego, Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology

The University of Chicago Medical Center (APA Approved), Clinical Psychology Intern

Georgia Institute of Technology, M.S. in Experimental Psychology

Butler University, B.A. in Psychology, B.S. in Arts Administration

Selected Recent Publications (*student co-author)

Lineweaver, TT, *Collins, AN, *Stopa, M, *Horth, M, *Fishbaugh, ME, Haut, J, Ferguson, L, Klaas, P, Lachhwani, D, Bingaman, W & Busch, R (2022). Mother Knows Best…Or Does She? Perceptions of the Memory Abilities of Pediatric Epilepsy Patients as Reported by Patients and their Parents Across Time. Epilepsy and Behavior,128,108589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108589

Lineweaver, TT, Hall, ACG, *Throgmorton, H, *Callahan, SM & *Bell, AJ (2022).Teaching Students to Study More Effectively: Lessons Learned from an Empirical Comparison of a Study Tips Presentation and a Review Article. Journal of College Reading and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1080/10790195.2022.2056097

Lineweaver, TT, Bergeson, TR, *Ward, MJ, *Hagen, NA, *Ladd, K, Johnson, H, Braid, D, Ott, M, Hay, DP, Plewes, J, Hinds, M, LaPradd, ML, *Bolander, H, *Vitelli, S, *Lain, M & Brimmer, T (2022). Nursing Home Residents’ Positive Behavioral Responses to Individualized Music Predict Improvements in Sundowning Symptoms After Music Listening. Journal of Aging and Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/08982643221087569

Lineweaver, TT, *Collins, AN, *Smith, SC, Horhota, M & Crumley-Branyon, J (2022). Same Goals, but Different Outcomes: Present-Focused versus Future-Focused Memory Beliefs Differentially Predict Young and Older Adults’ Everyday Use of Memory Strategies. Experimental Aging Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2022.2079926

Kowalski, JR, Lineweaver, TT & Novak, KB (2021). Developing Integrative Thinking in Undergraduate Students through an Interdisciplinary General Education Course on Mental Illness. College Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2021.1982856

Lineweaver, TT, *Fansler, SD, Horhota, M, Crumley-Branyon, JJ & *Wright, MK (2021). Older Adults’ Memory Beliefs Predict Perceptions of Memory Difficulty and Effectiveness. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition.  https://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2021.1962794

Lineweaver, TT, Bergeson, TR, *Ladd, K, Johnson, H, Braid, D, Ott, M, Hay, DP, Plewes, J, Hinds, M, LaPradd, ML, *Bolander, H, *Vitelli, S, *Lain, M & Brimmer, T (2021). The Effects of Individualized Music Listening on Affective, Behavioral, Cognitive and Sundowning Symptoms of Dementia in Long-Term Care Residents. Journal of Aging and Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/08982643211033407

Lineweaver, TT, Kercood, S, *Gabor, AJ, *Cervantes, J, *Dye, AJ & *Baker, E (2021).  The Effect of Medication and Question Wording on Self-Reported Symptoms and Their Accuracy in Young Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60, 252-269. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12276

Lineweaver, TT, Crumley-Branyon, JJ, Horhota. M & *Wright, MK (2020).  Easy or Effective? Explaining Young Adults’ and Older Adults’ Likelihood of Using Various Strategies to Improve Their Memory.  Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 27, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2019.1566432

Lineweaver, TT, Gingerich Hall, A, *Hilycord, D & *Vitelli, S (2019). Introducing and Evaluating a “Study Smarter, Not Harder” Study Tips Presentation Offered to Incoming Students at a Four-Year University. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 19, 16-46. https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v19i1.23734

I work on philosophical issues that intersect with neuroscience, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and evolutionary biology.  A central aspect of my work examines recent neuroscience research and imports these findings into various philosophical domains.  Additionally, my work engages with the metaphysical issues that underlie many scientific theories and concepts (e.g., reductionism, autonomy, realization, and emergence).

A significant area of my research includes exploring the philosophical questions that emerge out of a young branch of cognitive neuroscience, neuroaesthetics.  Neuroaesthetics is barely two decades old, yet within the last few years, it has produced fascinating results regarding how and why we respond to various stimuli.  Initially, neuroaesthetics was dedicated to the study of the neural underpinnings of responses to aesthetic objects (mostly art).  Currently, neuroaesthetics embodies a more mature science that has moved away from the exclusive study of the brain responding to art objects and into a science of sensory experiences and hedonics.

