Current Research Interest/Projects:

I have two major research interests. The first asks how environmental perturbation exerts biobehavioral effects which influence an animal's ability to resist disease. This research interest has culminated in an animal model of post-traumatic stress disorder where habituation to a stressor which is usually seen does not occur, and evidence of sensitization is seen. It also has led us into an area which we have labelled "neurocardiology" which allows us to explore how the brain mediates stress to alter the outcome of disease in animals with inherited heart disease. My second major research interest is in learning the cause of a newly recognized illness call the chronic fatigue syndrome or CFS. Patients with CFS have a chronic viral-like illness which is thought to influence brain function. We have begun a set of physiological, neuropsychological and viral/immunological studies to characterize CFS and understand its cause. Getting involved in CFS research would provide a student with knowledge and skills that integrate neurosciences with other basic sciences as well as with clinical medicine.

Representative Publications:

1. Ottenweller, J.E., Servatius, R.J., Tapp, W.N., Drastal, S.D., Bergen M.T. and Natelson, B.H. A chronic stress state in rats: effects of repeated stress on basal corticosterone and behavior, Physiology & Behavior, 51:689-698, 1992. 

2. Tapp, W.N. and Natelson, B.H. Consequences of stress: a multiplicative function of health status. The FASEB Journal, 2:2268-2271, 1988. 

3. Natelson, B.H., Tapp, W.N., Drastal, S., Suarez, R. and Ottenweller, J.E. Hamsters with coronary vasospasm are at increased risk from stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 53:322-331, 1991. 

4. Natelson, B.H. and Chang, Q. Sudden death: A neurocardiologic phenomenon. Neurologic Clinics, 11:293-308, 1993. 

5. DeLuca, J., Johnson, S.K. and Natelson, B.H. Information processing efficiency in chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple sclerosis. Archives of Neurology, 50:301-304, 1993. 

6. Natelson, B.H., Ye, N., Moul, D.E., Jenkins, F.J., Oren, D.A., Tapp, W.N. and Cheng, Y-C. High titers of anti-EBV DNA polymerase are found in patients with severe fatiguing illness. Journal of Medical Virology, 42: 42-46, 1994. 

7. Natelson, B.H., Cohen, J.M., Brassloff, I. and Lee, H-L. A controlled study of brain magnetic resonance imaging in patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 120:213-217, 1993. 

8. Johnson, S.K., DeLuca, J., Fiedler, N. and Natelson, B.J. Cognitive functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome, Clinical Infectious Diseases, 18 (Suppl 1):S84-S85, 1994. 

9. DeLuca, J., Johnson S.K. and Natelson, B.H. Neuropsychiatric status of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: An overview. Journal of Toxicology and Public Health, in press. 

10. DeLuca, J., Johnson, S.K., Beldowicz, D. and Natelson, B.H. Neuropsychologic impairments in chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis and depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, in press.