K. P. Ossenkopp

Dr. Klaus-Peter Ossenkopp

Professor Emeritus - Cognitive, Developmental and Brain Sciences

Email: ossenkop@uwo.ca

  • Bio

  • Publications

  • Research

Biographical Information

I was born in Hildesheim, Germany but received my early education in Winnipeg, Manitoba. My initial exposure to scientific research was in an insect ethology laboratory at the University of Manitoba and I was very much influenced by the writings of Karl von Frisch on the behavior of honeybees. This early influence of ethology has had a lasting impact on my interest in behavior from a zoological perspective and led to a foundation of evolutionary thinking in my pursuit of understanding the relationship between brain and behavior, in the kinds of research questions that have intrigued me, and in the methodological approaches that I have used in my various research programs.

I obtained my B.A.(Hons) in Psychology from the University of Manitoba in 1971. Following receipt of a Certificate in Education I taught high school for a year but realized that a research career was really what I would be most happy with. I pursued this goal by completing my M.A. in Experimental Psychology at Manitoba in 1975 and my Ph.D. degree in Biopsychology at York University in Toronto in 1978. I then spent 2 years as an NSERC post-doctoral fellow in Dr. C. H. Vanderwolf’s laboratory at the University of Western Ontario studying brain electrophysiology in relation to behavior in rats. From 1981-1990 I held a NSERC University Research Fellowship at the University of Western Ontario.

I am currently a Full Professor in the Department of Psychology and a core faculty member in the Graduate Neuroscience Program. My previous positions have all been at the University of Western Ontario, as an assistant professor from 1980-1986 and an associate professor from 1986-1989 in the Department of Psychology. I served as Chair of the Department from 2003-07. I was also associated with the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology from 1989 to 2001. As a co-director of Bioelectromagnetics Western, a research group interested in the biological effects of electromagnetic fields, I have been able to continue my research interests in this area and to assist with the organization of symposia and presentation of public lectures.

My general research interests are in the area of behavioral neuroscience with an emphasis on brain-behavior relationships. There are two general themes in my current research interests: (a) biological defence mechanisms related to the solution of a variety of problems that organisms encounter in attempting gain resources from the environment (b) development of animal models of behavioral disorders. However, I have diverse interests and have done research on such topics as the biological effects of electromagnetic fields as well as general issues related to methodology and statistical analysis in behavioral neuroscience.

Selected Publications

Immune System and Behavior


Bishnoi IR; Kavaliers M; Ossenkopp K-P. Immune activation attenuates memory acquisition and consolidation of conditioned disgust (anticipatory nausea) in rats. Behavioural Brain Research, 2023, 439:114250. doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114250 

Bishnoi IR; Cloutier CL; Tyson C-D; Matic VM; Kavaliers M; Ossenkopp K-P. Infection, learning, and memory: Focus on immune activation and aversive conditioning. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2022, 142:104898. doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2002.104898 

Kavaliers, M; Ossenkopp K-P; Tyson, C-D; Bishnoi, IR; Choleris, E. Social factors and the neurobiology of pathogen avoidance. Biology Letters, 2022, 18:20210371. doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0371 

Kavaliers M; Bishnoi IR; Ossenkopp K-P; Choleris E. Differential effects of progesterone on social recognition and the avoidance of pathogen threat by female mice. Hormones and Behavior, 2021, 127:104873. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104873 

Kavaliers, M; Ossenkopp K-P; Choleris, E. Pathogens, odors and disgust in rodents. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2020, 119:281-293. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.09.037 

Wah DTO; Kavaliers M; Bishnoi I; Ossenkopp K-P. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced sickness in early adolescence alters the behavioral effects of the short-chain fatty acid, propionic acid, in late adolescence and adulthood: examining anxiety and startle reactivity. Behavioural Brain Research, 2019, 360:312-322. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2018.12.003. 

