David Froc

BA (McMaster), PhD (McMaster)
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Phone: 604-599-3354
Voicemail: 9382
Surrey Office: Surrey Main 2881-15

Courses taught

  • PSYC 1100 - Introduction to Psychology: Basic Processes
  • PSYC 1200 - Introduction to Psychology: Areas and Applications
  • PSYC 2300 - Applied Statistics
  • PSYC 2315 - Brain and Behaviour
  • PSYC 3320 - Drugs and Behaviour
  • PSYC 3910 - Neuropsychology
  • PSYC 3930 - Consumer Psychology
  • PSYC 4315 - Neuroscience

Areas of Interest

I am interested in how the mammalian brain codes and stores information. Increases and decreases in the strength of synaptic connections are thought to underlie the storage of information within networks of neurons subserving memory formation. Moreover, changes in synaptic strength are also involved in brain development and in neurodegenerative diseases. As such, my research is focused on how different patterns of neuronal activation alter network properties, facilitating the storage of information in the normal brain and how this process is affected by various insults to normal brain functioning.

Scholarly Work

  • Ji Z, Boyd TE, Froc DJ, Racine RJ. (2005) Laminar differences in field potential morphology and long-term potentiation in motor cortex coronal slices from both unstimulated and previously potentiated rats. Eur J Neurosci. 22(6):1455-62.
  • Froc DJ, Christie BR. (2005) Corticotrophin-releasing hormone decreases synaptic transmission in rat sensorimotor cortex in vivo. Neuroscience 134(3):965-73.
  • Christie BR, Swann SE, Fox CJ, Froc DJ, Lieblich SE, Redila V, Webber A. (2005) Voluntary exercise rescues deficits in spatial memory and long-term potentiation in prenatal ethanol-exposed male rats. Eur J Neurosci. 21(6):1719-26.
  • Froc DJ, Racine RJ (2005) Interactions between LTP- and LTD-inducing stimulation in the sensorimotor cortex of the awake freely moving rat. J Neurophysiol. 93(1):548-56.
  • Hill MN, Froc DJ, Fox CJ, Gorzalka BB, Christie BR. (2004) Prolonged cannabinoid treatment results in spatial working memory deficits and impaired long-term potentiation in the CA1 region of the hippocampus in vivo. Eur J Neurosci. 20(3):859-63.
  • Froc DJ, Racine RJ. (2004) N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-independent long-term depression and depotentiation in the sensorimotor cortex of the freely moving rat. Neuroscience. 129(2):273-81.
  • Froc DJ, Eadie B, Li AM, Wodtke K, Tse M, Christie BR. (2003) Reduced synaptic plasticity in the lateral perforant path input to the dentate gyrus of aged C57BL/6 mice. J Neurophysiol. 90(1):32-8.
  • Froc DJ, Chapman CA, Trepel C & Racine RJ (2000). Long-term depression and depotentiation in the sensorimotor cortex of the freely moving rat. Journal of Neuroscience 20:438-45.
  • Chapman CA, Trepel C, Ivanco TL, Froc DJ, Wilson K, Racine RJ (1998). Changes in field potentials and membrane currents in rat sensorimotor cortex following repeated tetanization of the corpus callosum in vivo. Cereb Cortex 8:730-42.