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Dr. Jillian Broadbear

Biography

Jillian (BSc Monash University, 1988) completed her doctoral studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Her doctoral research focused on whether the release of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal ("stress") hormones was an important factor in controlling drug-maintained behaviours in rhesus monkeys. In the years subsequent to the completion of her thesis, Jillian has expanded her early findings to include the effects of different classes of abused drugs on stress hormone secretion in monkeys, as well as examining sex differences in the effects of antidepressant treatment on stress hormone secretion in sheep.  More recently she has been exploring the modulatory effects of the neurohormone, oxytocin, on mood (depression and anxiety), as well as its contribution to the subjective effects experienced after taking drugs of abuse.  

Jillian is currently a senior lecturer in the School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine at Monash University (Clayton campus).  She heads the Behavioural and Psychopharmacology Laboratory, investigating animal models of depression, anxiety and substance abuse, and evaluating psychoactive compounds in normal and clinical populations. Jillian has 31 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has presented her research findings at 18 national and international conferences

Email Dr Jillian Broadbear

Professional Activities

  • Invited NH&MRC reviewer
  • Faculty Board
  • SPPPM Animal Ethics Committee
  • Unit Coordination (PSY2031, BNS2082, DPSY6203, DPSY6105)

Research Interests

Jillian's research interests include the examination of mechanisms that contribute to drug discrimination and reward, as well as investigating the neuroendocrinological mechanisms that underlie psychoactive drug effects. She is also very interested in investigating the interactions between antidepressant and anxiolytic medication, gender and neurohormones in behavioural models of affective disorders in animals and humans.

Postgraduate Research Projects

  • Roles of neuromodulatory hormones in animal models that are predictive of antidepressant efficacy
  • Examination of the endocrine components of discriminative stimulus and social behaviour effects of MDMA ('ecstasy')
  • Investigation of the effects of exercise on measures of depression and anxiety-like behaviour
  • Examination of the relationship between mood and endocrine changes in the context of drugs of abuse

Potential Honours Student Projects

  • Exploration of the role of the neurohormone, oxytocin, in the modulation of the physiological and behavioural consequences of cocaine and heroin use
  • How does having a depressed and anxious phenotype affect the efficacy of oxytocin in animal models of anti-depressant and anti-anxiety behaviour?
  • Examining the role of exercise in mood: Is exercise a natural antidepressant?

Teaching

Senior Lecturer in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Psychology and Behavioural Neuroscience:

  • BNS2011 - Brain Structure and Function
  • BNS2022 - Behavioural Neuroscience of Movement and Sensation
  • BNS3052 - Drugs, Brain and Altered Awareness
  • PSY2031 - Developmental and Biology Psychology (Coordinator)
  • BNS3031 - Brain Chemistry and Behaviour
  • BNS2082 - Behavioral Neuroscience Research Elective (Coordinator)
  • PSY3032 - Abnormal Psychology
  • PSY3109 - Addiction Studies
  • DPSY6105 - Psychopharmacology (Neuropsychology; Coordinator)
  • DPSY6203 - Psychopharmacology (Clinical; Coordinator)

Collaborations

  • Co-supervising a Doctor of Psychology student with Assoc. Prof. Jenny Redman
  • Student research projects with Dr. Mohammed Shoaib, Newcastle University, UK

Publications

Gurtman C, Broadbear JH, Redman JR. Effects of modafinil on simulator driving and self-assessment of driving following sleep deprivation. Human Psychopharmacology (under review)

Chaviaras S, Ralph D, Krishnan L, Broadbear JH. Assessing the antidepressant-like effects of carbetocin, an oxytocin agonist, using a modification of the forced swimming test. Psychopharmacology (under review)

Broussard C, Broadbear JH. An anxiolytic-like effect of the oxytocin receptor agonist, carbetocin, on the elevated plus maze: A comparison with diazepam. Psychopharmacology (under review)

Allott K, Canny BJ, Broadbear JH, Stepto N, Murphy B, Redman J: Neuroendocrine and subjective responses to pharmacological challenge with citalopram: A controlled study in male and female ecstasy/MDMA users.  Journal of Psychopharmacology (accepted Feb 08).

Broadbear JH: Corticotrophin Releasing Hormone in Non-Human Primates. (Invited review) Frontiers in Bioscience 11: 2303-2335, 2006

Broadbear JH, Pierce BN, Clarke IJ and Canny BJ: Role of sex and sex steroids in mediating pituitary-adrenal responses to buspirone in the sheep. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 17(12): 804-810, 2005

Broadbear JH, Winger G, and Woods JH: Self-administration of methohexital, midazolam and ethanol: Effects on the pituitary-adrenal axis in rhesus monkeys. Psychopharmacology 178: 83-91, 2005

Broadbear JH, Winger G, and Woods JH: Self-administration of cocaine, fentanyl and ketamine: Effects on the pituitary-adrenal axis in rhesus monkeys. Psychopharmacology 176: 398-406, 2004.

Broadbear JH, Nguyen T, Clarke IJ and Canny BJ: Antidepressants, sex steroids and pituitary-adrenal response in sheep. Psychopharmacology 175: 247-55, 2004

Broadbear JH, Winger G, Rivier JE, Rice KC and Woods JH: Corticotropin-releasing-hormone antagonists, astressin B and antalarmin: Differing profiles of activity in rhesus monkeys. Neuropsychopharmacology 29: 1112-21, 2004.

Broadbear JH, Hutton LC, Clarke IJ and Canny BJ: Sex differences in the pituitary-adrenal response following acute antidepressant treatment in sheep. Psychopharmacology 171: 450-7, 2004.

Broadbear JH, Winger G, Rice KC, and Woods JH: Antalarmin, a putative CRH-RI antagonist, has transient reinforcing effects in rhesus monkeys. Psychopharmacology 164: 268-276, 2002.

Broadbear, JH, Winger, G, and Woods, JH: Glucocorticoid-reinforced responding in the rhesus monkey. Psychopharmacology 147:46-55, 1999.

Broadbear, JH, Winger, G, and Woods, JH: Cocaine-reinforced responding in rhesus monkeys: Pharmacological attenuation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 290:1347-1355, 1999.

Broadbear, JH, Winger, GD, Cicero, TJ, and Woods, JH: Effects of response contingent and noncontingent cocaine injection on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity in rhesus monkeys. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 290:393-402, 1999.

Broadbear, JH, Winger, G, Cicero, T, and Woods, JH: The effects of self administered cocaine on plasma ACTH and cortisol in male rhesus monkeys. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 289:1641-1647, 1999.