Banasikowski TJ; Cloutier CJ; Ossenkopp K-P; Kavaliers M. Repeated exposure of male mice to low doses of lipopolysaccharide: Dose and time dependent development of behavioral sensitization and tolerance in an automated light‑dark anxiety test Behavioural Brain Research, 2015, 286:241-248. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2015.03.004
 

Autism Spectrum Disorder rodent model

Benitah KC; Kavaliers M; Ossenkopp K-P. Propionic acid induced behavioral effects of relevance to autism spectrum disorder evaluated in female and male rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 2023, 231:173630. doi.org/10.1016/j.pbb.2023.173630 

Mepham JR; MacFabe DF; Boon F; Foley KA; Cain DP; Ossenkopp KP. Examining the non-spatial pretraining effect on a water maze spatial learning task in rats treated with multiple intraventricular infusions of propionic acid: Contributions to a rodent model of ASD. Behavioural Brain Research, 2021, 403:113140. doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113140225. 

Meeking MM; MacFabe DF; Foley KA; Mepham JR; Tichenoff LJ; Boon FH; Kavaliers M; Ossenkopp K-P. Propionic acid induced behavioural effects of relevance to autism spectrum disorder evaluated in the hole board test with rats. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry, 2020, 97:109794. doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2019.109794 

Shams S; Foley KA; Kavaliers M; MacFabe DF; Ossenkopp K-P. Systemic treatment with the enteric bacterial metabolic product propionic acid results in reduction of social behavior in juvenile rats: Contribution to a rodent model of autism spectrum disorder. Developmental Psychobiology, 2019, 61(5):688-699. (invited) doi:10.1002/dev.21825 

Mepham JR; Boon F; Foley KA; Cain DP; MacFabe DF; Ossenkopp KP. Impaired spatial cognition in adult rats treated with multiple intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusions of the enteric bacterial metabolite, propionic acid, and return to baseline after one week of no treatment: Contribution to a rodent model of ASD. Neurotoxicity Research, 2019, 35(4): 823-837. doi:10.1007/s12640‑019‑0002‑z 

Kamen CL; Zevy DL; Bishnoi IR; Ward JM; Kavaliers M; Ossenkopp K-P. Systemic treatment with the enteric bacterial fermentation product, propionic acid, reduces acoustic startle response magnitude in rats in a dose dependent fashion: Contribution to a rodent model of ASD. Neurotoxicity Research, 2019, 35(2):353-359. doi:10.1007/s12640‑018‑9960‑9 

Wah DTO; Ossenkopp K-P; Bishnoi, I; Kavaliers M. Predator odor exposure in early adolescence influences the effects of the bacterial product, propionic acid, on anxiety, sensorimotor gating, and acoustic startle response in male rats in later adolescence and adulthood. Physiology and Behavior, 2019, 199:35-46. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.11.003. 

Foley KA; MacFabe DF; Kavaliers M; Ossenkopp K-P. Sexually dimorphic effects of prenatal exposure to lipopolysaccharide, and prenatal and postnatal exposure to propionic acid, on acoustic startle response and prepulse inhibition in adolescent rats: Relevance to autism spectrum disorders. Behavioural Brain Research, 2015, 278:244-256. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2014.09.032 

 

Conditioned Disgust

Kavaliers, M., Wah, D., Bishnoi, I. R., Ossenkopp, K.-P., & Choleris, E. (2023). Disgusted snails, Oxytocin, and the Avoidance of Infection Threat. Hormones and Behavior, 2023, 155:105424.

Kavaliers, M; Ossenkopp K-P; Tyson, C-D; Bishnoi, IR; Choleris, E. Social factors and the neurobiology of pathogen avoidance. Biology Letters, 2022, 18:20210371. doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0371

Kavaliers, M; Ossenkopp K-P; Choleris, E. Pathogen and Toxin Disgust in Rodents. In P.A. Powell and N.S. Consedine (eds.) The Handbook of Disgust Research: Modern Perspectives and Applications, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2021, Ch. 4, pp 53-78.

Doobay M; Cross-Mellor SK; Wah DTO; Kavaliers M; Ossenkopp K-P. Toxin-induced aversive context conditioning: Assessing active aversive behaviors conditioned to the context of an automated activity monitor. Physiology and Behavior, 2021, 240:113559.

