College of Veterinary Medicine

Education:

B.S., Physics (cum laude), Michigan State University, East Lansing, 1973
Ph.D., Zoology-Neuroscience, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 1978

Honors and Awards:

1991 MSD Agvet Award for Teaching Creativity
1994 Florida's Finest award - Governor of Florida
2004 Pfizer Award for Research Excellence
2005 University of Florida Research Foundation Professor
2006 Manatee Hero Medal – Save the Manatee Club
2007 Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award for The Florida Manatee

Research Interests:

Manatee tactile hairs: Manatees possess specialized tactile bristles and hairs which are distributed over the entire body surface. We hypothesize that Sirenia have developed a mammalian version of the lateral line system which detects water currents, approaching animals and other stimuli producing underwater mechanovibratory signals not detectable through the auditory system. In collaboration with colleagues Dr. Gordon Bauer (New College) and Dr. David Mann (University of South Florida), graduate student Joe Gaspard is performing behavioral experiments on two captive manatees at Mote Marine Laboratory to investigate the functional capacity of this system.

Manatee brain and body growth: Adult manatees have small brains relative to their body size, when compared to other mammals. However, this may reflect prolonged body growth rather than diminished brain size per se. Graduate student Alex Costidis is investigating growth dynamics of brain and body in Florida manatees, and performing a comparative analysis to determine if manatees exhibit prolonged body growth compared to other similarly sized marine mammals.

Manatee brain pathways: Several veterinary students (Ryan Fincher, Maggie Machen, Ben Nevitt, Eric Hostnik) are investigating the location, cellular structure, and relative sizes of auditory processing centers in the manatee brain. Lara Fine, another veterinary student, is mapping olfactory regions of the manatee brain.

Rodent model of hemispatial neglect: Neglect occurs in humans after cortical infarct in a high percentage of cases of right hemisphere stroke. Over the past 25 years, we have collaborated with Dr. Jim Corwin at Northern Illinois University to develop a rat model to investigate the circuitry and pharmacology mediating directed attention and its dysfunctional state, contralateral neglect, and to explore potential therapies for inducing neural repair and functional recovery. Normal directed attention is mediated by circuitry involving specific areas of cerebral cortex, striatum and thalamus. Currently, undergraduate students Billy Conte, Tamara Stiep and Tobias Schmid are investigating neuronal connections of the lateral posterior thalamic nucleus and cerebral cortical areas AGm and PPC, part of the circuitry related to neglect. These studies involve the use of axonal tracers and image analysis.

Selected Publications:

For Publications Extracted From Medline Click HERE

Cheatwood, J.L., J.V. Corwin and R.L. REEP (2005) Overlap and interdigitation of corticostriatal afferents to dorsocentral striatum in the rat. Brain Research 1036: 90-100.

Mann, D.A., D. E. Colbert, J. C. Gaspard, B. M. Casper, M. L. H. Cook, R.L. REEP, G. B. Bauer (2005) Auditory Temporal Resolution of the Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris ) Auditory System. J Comp Physiol. A 191:903-908.

REEP, R.L. and R.K. Bonde (2006) The Florida Manatee: Biology and Conservation. University Press of Florida. 189pp.

Marshall, C.D., S.D. Vaughn, D.K. Sarko, R.L. REEP (2007) Topographical organization of the facial motor nucleus in Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris). Brain, Behavior and Evolution 70: 164-173.

Sarko, D.K., F.L. Rice, R.L. REEP, J.E. Mazurkiewicz (2007) Adaptations in the structure and innervation of follicle-sinus complexes to an aquatic environment as seen in the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris). J. Comp. Neurol. 504: 217-237.

REEP, R.L., B. Finlay and R. Darlington (2007) The limbic system in mammalian brain evolution. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 70: 57-70.

Sarko, D.K. and R.L. REEP (2007) Somatosensory areas of manatee cerebral cortex: histochemical characterization and functional implications. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 69: 20-36.

Sarko, D.K., J.I. Johnson, R.C. Switzer, W.I. Welker, R.L. REEP (2007) Somatosensory nuclei of the brainstem and thalamus in Florida manatees. Anatomical Record 290: 1138-1165.

Kamishina, H., Yurcisin, G., Corwin, J.V. and REEP, R.L. (2008) Striatal projections from the rat lateral posterior thalamic nucleus. Brain Research 1204: 24-39.

Kamishina, H., Conte, W.L., Patel, S., Tai, R.J., Corwin, J.V., REEP, R.L. (2009) Cortical connections of the rat lateral posterior thalamic nucleus. Brain Research 1264: 39-56.

REEP, R.L., J.V. Corwin (2009) Posterior parietal cortex as part of a neural network for directed attention in rats. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (Ed. R. Kesner, D. Bucci) 94: 104-113.

REEP, R.L., Sarko, D.K. (2009) Tactile hair in manatees. Encyclopedia of Touch, Ed. T. Prescott. In Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, Scholarpedia. (http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Tactile_hair_in_Manatees)