Tammy L. Ivanco, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

Faculty of Arts & Faculty of Medicine

P415 Duff Roblin Bldg.
190 Dysart Road.
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
R3T-2N2

vox: (204)474-7375
fax: (204)474-7599
Ivancotl@cc.umanitoba.ca
email me
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Research Interests:

My lab is investigating one of the most interesting questions in neuroscience - "How does the brain learn and retain information for use throughout the lifetime?" We study what occurs during learning when the brain is working normally, but we are also interested in what happens when a brain is compromised or damaged. Some of the research we are doing is aimed at investigating developmental disorders and neurological disorders that affect young and old brains, such as those that result from stroke. My lab utilizes a number of techniques to investigate plasticity throughout the mammalian lifetime. These techniques come from the areas of behavioural neuroscience, molecular biology and neuroscience, electrophysiology, and quantitative and qualitative anatomy. I also expect to implement optical imaging techniques in the future.

Courses & Outlines:


    PSYC 1200     INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY, A09 2008-2009

    PSYC 2360 BRAIN AND BEHAVIOUR, Fall 2009


    17.454 BRAIN PLASTICITY, Spring 2006
    17.445 ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, SPRING 2002

    Look for Neurobiology of Learning and Memory in the fall of 2007.

Current Students in the Lab:

Kelly Hartle (Honours 2000, MA 2004, PhD Candidate 2004-)
Janine Reynard (MA Candidate - 2008)
Matthew Jeffers (MICH Undergraduate Summer Fellow 2007, NSERC summer fellow 2008,2009)
Marcel Peloquin (NSERC Summer fellow 2008, MICH fellow 2009)
Lab visit to CCBN, The University of Lethbridge, in 2002

Former Students in the Lab:

Jon Gilmore(Honors 2000)
Chris Funk (RA 2001)
Preston Williams (NSERC summer student - Nipissing - 2001)
Erin Bozwell (Independent Study Student 2001-2002)
Jeremy Gawryluk (Honors 2002, NSERC summer student 2003)
Janine Reid (Independent Studies student)
Damian Dowd (Independent Studies student)
Jady Wong (volunteer; MA in Psychology)
Sarah Dentry (research assistant)
Matt Derksen (NSERC summer student 2001, MA2004)
Paul Wawryko (NSERC URSA, 2002, BSc(med) student 2003-2004)
Stephanie Brunner (Independent Studies student)
Meera Dalal (MICH Undergraduate Summer Fellow 2004)
Maya Flat (MA in Psychology)
Marc Wallace (NSERC URSA 2003, 2004, 2005, BSc honours 2004-2005, MA candidate 2006)
Wanda Snow (MA 2004) Karen O'Brien (Honours 2006, NSERC URSA 2007)

Interested in doing an honors project or other work in the lab? click here

Summer NSERC URSA awards - applications due in January!!

Other former trainees in the Lab:

Nicole Ward (visiting post-doc - now at Case Western Reserve University)

Selected References:

Larson, S.J., Hartle, K., Ivanco, T.L., (in Press). Acute administration of interleukin-1 disrupts motor learning. Behavioral Neuroscience.
Wallace, M., Hartle, K.D., Snow, W., Ward, N.L., Ivanco, T.L., (2007). Hypoxia alters the Morphology of Striatal Neurons in CD1 Mice. Neuroscience, 147: 90-6.
Ward, N.L., Moore, E., Noon, K., Spassil, N., Ivanco, T.L., LaManna, J. (2007). Differential expression of cerebral angiogenic factors and angiogenic remodeling and physiological response to long term chronic hypoxia in four commonly used mouse strains. Journal of Applied Physiology,102:1927-35.
Derksen, M., Ward, N.L., Hartle, K., and Ivanco, T.L. (2007). MAP2 and synaptophysin protein expression following motor learning suggests dynamic regulation and distinct alterations coinciding with synaptogenesis. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 87: 404-415.
Ward, NL, Putoscki, T., Mearow, K, Ivanco, TL, Dumont, D. (2004 eprint, 2005). The vascular specific growth factor Angiopoietin 1 is involved in the organization of neuronal processes. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 482: 244-256. *note: all the work for this paper was done in the lab of TLI, mice were created in the lab of DD.
Wawryko, P., Ward, N.L., Whishaw, I.Q., Ivanco, T.L. (2004). Outbred Pigmented Long- Evans Rats Show Similar Long Term Potentiation (LTP) to Inbred Albino Fischer-344 rats but Reduced Short Term Potentation (STP) in Motor Cortex. Brain Research, 1029:1-10.
Weeks, A.C.W., Ivanco, T.L., LeBoutillier, J.C., Marrone, D.F., Racine, R.J., and Petit, T.L. (2003). Unique changes in synaptic morphology following tetanization under pharmacological blockade. Synapse, 47: 77-86.
Ivanco, TL and Greenough, WT. (2002) Altered mossy fiber distributions in adult Fmr1 (FVB) knockout mice. Hippocampus, 12(1):47-54.
Weeks, ACW, Ivanco, TL, LeBoutillier, JC, Racine, RJ, Petit, TL (2001).Sequential changes in the synaptic structural profile following long-term potentiation in the rat dentate gyrus: III: Long-term maintenance phase. Synapse, 40:74-84.
Guo, H, Hong, S, Jin, X-L, Chen, R-S, Avasthi, PP, Tu, Y-T, Ivanco, TL, Li, Y (2000). Specificity and efficiency of Cre-mediated recombination of Emx1-cre knock-in mice. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communication, 273:661-665.
Weeks, ACW, Ivanco, TL, LeBoutillier, JC, Racine, RJ, Petit, TL (2000). Sequential changes in the synaptic structural profile following long-term potentiation in the rat dentate gyrus: II: Induction/early maintenance phase. Synapse, 36: 286-296.
Ivanco, TL and Greenough, WT (2000). Physiological consequences of morphologically detectable plasticity: Potential uses for examining recovery following damage. Neuropharmacology, 39:765-776.
Ivanco, TL, Racine, RJ, and Kolb, B (2000). The morphology of layer III pyramidal neurons is altered following induction of LTP in the sensorimotor cortex of the freely moving rat. Synapse, 37:16-22.
Ivanco, TL and Racine, RJ (2000). Long-term potentiation in the pathways between the hippocampus and neocortex in the chronically implanted rat. Cerebral Cortex, 10: 143-152.
Weeks, ACW, Ivanco, TL, Le Boutillier, JC, Racine, RJ, and Petit, TL (1998). The degree of potentiation is associated with synaptic number during the maintenance of long-term potentiation in the dentate gyrus. Brain Research, 798: 211-216.
Ivanco, TL, Pellis, SM, and Whishaw, IQ (1996). Skilled forelimb movements in prey catching and in reaching by rats (Rattus norvegicus) and opossums (Monodelphis domestica): Relations to anatomical differences in motor systems. Behavioural Brain Research, 79: 163-181.

Special links

    University of Manitoba
    Department of Psychology
    Illusions
    Genotype-phenotype
    Medline search
    On being a professor (B. Kolb)