Kavaliers M; Ossenkopp K-P; Choleris E. Social Neuroscience of Disgust. Genes, Brain and Behavior, 2019, 18(1):e12508. doi:10.1111/gbb.12508

Cloutier CJ; Zevy DL; Kavaliers M; Ossenkopp K-P. Conditioned disgust in rats (anticipatory nausea) to a context paired with the effects of the toxin LiCl: Influence of sex and the estrous cycle. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 2018, 173:51-57.

Cloutier CJ; Kavaliers M; Ossenkopp K-P. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced sickness in adolescent female rats alters the acute-phase response and lithium chloride (LiCl)- induced impairment of conditioned place avoidance/aversion learning, following a homotypic LPS challenge in adulthood. Behavioural Brain Research, 2018, 351:121-130.

Cloutier CJ; Kavaliers M; Ossenkopp K-P. Rodent sex differences in disgust behaviors (anticipatory nausea) conditioned to a context associated with the effects of the toxin LiCl: Inhibition of conditioning following immune stimulation with lipopolysaccharide. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 2017, 152: 4‑12. (invited).

Boulet N; Cloutier CJ; Ossenkopp K‑P; Kavaliers M. Oxytocin, Social Factors and the Expression of Conditioned Disgust (Anticipatory Nausea) in Male Rats. Behavioural Pharmacology, 2016, 27:718-725.

Research

My general research interests are in the area of behavioral neuroscience with an emphasis on brain-behavior relationships. The general theme of my current research interests deals with biological defence mechanisms related to the solution of a variety of problems that organisms encounter in attempting to gain resources from the environment. Several core research projects consist of: a) examining how animals obtain food and water while minimizing exposure to associated toxins; b) how animals cope with, and defend against, infectious agents; c) how animals learn to navigate in the environment in search of required resources and defend against the risk of predation. These projects attempt to relate both proximate and ultimate factors to the particular neural and behavioral mechanisms, with special focus on sex differences and the role of gonadal and stress hormones. I also have an interest in the biological effects of electromagnetic fields and, more recently, in the psychobiological basis for autism spectrum disorders in humans.

My laboratory uses a number of automated techniques to a) quantify locomotor activity (VersaMax Automated Activity System) in rodents (rats, mice, voles) b) to continuously monitor food and water intake c) to monitor licking patterns during a liquid meal, and d) to quantify locomotor motor activity and chamber preference in an automate Place Preference Conditioning apparatus. We also use an automated light-dark apparatus to examine anxiety related behaviors. We employ detailed behavioral scoring from videotape to quantify behaviors in the Taste Reactivity Test, the Conditioned Anticipatory Nausea Paradigm, and in social interaction tests. We also have access to a large Morris Water Maze, Plus Maze, Barnes Maze, and a variety of radial mazes. Recently we have acquired a system to measure startle responses, both acoustic and tactile, and pre-pulse inhibition in rats and mice.

I have collaborated on a variety of research projects with a number of faculty members from our department (most notably Martin Kavaliers), the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, as well as from other Universities in Canada, the USA and Europe. I was also involved with the “Kilee Patchell-Evans Research Group for Autism and Related Disorders” and the “Neuroendocrinology and Behavior Research Group”.

Past and Present Research Interests:
• Immune system activation and sickness behaviors
• Environmental influences on the expression of sickness behaviors
• Behavioral tolerance development to immune system activation
• Toxin-induced conditioned “gaping” in rats as a model of anticipatory nausea
• Gustatory conditioning with food associated toxins
• Influence of stress hormones on learning and memory
• Sex differences and influence of gonadal hormones on learning and memory
• Influence of gonadal hormones on feeding behavior
• Influence of peptide hormones on feeding
• Social influences on feeding and gustatory learning
• Behavioral effects of vestibular lesions
• Animal models of motion sickness
• Influence of predator odors on learning and memory
• Animal models of behavioral disorders
• Open-field behavior in rodents
• Measuring locomotor activity as a methodological tool in behavior analysis
• Place preference conditioning in rodents• Animal models of autism
• Animal models of anxiety - sex differences and influence of gonadal hormones
• Dopamine system and behavioral sensitization development
• Influence of powerline electromagnetic fields on brain electrical activity
• Influence of powerline electromagnetic fields on drug-induced analgesia