Dr. Mickeal Key is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, teaching courses across the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program’s curriculum for both the Psychology and Biology Departments. As a cognitive neuroscientist, her scholarly work focuses on the efficacy of lifestyle interventions to improve cognitive performance and delay age- and disease-related changes to brain structure in older adults. Her work also seeks to understand how socio-cultural factors impact clinical trial design and efficacy. This interdisciplinary approach combines neuroscience, public health, psychology, clinical research, and health equity to enhance the scientific understanding of brain health while ensuring that research findings are inclusive, relevant, and applicable across the aging population.

Jennifer Berry earned a B.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky, with a concentration in Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychopharmacology. She routinely teaches learning, biological basis of behavior, research methods and statistics, and a seminar in neuroscience drugs and behavior. Dr. Berry’s research focuses on the neurochemical and behavioral changes resulting from substances of abuse in animal models, including co-consumption of alcohol and nicotine as well as alcohol and caffeine. She also focuses on the neuroendocrine (i.e. stress hormone) responses to these substances of abuse in hopes of better identifying underlying factors contributing to addiction and relapse. To find out more about Dr. Berry’s research, visit the lab website .

Dr. Kowalski is a cellular neurobiologist interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms hat control the ability of neurons to communicate with one another at specialized cellular junctions called synapses (synaptic transmission). The abundance of synaptic proteins impacts the strength of synaptic transmission, which changes during processes such as learning and memory and is disrupted in numerous neurological and neurodegenerative disorders.

Kowalski Research Lab

Dr. Renée DeCaro joined Butler University in 2024, after completing her postdoctoral fellowship at VA Boston and Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. She received her BS in Psychology from the University of Southern Indiana and her PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Tufts University. Dr. DeCaro’s research uses a combination of techniques, including behavioral responses and event-related potentials (ERPs), to understand  learning successes and errors. She is particularly interested in how these processes change in individuals across the lifespan, in people both with and without a history of traumatic brain injury or mild cognitive impairment.

 Stuart Glennan is the Harry Ice Professor of Philosophy, the Director of Butler University’s Science, Technology and Environmental Studies Program and the Faculty Director of Butler Overseas.  He also serves on the steering committee of Butler’s Neuroscience Program.

Professor Glennan has taught  courses in philosophy and in support of Butler’s interdisciplinary programs, and he has contributed to Butler’s Core Curriculum in the First-Year Seminar, Text and Ideas, Analytical Reasoning, and the Social World. In recent years, Glennan’s teaching assignment have included Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Mind, Introduction to Science and Technology Studies, and Logic.  

Professor Glennan’s research is the philosophy of science, with particular attention to biology, psychology and neuroscience.  He has written about causation, explanation, and model building. He is chiefly known for his work on the nature of mechanisms and the role of mechanistic models and explanations across the sciences.  He is author of The New Mechanical Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2017) and Causation: The Basics (Routledge,  2024) and he is the editor, with Phyllis Illari, of The Routledge Handbook of Mechanisms and Mechanical Philosophy (2018). He has also written on the topic of religion and science, and science education,and the philosophy of history.  Links to publications can be found on Google Scholar. 

Professor Glennan has a B.A. in philosophy and mathematics from Yale University, and a MA and PhD in philosophy from the University of Chicago.  He has worked at Butler University since 1992. 

Ankur Gupta is a Professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Butler University. Dr. Gupta completed his undergraduate work and a master’s degree in computer science at the University of Texas at Dallas. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Duke University. Dr. Gupta’s research area focuses on the design of algorithms that compress large volumes of data, while simultaneously making them searchable (think Google search or Big Data). Dr. Gupta has also pursued unique research on Artificial Wisdom, in other words, trying to discover the meaning of “wisdom” from a computational point of view. This work was funded by the John Templeton Foundation.

