Steven Granger

Graduate Student
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Office: 1400 Biological Sciences III
Email: grangers@uci.edu

About Me

Projects

Publications

Research

Honors & Awards

Fun!

I received my B.S. in Psychology from Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University where I completed my honors thesis working in the lab of Dr. Heather Bimonte-Nelson. I began working with Dr. Yassa as an undergraduate research assistant in 2014. I am currently beginning my 5th year as a graduate student in the Yassa Lab.

Here my work focuses on the use of Diffusion Weighted Imaging tools to study the impact of novel antecedents of adolescent emotional and cognitive vulnerabilities as well as healthy and unhealthy aging. My long term goals are to become a tenure-track research professor and continue to explore my interests in neurobiology and behavior.

Lab Research Projects

I contribute to the following research areas in the Translational Neuroscience Laboratory.

Individual Research Projects

1) Novel antecedents of childhood emotional and cognitive vulnerabilities.

My primary research objective in graduate school has been collaborative work with the Conte Center at UC Irvine (https://contecenter.uci.edu ). Here I collaborate across research projects to understand the impact of experiencing greater maternal somatosensory unpredictability (in infancy), a novel predictor of cognitive and emotional vulnerability later in life, on white matter circuitry and performance on mnemonic discrimination tasks (later in life). I am currently working on a first author manuscript based on this work

Granger, S. J., Glynn, L. M. Sandman, C. A., Small, S. L., Obenaus, A., Keator, D. B., Baram, T. Z., Stern, H., Yassa, M.A., Davis, E. P. Accelerated Maturation of the Uncinate Fasciculus After Early-Life Unpredictable Patterns of Maternal Signals. In revision at J Neurosci.

2) Diffusion Imaging Biomarkers of Aging and Cognitive Decline.

Within the Yassa Lab, I have developed an interest in using ultrahigh resolution diffusion imaging of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) to study aging and cognitive decline. More specifically, my work in this area has yielded novel evidence for hippocampal subfield specific diffusion profiles that deteriorate with advanced age and memory impairment. Further, in a separate investigation using quantitative-anisotropy informed tractography I have provided novel evidence that the perforant path can be detected in-vivo. These investigations have led to two first author manuscripts currently in preparation.

Granger, S. J., Colon-Perez, L., Larson, M. S., Bennet, L. J., Phelan, M., Keator, D. B., Janecek, J. T., Sathishkumar, M. T., Smith, A. P., McMillan, L., Greenia, D., Corrada, M. M., Kawas, C. H., Yassa, M. A. Ultrahigh resolution diffusion imaging reveals subfield specific diffusion profiles and predicts impaired performance on RAVLT. In Preparation.

Granger, S. J., Colon-Perez, L., Larson, M. S., Bennet, L. J., Phelan, M., Keator, D. B., Janecek, J. T., Sathishkumar, M. T., Smith, A. P., McMillan, L., Greenia, D., Corrada, M. M., Kawas, C. H., Yassa, M. A. Reduced structural connectivity of the medial temporal lobe including perforant path-related connectivity is associated with ageing and memory impairment. In preparation.

3) Emotional Memory Modulation in Healthy and Depressed Individuals.

My primary interests in graduate school have been in emotional memory systems. I have been interested in white matter pathway in particular, the uncinate fasciculus, that connects the anterior MTL and prefrontal cortex and is thought to be involved in adjudicating between competing memory traces at retrieval. My work is currently under review in Neurobiology of Learning in Memory as a first author publication (see below). Additionally, I am extremely interested in the role of norepinephrine in enhancing the storage of emotional memories in healthy and depressed subjects. A topic which forms the basis of an F31 which I plan to submit for the August deadline.

Granger, S.J., Leal, S.L., Murray, E.A., Yassa, M.A. Structural Integrity Deficits in the Uncinate Fasciculus Predict Medial Temporal Lobe Subfield Activity During an Emotional Pattern Separation Task. In review at Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

Publications:

Granger, S. J., Glynn, L. M., Sandman, C. A., Small, S. L., Obenaus, A., Keator, D. B., Baram, T. Z., Stern, H., Yassa, M. A., & Davis, E. P. (2021). Aberrant Maturation of the Uncinate Fasciculus Follows Exposure to Unpredictable Patterns of Maternal Signals. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 41(6), 1242–1250.
Granger, S. J., Leal, S. L., Larson, M. S., Janecek, J. T., McMillan, L., Stern, H., & Yassa, M. A. (2021). Integrity of the uncinate fasciculus is associated with emotional pattern separation-related fMRI signals in the hippocampal dentate and CA3. Neurobiology of learning and memory, 177, 107359.
Matin, M.J., Li, D., Peterson, J., Taylor, M.K., Laurent, H.K., Lucas, T., Granger, S.J., Granger, D.A. and Granger, S.W. (2016). Measuring nerve growth factor in saliva by immunoassay: A cautionary note. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 63, 235-237.

Posters:

Hiroi, R., Lavery, C.N., Granger, S.J., Quihuis, A.M., Weyrich, G., Bimonte-Nelson, H.A. (2014). Sex differences, spatial cognition, and antidepressant treatment: Chronic citalopram administration in middle-aged rats improves memory retention in a sex-dependent manner, and impairs working memory in both sexes. Society for Neuroscience, 2014.
Palmer, J.M., Hiroi, R., Granger, S.J., Poisson, M., Berns-Leone, C., Kirby, D.,Patel, S., Hadder, B., Ciaramitaro, V., Bimonte-Nelson, H. (2016). 17-β estradiol versus conjugated equine estrogens: Differential interaction of androstenedione with two commonly used hormone therpy estrogens for spatial memory in mice. Society for Neuroscience, 2016.
Granger, S.J., Hiroi, R., Poisson, M., Berns-Leone, C., Kirby, B., Ciaramitaro, V., Bimonte-Nelson, H. (2016). Together but not for better? Conjugated equine estrogens, estradiol, androstenedione, and their interactions on spatial memory in C-57 mice. Presented at Honors Thesis Colloquium Arizona State University.

I have worked largely on the implementation of diffusion imaging protocols and analyses in the context of childhood cognitive and emotional vulnerability, ageing, and emotional memory systems. My primary research interests at the moment are situated in understanding the role of arousal in emotional memory consolidation in healthy and depressed populations.

My hope is that I will be able to continue all of my research projects and research interests long after I have obtained my PhD, however, I have many unanswered questions about the role of norepinephrine in emotional memory consolidation in humans that I am particularly interested to explore in more detail.

I am currently a recipient of the Howard Schneiderman Interdisciplinary Training Program in Learning and Memory at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (T32). In addition, I was awarded a small grant to complete my Honors Thesis at Arizona State through the Honors Thesis Colloquium, a competitive seminar series with advanced statistical coursework for undergraduates performing at a graduate level. In addition to these awards, I maintained presence on the Dean’s List at the Pennsylvania State University (2012-2013) and the Honors College at Arizona State University (2013-2016).

I absolutely love my fun. At Arizona State University I was a core member of a competitive wakeboarding team and competed across the county. I am an avid surfer, snowboarder, fly-fisherman, skateboarder, and general outdoors enthusiast. Most of my free time in graduate school has been spent surfing across the county with my family.

What the lab means to me…

“To me, the Yassa Lab has represented an opportunity for growth both personally and academically. The ability to freely explore your own research interests and see them to fruition is a powerful learning experience and one that I am truly grateful for. I am grateful to be involved in such a strong community of scientists who I have struggled with, learned with, and ultimately will succeed with.”