Maria Florencia Bercum, MSc, Phd
Postdoc
maria.florencia.bercum@lfmotol.cuni.cz
Experimental Neurophysiology Group
Department of Physiology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University
Scientific background
I studied Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder, where I obtained my Ph.D. in 2023. During my doctoral studies, I investigated the neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral effects of early life stressors, with a specific emphasis on areas critical for fear regulation and reward processing. In the initial phase of my research, I developed and characterized an animal model exhibiting autistic-like behavior and epilepsy in rats. Throughout this experience, I learned a variety of behavioral paradigms as well as in-vivo electrophysiological techniques for chronic recordings. Subsequently, I investigated the long-term impacts of early life stress on prefrontal cortex function, shifting my focus to a neural circuit-based approach using higher-order behavioral tasks and single-cell electrophysiology in awake, behaving animals. My current work focuses on understanding the underlying mechanisms and the role of high-frequency oscillations in animal models of epilepsy.
Research interests
My research interests lie in advancing our understanding of neuroscience to uncover mechanisms underlying neuropathologies. I am particularly driven to bridge the gap between behavioral and molecular insights into brain pathologies, integrating multiple levels of analysis to reveal how dysfunctions in neural circuits lead to observable behavioral outcomes. By combining behavioral, circuit-level, and molecular techniques, I seek to contribute to the understanding of neuropathologies and explore novel therapeutic avenues for conditions such as epilepsy, autism, and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
Selected publications
Bercum, M. F., Gomez, M. J. N., & Saddoris, M. P. (2023). Prefrontal cortex neurons in adult rats exposed to early life stress fail to appropriately signal the consequences of motivated actions. Physiology & Behavior, 263, 114107. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2023.114107
Bercum, M. F., Navarro, M.J, Saddoris, M.P. Elevated fear responses to threatening cues in rats with early life stress is associated with greater excitability and loss of gamma oscillations in the ventral-medial prefrontal cortex. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. November 2021; 185, 107541. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107541
Saddoris, M.P., Siletti, K.A., Stansfield, K.J., & Bercum, M.F. Heterogeneous dopamine signals support distinct features of motivated actions: Implications for learning and addiction. Learning & Memory. September 2018; 25 (9), 416-424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/lm.047019.117
Smith, Z.Z., Benison, A.M., Bercum, M.F, Dudek, F.E., and Barth, D.S. Progression of convulsive and non-convulsive seizures during epileptogenesis after pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus. Journal of Neurophysiology. May 2018; 1;119(5):1818-1835.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00721.2017
Taylor, J.A., Rodgers, K.M., Bercum, M.F., Booth, C.J., Dudek, F.E., and Barth, D.S. Voluntary control of epileptiform spike–wave discharges in awake rats. Journal of Neuroscience. June 2017, 37 (24) 5861-5869. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3235-16.2017
Bercum, M.F., Rodgers, K.M, Benison, A.M, Smith, Z.Z, Taylor, J.A, Kornreich, E., Grabenstatter, H.L., Dudek, F.E., and Barth, D.S. Maternal stress combined with terbutaline leads to comorbid autistic-like behavior and epilepsy in a rat model Journal of Neuroscience. December 2015; 35(48): 15894-15902. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2803-15.2015
Rodgers, K.M., Denimg, Y.K., Bercum, M.F., Chumachenko, S.Y., Wieseler, J.L., Johnson, K.W., Watkins, L.R., and Barth, D.S. Reversal of established traumatic brain injury-induced, anxiety-like behavior in rats after delayed post-injury neuroimmune suppression. Journal of Neurotrauma. February 2014; 31(5): 487-497. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/neu2013.3090
Rodgers, K.M., Bercum, M.F., McCallum, D.L., Rudy, J.W., Frey, L.C., Johnson, K.W., Watkins, L.R., and Barth, D.S. Acute neuroimmune modulation attenuates the development of anxiety-like freezing behavior in an animal model of traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma. July 2012; 29(10): 1886–1897. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/neu.2011.2273