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Dr Caitlin Cowan
Scientia Fellow (Level C)

Dr Caitlin Cowan

Ph.D. (Behavioural Neuroscience) & M.Psych (Clinical)

Science
School of Psychology

Dr Caitlin Cowan is an NHMRC Investigator fellow and a Scientia Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology. She is interested in the developing gut microbiome and how it contributes to mental health risk and resilience via the gut-brain axis. Her expertise in both behavioural neuroscience and as a trained psychologist informs her translational approach to research.

Dr Cowan completed her PhD and Masters of Clinical Psychology at UNSW. She then undertook a prestigious Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship at the APC Microbiome Ireland (University College Cork). 

 

 
Phone
+61 2 9348 0495
E-mail
c.cowan@unsw.edu.au
Location
School of Psychology Room 1309 Mathews Building
  • Books | 2021
    Cowan CSM; Leonard BE, 2021, Introduction, http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000510413
    Books | 2021
    2021, Microbes and the Mind, Cowan CSM; Leonard BE, (ed.), S. Karger AG, http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/isbn.978-3-318-06856-6
    Books | 2021
    2021, Preface, http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000511097
  • Book Chapters | 2021
    2021, 'Introduction', in Modern Trends in Psychiatry, S. Karger AG, pp. 1 - 11, http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000510413
    Book Chapters | 2021
    2021, 'The Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis in Neurocognitive Development and Decline', in , pp. 12 - 25, http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000510414
  • Journal articles | 2023
    Lynch CMK; Cowan CSM; Bastiaanssen TFS; Moloney GM; Theune N; van de Wouw M; Florensa Zanuy E; Ventura-Silva AP; Codagnone MG; Villalobos-Manríquez F; Segalla M; Koc F; Stanton C; Ross P; Dinan TG; Clarke G; Cryan JF, 2023, 'Critical windows of early-life microbiota disruption on behaviour, neuroimmune function, and neurodevelopment', Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 108, pp. 309 - 327, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2022.12.008
    Journal articles | 2021
    Boehme M; Guzzetta KE; Bastiaanssen TFS; van de Wouw M; Moloney GM; Gual-Grau A; Spichak S; Olavarría-Ramírez L; Fitzgerald P; Morillas E; Ritz NL; Jaggar M; Cowan CSM; Crispie F; Donoso F; Halitzki E; Neto MC; Sichetti M; Golubeva AV; Fitzgerald RS; Claesson MJ; Cotter PD; O’Leary OF; Dinan TG; Cryan JF, 2021, 'Microbiota from young mice counteracts selective age-associated behavioral deficits', Nature Aging, 1, pp. 666 - 676, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00093-9
    Journal articles | 2021
    Secombe KR; Al-Qadami GH; Subramaniam CB; Bowen JM; Scott J; Van Sebille YZA; Snelson M; Cowan C; Clarke G; Gheorghe CE; Cryan JF; Wardill HR, 2021, 'Guidelines for reporting on animal fecal transplantation (GRAFT) studies: recommendations from a systematic review of murine transplantation protocols', Gut Microbes, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2021.1979878
    Journal articles | 2021
    Simpson CA; Diaz-Arteche C; Eliby D; Schwartz OS; Simmons JG; Cowan CSM, 2021, 'The gut microbiota in anxiety and depression – A systematic review', Clinical Psychology Review, 83, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101943
    Journal articles | 2021
    2021, 'Molecular, biochemical and behavioural evidence for a novel oxytocin receptor and serotonin 2C receptor heterocomplex', Neuropharmacology, 183, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2020.108394
    Journal articles | 2020
    Harmon-Jones SK; Cowan CSM; Shnier N; Richardson R, 2020, 'Is good memory always a good thing? An early offset of infantile amnesia predicts anxiety-like behavior throughout development in rats', Behaviour Research and Therapy, 135, pp. 103763, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2020.103763
    Journal articles | 2020
    2020, 'Annual Research Review: Critical windows – the microbiota–gut–brain axis in neurocognitive development', Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 61, pp. 353 - 371, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13156
    Journal articles | 2019
    Cowan CSM; Stylianakis AA; Richardson R, 2019, 'Early-life stress, microbiota, and brain development: probiotics reverse the effects of maternal separation on neural circuits underpinning fear expression and extinction in infant rats', Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 37, pp. 100627, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100627
