Marco Fuenzalida, PhD

Academic Title
Professor of Neuroscience
Neural Plasticity Lab, Center of Neurobiology and Brain Plasticity
Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Science
Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile

Contact Information
Office Phone: 56 32 2508058
Email: marco.fuenzalida@uv.cl

Research Projects:
Cellular and molecular basis of activity-dependent plasticity in the hippocampal and cortical glutamatergic and GABAergic synapses under normal and neuropathological conditions

Current Grants:
2015-17 “Millennium Nucleus in Neuropsychiatric Disorders NU-MIND. Principal Investigator. Ministerio de Economia, fomento y turismo, Chile. NC-130011

2013-16 Regulation of Long-Term Plasticity at inhibitory circuits by acetylcholine: new role of parvalbumin-positive interneurons in the hippocampal function and memory. Fondecyt, Conicyt n° 1130614.

2013-16 The role of astroglial excitability on the modulation of synaptic plasticity during the progression of hippocampal epilepsy. Associated Investigator. Fondecyt, Conicyt n°1130491.

Publications (most representatives from the last 3 years):
Jessica Vargas, Juan Ahumada, Macarena Arrázola, Marco Fuenzalida and Nibaldo Inestrosa. WASP-1, a canonical Wnt signaling potentiator, rescues hippocampal synaptic impairments induced by Aβ oligomers. Experimental Neurology. Exp Neurol. 2015; 264:14-25.

C. Álvarez-Ferradas, J.C. Morales, M. Wellmann, F. Nualart, M. Roncagliolo, M. Fuenzalida, C. Bonansco. Enhanced astroglial Ca2+ signaling increases excitatory synaptic strength at the epileptic brain. Glia. Glia. 2015. doi: 10.1002/glia.22817.

Juan Carlos Morales, Mario Wellmann, Carla Alvarez-Ferradas, Marco Fuenzalida, Manuel Roncagliolo, Francisco Javier Nualart, Christian Bonansco. A new rapid kindling variant for induction of cortical epileptogenesis in freely moving rats. Front. Cell. Neurosci., 2014, Vol 8, 2000.

Alvaro O. Ardiles, Carolina Flores-Muñoz, Gabriela Toro-Ayala, Ana M. Cárdenas, Adrian G. Palacios1, Pablo Muñoz, Marco Fuenzalida, Juan C. Sáez and Agustín D. Martínez. Pannexin 1 regulates bidirectional hippocampal plasticity in adult mice. Front. Cell. Neurosci., 2014.

Jessica Vargas, Marco Fuenzalida and Nibaldo Inestrosa. "In vivo activation of Wnt signaling pathway enhances cognitive function of adult mice and reverses cognitive deficits in an Alzheimer's diseases model. 2014 Feb 5; 34(6):2191-2202. Journal of Neuroscience (IF: 7.27).

J. Ahumada, D. Fernández de Sevilla, A. Couve, W. Buño, M. Fuenzalida. Long-term depression of inhibitory synapses induced by spike-timing dependent plasticity requires co-activation of endocannabinoids and acetylcholine receptors. Hippocampus 2013; 23:1439-52.

Miguel Ángel Pérez, Catherine Pérez-Valenzuela, Felipe Rojas-Thomas, Juan Ahumada, Marco Fuenzalida and Alexies Dagnino-Subiabre. Repeated Restraint Stress Impairs Auditory Attention and GABAergic Synaptic Efficacy in the Rat Auditory Cortex. Neuroscience 2013;246: 94-107.

Inestrosa NC, Montecinos-Oliva C, Fuenzalida M. Wnt signaling: role in Alzheimer disease and schizophrenia. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 2012; 7: 788-807.