Education

B.S. in Biochemistry – Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Ph.D. in Neuroscience – George Washington University, Washington DC

Postdoctoral training – University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Teaching

Intro to Principles of Drug Action (RX318)

Principles of Drug Action 1 (RX411)

Principles of Drug Action 2 (RX412)

Biopharmaceutical analysis (RX785)

Molecular Pharmacology (RX788)

Recent Advances in Neuropharmacology (RX610-12)

Research Interest

My research experience is centered on molecular and cellular regulation of neuronal membrane transporters,specifically on the dopamine transporter, a primary target of abused psychostimulants (cocaine and amphetamine) and ADHD medications (Ritalin and Adderall). My research incorporates multidisciplinary experimental approaches. Using biochemical methods to probe conformational changes of the dopamine transporter, and pharmacological techniques to study its binding with cocaine, I found that membrane cholesterol modulates conformation of the transporter and cocaine binding. I also studied membrane trafficking of the dopamine transporter using quantitative confocal imaging methods. More recently, I have collaborated with behavioral neuroscientists and medicinal chemists to further explore molecular mechanisms that underlie cocaine addiction in rodent models.

For students who are interested in getting hands-on biomedical research experience in these topics, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Recent publications

● Hong WC (2020) Distinct regulation of sigma-1 receptor multimerization by its agonists and antagonists in transfected cells and rat liver membranes. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. February 14, 2020, jpet.119.262790; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1124/jpet.119.262790 

Featured cover illustration: http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/jpet/373/2/local/front-matter.pdf

● Hong WC*, Wasko MJ*, Wilkinson DS*, Hiranita T*, Li L, Hayashi S, Snell DB, Madura JD, Surratt CK, Katz JL (2018) Dopamine Transporter Dynamics of N-Substituted Benztropine Analogs with Atypical Behavioral Effects. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. doi: 10.1124/jpet.118.250498. *Equal contribution. http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/366/3/527 

Featured cover illustration: http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/jpet/366/3/local/front-matter.pdf

● Yano H, Bonifazi A, Xu M, Guthrie DA, Schneck SN*, Abramyan AM, Fant AD, Hong WC, Newman AH, Shi L (2018) Pharmacological profiling of sigma 1 receptor ligands by novel receptor homomer assays. Neuropharmacology May;133:264-275. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.01.042.   * Butler Pharm D, and MS Pharmaceutical Sciences candidate. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028390818300480

● Hong WC#, Yano H, Hiranita T, Chin FT, McCurdy CR, Su TP, Amara SG, Katz JL (2017) The sigma-1 receptor modulates dopamine transporter conformation and cocaine binding and may thereby potentiate cocaine self-administration in rats. J. Biol.Chem. 292(27):11250-11261. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M116.774075. #Corresponding author. http://www.jbc.org/content/292/27/11250

● Hiranita T, Hong WC, Kopajtic T, Katz JL. σ Receptor Effects of N-Substituted Benztropine Analogs: Implications for Antagonism of Cocaine Self-Administration. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 2017Jul;362(1):2-13. doi: 10.1124/jpet.117.241109. http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/362/1/2

● Hong WC, Kopajtic TA, Xu L, Lomenzo SL, Jean B, Madura JD, Surratt CK, Trudell ML and Katz JL. 2-Substituted 3ß-Aryltropane Cocaine Analogs Produce Atypical DAT Inhibitor Effects Without Inducing Inward-Facing DAT Conformations. (2016) J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 356:624-34. http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/356/3/624

Featured cover illustration: http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/jpet/356/3/local/front-matter.pdf

● Hiranita T, Wilkinson DS, Hong WC, Zou MF, Kopajtic TA, Soto PL, Lupica CR, Newman AH, Katz JL. 2-isoxazol-3-phenyltropane derivatives of cocaine: molecular and atypical system effects at the dopamine transporter. (2014) J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 349(2):297-309. doi: 10.1124/jpet.113.212738. http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/349/2/297.long

Featured cover illustration: http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/jpet/349/2/local/front-matter.pdf

● Hong WC and Amara SG (2013) Distinct post-endocytic fates of the dopamine transporter after internalization by amphetamine or PKC activation. FASEB J. 27(8) 2995-3007 https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.12-218727

● Hong WC and Amara SG (2010) Membrane cholesterol modulates the outward facing conformation of the dopamine transporter andalters cocaine binding. J. Biol. Chem. 285(42): 32616-26 http://www.jbc.org/content/285/42/32616.long  

Faculty of 1000 Prime Recommended Article: https://f1000.com/prime/4831964