Contact Information

Office: E20 SSH
Phone: 319-335-2421
Faculty Profile  

Brief description of current research:

Dr. Johnson is an integrative neuroscientist and regulatory physiologist who has throughout his career investigated the way that the brain receives and processes information relevant to maintaining homeostasis, and how dyshomeostasis in such mechanisms can lead to physiological and psychological pathologies. Major projects under recent and ongoing investigation in his laboratory include: 1) defining afferents and brain targets and pathways involved in the behavioral and physiological control of body fluid balance and cardiovascular regulation, 2) mechanisms underlying the "translation" of physiological challenges and environmental stressors (e.g., high fat diet) into cardiovascular disease, 3) mechanisms responsible for the high co-morbidity of psychological depression and heart disease, 4) the role of brain systems in angiotensin II-induced hypertension and in salt-sensitive hypertension, 5) the protective actions of estrogens on the brain to mitigate factors that cause hypertension and heart disease, and 6) the effects of neuroplasticity and aging on thirst and the hunger for salt. 

Quote:

 Each day doing science becomes more exciting than it was the day before.