Brett A Johnson

Picture of Brett A Johnson
Assistant Researcher, Neurobiology and Behavior
School of Biological Sciences
B.A., University of Kansas, Biochemistry
OTH, University of California, Irvine
Phone: (949) 824-7303
Fax: (949) 824-2447
Email: bajohnso@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
2205 McGaugh Hall
Mail Code: 4550
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Olfactory bulb
Odor chemistry
Sensory coding
Academic Distinctions
Takasago Award for Research in Olfaction, 2003
Research Abstract
How do distinct chemicals lead to the perception of different odors? By exposing rats to odorants of systematically different chemical structure and by mapping patterns of activity across the entire olfactory bulb of the brain, we are beginning to understand how odorant molecular features are represented in the nervous system.
Publications
Leon, M., Johnson, B.A. (2003) Olfactory coding in the mammalian olfactory bulb. Brain Res. Rev. 42:23-32.
Ferrari, C.C., Johnson, B.A., Leon, M., Pixley, S.K. (2003) Spatiotemporal distribution of the insulin-like growth factor receptor in the rat olfactory bulb. Neurochem. Res. 28:29-43.
Linster, C., Johnson, B.A., Morse, A., Yue, E., Leon, M. (2002) Spontaneous versus reinforced olfactory discriminations. J. Neurosci. 22:6842-6845.
Johnson, B.A., Ho, S.L., Xu, Z., Yihan, J.S., Yip, S., Hingco, E.E., Leon, M. (2002) Functional mapping of the rat olfactory bulb using diverse odorants reveals modular responses to functional groups and hydrocarbon structural features. J. Comp. Neurol. 449:180-194.
Linster, C., Johnson, B.A., Yue, E., Morse, A., Xu, Z., Hingco, E.E., Choi, Y., Choi, M., Messiha, A., Leon, M. (2001) Perceptual correlates of neural representations evoked by odorant enantiomers. J. Neurosci. 21:9837-9843.
Johnson, B.A., Leon, M. (2001) Spatial representations of odorant chemistry in the main olfactory bulb of the rat. In: Chemical Signals in Vertebrates IX (Marchlewska-Koj, A., Lepri, J.J., and Muller-Schwarze, D, eds.) pp. 85-91, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
Johnson, B.A., Leon, M. (2001) Spatial coding in the olfactory bulb: the role of early experience. In: Developmental Psychobiology, Developmental Neurobiology and Behavioral Ecology: Mechanisms and Early Principals. (Blass, E.M., ed.) pp. 53-80, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
Johnson BA, Leon M. 2000b. Odorant molecular length: one aspect of the olfactory code. J Comp Neurol. 426:330-338.
Johnson BA, Leon M. 2000a. Modular representations of odorants in the glomerular layer of the rat olfactory bulb and the effects of stimulus concentration. J Comp Neurol, 422:496-509.
Johnson BA, Woo CC, Hingco EE, Pham KL, Leon M. 1999. Multidimensional chemotopic responses to n-aliphatic acid odorants in the rat olfactory bulb. J Comp Neurol 409:529-548.
Johnson BA, Woo CC, Leon M. 1998. Spatial coding of odorant features in the glomerular layer of the rat olfactory bulb. J Comp Neurol 393:457-471.
Johnson BA, Leon M. 1996. Spatial distribution of [14C]2-deoxyglucose uptake in the glomerular layer of the rat olfactory bulb following early odor preference learning. J Comp Neurol 376:557-566.
Johnson BA, Woo CC, Duong H, Nguyen V, Leon M. 1995. A learned odor evokes an enhanced Fos-like glomerular response in the olfactory bulb of young rats. Brain Res 699:192-200.
Johnson, B.A., Woo, C.C., Ninomiya-Tsuboi, K., and Leon, M. (1996) Synaptophysin-like immunoreactivity in the rat olfactory bulb during development and after restricted early olfactory experience. Dev. Brain Res. 92, 24-30.
Najbauer, J., Johnson, B.A., Young, A.L., and Aswad, D.W. (1993) Peptides with sequences similar to glycine, arginine-rich motifs in proteins interacting with RNA are efficiently recognized by methyltransferase(s) modifying arginine in numerous proteins. J. Biol. Chem. 268, 10501-10509.
Johnson, B.A., Najbauer, J., and Aswad, D.W. (1993) Accumulation of substrates for protein L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase in adenosine dialdehyde-treated PC12 cells. J. Biol. Chem. 268, 6174-6181.
Johnson, B.A., Shirokawa, J.M., Hancock, W.S., Spellman, M.W., Basa L.J., and Aswad, D.W. (1989) Formation of isoaspartate at two distinct sites during in vitro aging of human growth hormone. J. Biol. Chem. 264, 14262-14271.
Professional Societies
Society for Neuroscience
Association for Chemoreception Sciences
Last updated
10/20/2004