Dr. Michael Corcoran BA, PhD
Emeritus Professor Anatomy and Cell Biology

A primary target of my work for four decades was the characteristics and mechanisms of kindling, a permanent increase in the susceptibility of the brain to previously nonconvulsant electrical stimulation (or focal infusions of chemicals) after repeated intermittent application of the stimulation. Understanding kindling may help us to understand how the epilepsies develop and how the brain can change with experience.

Note that I retired in 2014.  I no longer maintain a laboratory, and I do not supervise students or postdoctoral fellows.

• Teskey, G. C., and Corcoran, M. E.  Kindling.  In J. Wright (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences.  Elsevier, in press.
• Corcoran, M. E.  The claustrum and epilepsy.  In J. R. Smythies, V. S. Ramachandran, and L. R. Edelstein (Eds.), Functional Neuroanatomy of the Claustrum.  New York:  Elsevier, in press.
• Corcoran, M.E., Kroes, R.A., Burgdorf, J.S., and Moskal, J.R.  Regional changes in gene expression after limbic kindling.  Cell Mol Neurobiol. 2011 Aug;31(6):819-34. Epub 2011 Mar 19.
• Lam, A, Whelan, N, and Corcoran, ME.  Susceptibility of brainstem to kindling and transfer to the forebrain.  Epilepsia. 2010 Sep;51(9):1736-44.
• Hannesson DK, Pollock MS, Howland JG, Mohapel P, Wallace AE, and Corcoran ME.  Amygdaloid kindling is anxiogenic but fails to alter object recognition or spatial working memory in rats.  Epilepsy Behav. 2008 Jul;13(1):52-61.
• M.E. Corcoran and G.C. Teskey.  Characteristics and mechanisms of kindling.  In P. Schwartzkroin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Basic Epilepsy Research.  In: Vol 2. Oxford: Academic Press; 2009. pp. 741-746..
• M.E. Corcoran, J. Sitarski, D. Saucier, and X. Zhang.  Cannabinoids and epileptiform activity.  In P. Schwartzkroin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Basic Epilepsy Research. Vol. 3, Oxford: Academic Press, 2009, 1079-1085.
• A.Lam and M.E. Corcoran.  Characteristics and consequences of brainstem kindling.  In F.R. Teng (Ed.), Pan-Brain Abnormal Neural Network in Epilepsy, Kerala, India:  Research Signpost, 2009, 83-97.
• G.C. Teskey and M.E. Corcoran.  Interictal behavioural comorbidities in an animal model of epilepsy.  In P. Schwartzkroin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Basic  Epilepsy Research.  Vol. 3, Oxford: Academic Press, 2009, 1254-1260.
• J. Wagner and M.E.  Corcoran.  Conditioning of interictal behaviours, but not ictal behaviours, seizures, or afterdischarge threshold, by kindling of the amygdala in rats.  European Journal of Neuroscience 27, 169-176 (2008).
• D.P. Cain, F. Boon, and M.E. Corcoran. Thalamic and hippocampal mechanisms in spatial navigation: A dissociation between brain mechanisms for learning how vs. learning where to navigate. Behavioural Brain Research 170, 241-256 (2006).
• W. Jiang, J. Van Cleemput, A.H. Sheerin, S.P. Ji, Y. Zhang, D.M. Saucier, M.E. Corcoran, and X. Zhang.  Involvement of extracellular regulated kinase and p38 kinase in hippocampal seizure tolerance. Journal of Neuroscience Research 81, 581-588 (2005).
• D.K. Hannesson, J.G. Howland, M. Pollock, P. Mohapel, A.E. Wallace, and M.E. Corcoran.  Anterior perirhinal cortex kindling produces long-lasting effects on anxiety and object recognition memory. European Journal of Neuroscience 21, 1081-1090 (2005).
• M.E. Corcoran and S.L. Moshé, SL (Editors), Kindling 6.  New York:  Springer, 2005, 415 pp.
• M. E. Corcoran, D. Saucier, X. Zhang, A. Sheerin, and K. Wolfe. Cannabinoids and kindling. In M.E. Corcoran and S.L. Moshé (Eds.), Kindling 6.  New York: Springer, 2005, pp. 333-342.
• D.K. Hannesson, K. Wolfe, and M.E. Corcoran. Effects of kindling on spatial memory:  Characteristics and mechanisms. In M.E. Corcoran and S.L. Moshé (Eds.), Kindling 6.  New York: Springer, 2005, pp. 273-284.
• A.H. Sheerin, X. Zhang, D. Saucier, and M.E. Corcoran. Involvement of the claustrum and ventromedial thalamus in epileptogenesis. In M.E. Corcoran and S.L. Moshé (Eds.), Kindling 6.  Springer, New York, 2005, pp. 115-124.
• D. K. Hannesson, A. E. Wallace, M. Pollock, S. Corley, P. Mohapel, and M. E. Corcoran. The relation between extent of dorsal hippocampal kindling and delayed-match-to-place performance in the Morris water maze. Epilepsy Research 58, 145-154 (2004).
• A. H. Sheerin, K. Nylen, X. Zhang, D. M Saucier, and M. E. Corcoran. Further evidence for a role of the anterior claustrum in epileptogenesis. Neuroscience 125, 57-62 (2004).
• A. H. Sheerin, X. Zhang, D. M. Saucier, and M.E. Corcoran. Selective antiepileptic effects of N-palmitoylethanolamide, a putative endocannabinoid. Epilepsia 45, 1184-1188 (2004).
• D. Saucier and M. Corcoran. Kindling. In L.Nadel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Cognitive Neuroscience. London: Nature Publishing Group, 2003, 660-666.
• X.Zhang, S-S. Cui, A. E. Wallace, D.K. Hannesson, L. C. Schmued, D. M. Saucier, W.G. Honer, and M. E. Corcoran. Relations between brain pathology and temporal lobe epilepsy. Journal of Neuroscience 22, 6052-6061 (2002).