 

Current Lab Members:

Graduate Students:

Indra Bishnoi, Ph.D.- Neuroscience student
Vangel Matic, M.Sc. - Neuroscience student
Matthew Huynh, M.Sc. - Neuroscience student
Grace Lake, M.Sc. – Neuroscience student 

Undergraduate Students:

Lily Wang - Undergraduate student

Mustafa Al-Khudairy - volunteer

Past Members:

Postdoctoral Research Fellows (NSERC):

Dr. Elena Choleris, Dr. Cheryl Limebeer

Graduate Students: (Ph.D.) - Kelly Foley, Caylen Cloutier, Sharon Clarke, Shelley Cross-Mellor, Lisa Eckel, Chris Engeland, Melissa Fudge, Liisa Galea, Ricki Ladowsky, Tara Perrot, Christine Tenk; (M.Sc.) – Cashmeira-Dove Tyson, Katie Benitah, Deanne On Wah, Jordan Ward, Danna Zevy, Nathalie Boulet, Julie Deleemans, Kai Wang, Amber Good, Stacey Holbrook, Alina Zaltzman, Melissa Meeking, Jennifer Mepham, Jessica Benzaquen, Melissa Chan, Shelley Cross, Lisa Eckel, Kelly Foley, Melissa Fudge, Andrew Franklin, Jennifer Hoffman, Bill Kent, Ricki Ladowsky, Andrew Lockey, Lyndsay Martin, Jennifer Martins, Lesley Ruttan, Soaleha Shams, Christine Tenk, Susan Tessier, Alex Thomas

External Graduate Student: (Ph.D.) - Isabel M. Picon (Universidad de Oviedo, Spain) 

NSERC Summer Students: Matthew Huynh, Vangel Matic, Anahat Luthra, Lindsay Szota, Sari Anderson, Melissa Chan, Kelly Foley, Magdalena Kazmierczak, Doreen Kinsella, Andrew Lockey, Julia McKay, Yacov Rabi

Undergraduates: K. Benitah, M. Doobay, B, Howidi, K. Colasanti, A Romaniuk, C. Kamen, L. Hutchinson, M. Marcus, J. Gotlieb, L. Strasser, M. Librach, R. Garrick, K. Kezele, J. Gold, C. Barron, L. Coombs, A. Vaz, C. Saperia, J. Raisin, A. Chan, E. Biagi, A. Campbell, S Aronson, M. Dekens, A. George, J. Martins, J. Hoffman, W. Kent,T. Banisikowski; A. Good; E. Johnson; S. Holbrook; M. Kazmierczak; M. Rodowa; A. Hill; A. Zaltzman; M. Chan; C. Cloutier; E. Biagi; A. Campbell; S. Aronson; J. Gibson; M. Dekens; A. George; J. Martins; S. Devane; J. Hoffman; L. Martin; M. Gutz; C. Chariot; K. Newland; K. Zaki; D. Cheung; D. Nielsen; K. Sullivan; H. Ranu; N. Heidebrecht; D. Krieger; S. Millar; K. Shaw; M. Fowler; C. Marczinski; D. Kinsella; B. Navarro; Y. Rabi; D. Robinson; A. Splinter; L. Saksida; H. Song; E. Tan; N. Tordjman-Goodfellow; M. Tordorow; J. Krusky; T. McCarty; M. Bettin; G. Shearer; A. Prkacin; M. Bevan; L. Gabora; L. MacRae; K. Desborough; T. Wenske; P. Rose; M. Northcott; E. Johnson, D. Tysdale; E. Viire. 

Assistants and Technicians: Andrea Campbell, Smita Devane, Andrew Franklin, Nancy Frisken, Luigi Giugno, Melinda Rodowa, Susan Smith, Cathy Sutherland, Gemming Tu 

Research Associates:

Dr. Indra Bishnoi, Dr. Shelley Cross-Mellor, Dr. Christine Tenk