Photo of Mark Brodie

Mark Brodie PhD

Professor

Department of Physiology & Biophysics

Department of Psychiatry

Director: Master of Science in Medical Physiology Program

Contact

Email:

mbrodie [at] uic.edu

Office Phone:

(312) 996-2373

Office Fax:

(312) 996-1414

Related Sites:

About

Dr. Brodie has studied the effects of acute and chronic alcohol on neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) for many years, and his work has helped elucidate how alcohol acts to increase dopamine neurotransmission in the brain. In conjunction with the CARE, Dr. Brodie is interested in examining epigenetic factors in the VTA that are altered by chronic alcohol exposure and produce sustained changes in the physiology of the VTA during withdrawal. The goal of this work is to understand the neurobiological basis of alcohol effects on the reward and reinforcement systems of the brain.

PSYCHIATRY

Electrophysiology of neurons of the ventral tegmental area studied in brain slices, actions of ethanol on the central nervous system; electrophysiological actions of drugs of abuse on brain neurons; epigenetic changes in VTA neurons in response to chronic alcohol exposure.

  • Vandegrift BJ, You C, Satta R, Brodie MS, Lasek AW. Estradiol increases the sensitivity of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons to dopamine and ethanol. PLoS One. 2017 Nov 6;12(11):e0187698. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187698. eCollection 2017. PubMed PMID: 29107956.

    Nimitvilai S, You C, Arora DS, McElvain MA, Vandegrift BJ, Brodie MS, Woodward JJ. Differential Effects of Toluene and Ethanol on Dopaminergic Neurons of the Ventral Tegmental Area. Front Neurosci. 2016 Sep 22;10:434. eCollection 2016. PubMed PMID: 27713687; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5031606.

    Nimitvilai S, Herman M, You C, Arora DS, McElvain MA, Roberto M, Brodie MS. Dopamine D2 receptor desensitization by dopamine or corticotropin releasing factor in ventral tegmental area neurons is associated with increased glutamate release. Neuropharmacology. 2014 Jul;82:28-40. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2014.03.006. Epub 2014 Mar 19. PubMed PMID: 24657149; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4038332.

    Nimitvilai S, Arora DS, You C, McElvain M, Brodie MS. Phorbol ester reduces ethanol excitation of dopaminergic neurons of the ventral tegmental area: involvement of protein kinase C theta. Front Integr Neurosci. 2013 Dec 25;7:96. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2013.00096. eCollection 2013. PubMed PMID: 24399942; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3872320.

    Nimitvilai S, Arora DS, McElvain MA, Brodie MS. Suppression of Gq Function Using Intra-Pipette Delivery of shRNA during Extracellular Recording in the Ventral Tegmental Area. Front Cell Neurosci. 2013 Feb 12;7:7. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2013.00007. eCollection 2013. PubMed PMID: 23408114; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3569574.

    Nimitvilai S, McElvain MA, Brodie MS. Reversal of dopamine D2 agonist-induced inhibition of ventral tegmental area neurons by Gq-linked neurotransmitters is dependent on protein kinase C, G protein-coupled receptor kinase, and dynamin. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2013 Jan;344(1):253-63. doi: 10.1124/jpet.112.199844. Epub 2012 Sep 27. PubMed PMID: 23019137; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3533415.

    Nimitvilai S, Arora DS, McElvain MA, Brodie MS. Reversal of inhibition of putative dopaminergic neurons of the ventral tegmental area: interaction of GABA(B) and D2 receptors. Neuroscience. 2012 Dec 13;226:29-39. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2012.08.045. Epub 2012 Sep 15. PubMed PMID: 22986166; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3490029.

    Nimitvilai S, Arora DS, McElvain MA, Brodie MS. Ethanol blocks the reversal of prolonged dopamine inhibition of dopaminergic neurons of the ventral tegmental area. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2012 Nov;36(11):1913-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2012.01814.x. Epub 2012 May 2. PubMed PMID: 22551160; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3652026.

    Nimitvilai S, McElvain MA, Arora DS, Brodie MS. Reversal of quinpirole inhibition of ventral tegmental area neurons is linked to the phosphatidylinositol system and is induced by agonists linked to G(q). J Neurophysiol. 2012 Jul;108(1):263-74. doi: 10.1152/jn.01137.2011. Epub 2012 Apr 4. PubMed PMID: 22490559; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3434612.

    Nimitvilai S, Arora DS, Brodie MS. Reversal of dopamine inhibition of dopaminergic neurons of the ventral tegmental area is mediated by protein kinase C. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2012 Jan;37(2):543-56. doi: 10.1038/npp.2011.222. Epub 2011 Oct 5. PubMed PMID: 21976045; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3242316.

View more NCBI publications

Title Description Investigator(s) Category Status
Research Project 1 Focused on the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a key region involved in reward and motivation, this project explores how alcohol withdrawal reshapes gene expression, neuronal activity, and behavior, with the goal of understanding how physiological changes in the VTA during alcohol withdrawal promote relapse.
  • PI Mark Brodie PhD
  • Co-I Dennis R. Grayson PhD
Alcohol Research Center On-going
Epigenetic mechanisms of positive affective state of alcoholism This component will examine novel epigenetic mechanisms (HDAC-induced chromatin remodeling) that may be involved in changes in the putative DA neurons’ response to γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) after chronic ethanol exposure and its withdrawal.
  • PI Mark Brodie PhD
Alcohol Research Center Completed

*System-generated list from psychiatry research website.

Seminar has a video recordiing - Seminar has a video recordiing.

Date Topic Lecture/Seminar Series Status
08/28/2025 Transcriptional and Epigenetic Dysregulation in the Ventral Tegmental Area During Alcohol Use Disorder
  • Neuroscience Seminar Series
 Past Event
02/27/2020 Hyposensitivity of ventral tegmental area neurons to GABA during ethanol withdrawal: Identification of new molecular modulators from RNA-seq
  • Neuroscience Seminar Series
 Past Event
02/16/2016 The light side of addiction
  • Addiction Affinity Group
 Past Event