Faculty

Guillermo R Gonzalez-Burgos, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email

Education & Training

PhD
Neuroscience, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, School of Medicine
Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Research Interests

Parvalbumin interneuron alterations; schizophrenia; Pyramidal neuron alterations in schizophrenia; Cellular basis of working memory & its alterations
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Distinct Physiological Maturation of Parvalbumin-Positive Neuron Subtypes in Mouse Prefrontal Cortex. Takeaki Miyamae, Kehui Chen, David A. Lewis and Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos. Journal of Neuroscience 10 May 2017, 37(19) 4883-4902; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3325-16.2017
  2. Alterations in Cortical Network Oscillations and Parvalbumin Neurons in Schizophrenia. Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos, Raymond Y Cho, David A Lewis Biological Psychiatry Volume 77, Issue 12, 15 June 2015, Pages 1031-1040. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.03.010.
  3. Functional maturation of GABA synapses during postnatal development of the monkey dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos, Takeaki Miyamae, Diego E Pafundo, Hiroki Yoshino, Diana C Rotaru, Gil Hoftman, Dibyadeep Datta, Yun Zhang, Mahjub Hammond, Allan R Sampson, Kenneth N Fish, G Bard Ermentrout, David A Lewis. Cerebral Cortex, Volume 25, Issue 11, 1 November 2015, Pages 40764093, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhu122
  4. Glutamate Receptor Subtypes Mediating Synaptic Activation of Prefrontal Cortex Neurons: Relevance for Schizophrenia. Diana C. Rotaru, Hiroki Yoshino, David A. Lewis, G. Bard Ermentrout and Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos. Journal of Neuroscience 5 January 2011, 31(1)142-156; DOI:https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1970-10.2011.
  5. GABA Neurons and the Mechanisms of Network Oscillations: Implications for Understanding Cortical Dysfunction in Schizophrenia. Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos David A. Lewis. Schizophrenia Bulletin, Volume 34, Issue 5, 1 September 2008, Pages 944961, https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbn070

Education Interests

Research mentorship

Biological Psychiatry: Strength of Excitatory Inputs to Layer 3 Pyramidal Neurons During Synaptic Pruning in the Monkey Prefrontal Cortex: Relevance for the Pathogenesis of Schizophrenia

Gonzalez-Burgos et al. Biological Psychiatry 2023

Cognitive deficits, among the most debilitating clinical features of schizophrenia, might reflect, at least in part, circuit dysfunction in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In schizophrenia, layer 3 pyramidal neurons of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex exhibit deficits in markers of excitatory synaptic inputs that are thought to disrupt the patterns of neural network activity essential for cognitive function...

Now in The Journal of Neuroscience: Regional Differences among Pyramidal neurons in the Working Memory Cortical Network

Gonzalez-Burgos et al. 2019 Journal of Neuroscience

Working memory, the ability to maintain a limited amount of information “in mind” to guide everyday thoughts and behaviors, is a core cognitive process. Its function depends on activity in a network of brain areas distributed across the cerebral cortex. Each of these areas display different patterns of activity while information is being maintained. These differences are correlated with, and might depend on...

Findings by Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos and Dr. David Lewis Indicate that NMDAR Activation Enhances Inhibition of PCs by PVBCs 

Gonzalez-Burgos and Colleagues Biol Psych 2018 Figure

Understanding the mechanisms by which N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) regulate cortical circuit function is crucial for testing hypotheses that NMDAR hypofunction is involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Recent studies reveal that presynaptic NMDARs control transmitter release at cortical synapses, suggesting novel mechanisms of NMDAR action in cortical circuits. If presynaptic NMDARs enhance...

Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos, PhD Promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Congratulations to Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos, PhD on his promotion to the rank of Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. A graduate of the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, Dr. Gonzalez-Burgos received his PhD in Neuroscience in 1995, and began his career at the University of Pittsburgh later that year. As a postdoc in the Department of Neuroscience, he studied...