Benjamin Clark

Associate Professor

Photo: Benjamin Clark
Email: 
bnjclark@unm.edu
Office: 
Logan Hall Rm 134
Education: 
Ph.D., Dartmouth College
Lab Website
 

Research Interests:

  • Developmental alcohol exposure and spatial navigation
  • Neurobiology of spatial navigation and memory
  • Alzheimer's disease and spatial navigation

Profile:

Accepting students? Dr. Clark will be reviewing applications for the Cognition, Brain & Behavior area for Fall 2027. Please contact Dr. Clark if you are interested in pursuing graduate studies. 

My research primarily studies the impact of pathology associated with alcohol exposure and neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer’s disease) on neural circuits involved in spatial navigation and memory. Our lab uses a combination of neuroscience techniques to study the neurobiology of spatial navigation and memory, including in vivo electrophysiology and manipulation of neural circuitry.

 

Selected Publications

  • Donaldson,TN, Schaeffer EA, Sampson H, Brundage B, Linsenbardt D, Wallace DG, Clark BJ(2026). A single dose of ethanol in adult mice transiently alters the organization of spontaneous exploratory behaviors in a dark open field. Alcohol. 131: 1–11.
  • Clark BJ, Acosta G, Sanchez LM, Trejo Rico K (2025). The Neurobiology of Learning and Memory in Rodent Models of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. In: C.F Valenzuela, D.N. Linsenbardt, & J.L Weiner (Eds.), The Effects of Alcohol on the Brain Across the Lifespan: Recent Advances from Preclinical and Clinical Studies (1sted.). Springer.
  • Sanchez LM, Acosta G, Cushing SD, Johnson SA, Turner SM, Davies S, Savage DD, Burke SN, Clark BJ. (2025). The effect of moderate prenatal alcohol exposure on performance in object and spatial discrimination tasks by adult male rats. Behavioural Brain Research. 478: 115324.
  • Acosta G, Trejo Rico K, Madden JT, LaCour A, Wang E, Sanchez LM, Davies S, Maestas-Olguin C, Cox KB, Reyna NC, Hogeveen J, Savage DD, Pentkowski NS, Clark BJ. (2024). The effects of moderate prenatal alcohol exposure on performance in hippocampal-sensitive spatial memory and anxiety tasks by adult male and female Long-Evans rat offspring. Alcohol. 121:75-86.
  • Osterlund Oltmanns JR, Schaeffer EA, Goncalves Garcia M, Donaldson TN, Acosta G, Sanchez LM, Davies S, Savage DD, Wallace DG, Clark BJ. (2022). Sexual dimorphisms in the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the organization of open field behavior. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 46:861-875.
  • Pentkowski NS, Rogge-Obando KK, Donaldson TN, Bouquin SJ, Clark BJ(2021). Anxiety and Alzheimer's disease: Behavioral analysis and neural basis in rodent models of Alzheimer's-related neuropathology. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. 127, 647–658.
  • Harvey RE, Berkowitz LE, Savage DD, Hamilton DA, Clark BJ. (2020). Altered hippocampal place cell representation and theta rhythmicity following moderate prenatal alcohol exposure. Current Biology. 30(18):3556-3569.

Courses Taught

  • PSYC 2250: Brain and Behavior
  • PSYC 344: Human Neuropsychology
  • PSYC 345: Neuroscience of Aging and Dementia
  • PSYC 450: Philosophy of Neuroscience
  • PSYC 450: Neurobiology of Memory
  • PSYC  450: Consciousness

Lab

Graduate Students:

  • Gabriela Acosta, Project: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and thalamic-cortical interactions during behavior and sleep.
  • Kehiry Trejo Rico: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and thalamo-cortical circuitry in spatial behavior.

Please contact me via email If you are interested in obtaining undergraduate research experience or pursuing graduate studies in my laboratory in my laboratory.