    Journal articles | 2019
    Kan JM; Cowan CSM; Ooi CY; Kasparian NA, 2019, 'What can the gut microbiome teach us about the connections between child physical and mental health? A systematic review', Developmental Psychobiology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dev.21819
    Journal articles | 2019
    King G; Baker KD; Bisby MA; Chan D; Cowan CSM; Stylianakis AA; Zimmermann KS; Richardson R, 2019, 'A precision medicine approach to pharmacological adjuncts to extinction: a call to broaden research', Psychopharmacology, 236, pp. 143 - 161, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-018-4999-0
    Journal articles | 2019
    Moloney GM; van Oeffelen WEPA; Ryan FJ; van de Wouw M; Cowan C; Claesson MJ; Schellekens H; Dinan TG; Cryan JF, 2019, 'Differential gene expression in the mesocorticolimbic system of innately high- and low-impulsive rats', Behavioural Brain Research, 364, pp. 193 - 204, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2019.01.022
    Journal articles | 2019
    2019, 'The microbiota-gut-brain axis', Physiological Reviews, 99, pp. 1877 - 2013, http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00018.2018
    Journal articles | 2018
    Bastiaanssen TFS; Cowan CSM; Claesson MJ; Dinan TG; Cryan JF, 2018, 'Making Sense of ⋯ the Microbiome in Psychiatry', International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 22, pp. 37 - 52, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyy067
    Journal articles | 2018
    Cowan CSM; Hoban AE; Ventura-Silva AP; Dinan TG; Clarke G; Cryan JF, 2018, 'Gutsy Moves: The Amygdala as a Critical Node in Microbiota to Brain Signaling', BioEssays, 40, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bies.201700172
    Journal articles | 2018
    Cowan CSM; Richardson R, 2018, 'A Brief Guide to Studying Fear in Developing Rodents: Important Considerations and Common Pitfalls.', Current Protocols in Neuroscience, 83, pp. 1 - 14, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cpns.44
    Journal articles | 2018
    Cowan CSM; Richardson R, 2018, 'Early-life stress leads to sex-dependent changes in pubertal timing in rats that are reversed by a probiotic formulation.', Developmental psychobiology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dev.21765
    Journal articles | 2018
    Dinan TG; Stanton C; Long-Smith C; Kennedy P; Cryan JF; Cowan CSM; Cenit MC; van der Kamp J-W; Sanz Y, 2018, 'Feeding melancholic microbes: MyNewGut recommendations on diet and mood', Clinical Nutrition, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2018.11.010
    Journal articles | 2017
    Cowan CSM; Wong SF; Le L, 2017, 'Rethinking the role of thought suppression in psychological models and treatment', Journal of Neuroscience, 37, pp. 11293 - 11295, http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2511-17.2017
    Journal articles | 2016
    Callaghan BL; Cowan CSM; Richardson R, 2016, 'Treating Generational Stress: Effect of Paternal Stress on Development of Memory and Extinction in Offspring Is Reversed by Probiotic Treatment', Psychological Science, 27, pp. 1171 - 1180, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797616653103
    Journal articles | 2016
    Cowan CSM; Callaghan BL; Kan JM; Richardson R, 2016, 'The lasting impact of early-life adversity on individuals and their descendants: Potential mechanisms and hope for intervention', Genes, Brain and Behavior, 15, pp. 155 - 168, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gbb.12263
    Journal articles | 2016
    Cowan CSM; Callaghan BL; Richardson R, 2016, 'The effects of a probiotic formulation (Lactobacillus rhamnosus and L. Helveticus) on developmental trajectories of emotional learning in stressed infant rats', Translational Psychiatry, 6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/tp.2016.94
    Journal articles | 2016
    Richardson R; Cowan CSM; Callaghan BL; Kan JM, 2016, 'Effects of early-life stress on fear memory in the developing rat', Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 7, pp. 15 - 20, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.10.003
    Journal articles | 2013
    Cowan CSM; Callaghan BL; Richardson R, 2013, 'Acute early-life stress results in premature emergence of adult-like fear retention and extinction relapse in infant rats', Behavioral Neuroscience, 127, pp. 703 - 711, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0034118