Glenn Hatton

Glenn Hatton (1934-2008) was a neuroscientist, born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 12, 1934, who is known for his pioneering work on the interactions between neurons and glial cells.

Career
Glenn Hatton received his BS from North Central College, Naperville, Illinois in 1960 in Psychology, and MA and PhD in Psychology and Physiology, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1962 and 1964. In 1965 he joined Michigan State University as an Assistant Professor, rose to become Professor of Psychology and Physiology, and was Director of the Neuroscience Graduate Program from 1978 to 1991. In 1992 he joined the University of California, Riverside as founding Chair of the Department of Neuroscience, which later became the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience. He was pivotal in the founding of the Center for Glial-Neuronal Interactions at UC Riverside.During his career he advanced twice to the rank of Distinguished Professor, first at Michigan State University in 1986 and then at UC Riverside in 1997

Scientific contributions
Until the 1980's, it was widely assumed that the structure of the brain is fixed once the process of development is completed in early life, and that glial cells do little more than provide passive structural and metabolic support for the neurons. In studies first published in 1976, Hatton helped to transform this thinking by showing that brain structure is dynamic.

His work was focussed on studies of the supraoptic nucleus in the hypothalamus - an important 'model system' in neuroscience generally and neuroendocrinology in particular. The neurons of the supraoptic nucleus are magnocellular neurosecretory neurons - large neuroendocrine neurons which secrete their products, the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin into the circulation from their nerve endings in the posterior pituitary gland. Much of Hatton's work was aimed at understanding the electrical behaviour of these neurones - the basic mechanisms of cell excitability that produced characteristic patterns of electrical activity that were important for hormone release, and especially in how these properties adapted in different physiologiocal conditions. This led him to an early awareness of the dynamic nature of the interrelationship between glial cells in the supraoptic nucleus and the neurones, and between the glial cells (pituicytes) in the posterior pituitary and the neurosecretory nerve endings there; two classic papers published with Charles Tweedle in in 1976 and 1977, showed clearly using electron microscopy that the anatomical relationships of these elements was not fixed but dynamically regulated in different physiological states These papers were the foundations of what became an important theme in neuroscience for the following decades.

In 1981, he came with his family to the Babraham Institute in Cambridge UK to spend a sabbatical year, learning from Bill Mason the then new technique of intracellular recording from supraoptic neurones in the hypothalamic slice preparation. He became an enthusiastic convert to this approach, which he continued to exploit and develop throughout his life.

He published more than 190 articles in scientific journals, amongst these were several important and widely cited review articles. Review articles
 * Armstrong WE, Hatton GI (2006) The puzzle of pulsatile oxytocin secretion during lactation: some new pieces. Am J Physiol 291:R26-8 PMID 16832903
 * Hatton GI (2004) Dynamic neuronal-glial interactions: an overview 20 years later Peptides 25:403-11 PMID 15134863
 * Hatton GI (2002) Glial-neuronal interactions in the mammalian brain. Adv Physiol Educ 26:225-37 PMID 12443995
 * Miyata S, Hatton GI.4:2002 Activity-related, dynamic neuron-glial interactions in the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system. Microsc Res Tech 56:143-57. PMID 11810717
 * Hatton GI (1998) Synaptic modulation of neuronal coupling. Cell Biol Int22:765-80. PMID 10873290
 * Hatton GI (1999) Astroglial modulation of neurotransmitter/peptide release from the neurohypophysis: present status J Chem Neuroanat 16:203-21 PMID 10422739
 * Hatton GI, Li ZH (1998) Neurophysiology of magnocellular neuroendocrine cells: recent advances Prog Brain Res 119:77-99 PMID: 10074782
 * Hatton GI, Li Z (1998) Mechanisms of neuroendocrine cell excitability. Adv Exp Med Biol 449:79-95 PMID: 10026788
 * Hatton GI, Li Z (1998) Intrinsic controls of intracellular calcium and intercellular communication in the regulation of neuroendocrine cell activity Cell Mol Neurobiol 18:13-28 PMID 9524727
 * Hatton GI (1997) Function-related plasticity in hypothalamus. Annu Rev Neurosci 20:375-97. PMID 9056719
 * Modney BK, Hatton GI (1994) Maternal behaviors: evidence that they feed back to alter brain morphology and function Acta Paediatr Suppl 397:29-32 PMID 7981470
 * Hatton GI (1990)Emerging concepts of structure-function dynamics in adult brain: the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system Prog Neurobiol 34:437-504 PMID 2202017
 * Hatton GI (1988) Pituicytes, glia and control of terminal secretion J Exp Biol 139:67-79 PMID 3062122

Hatton GI, Yang QZ, Smithson KG (1988)Synaptic inputs and electrical coupling among magnocellular neuroendocrine cells Brain Res Bull 20:751-5 PMID 3044522
 * Hatton GI (1986) Plasticity in the hypothalamic magnocellular neurosecretory system Fed Proc45:2328-33 PMID 3525231
 * Hatton GI, Perlmutter LS, Salm AK, Tweedle CD (1984) Dynamic neuronal-glial interactions in hypothalamus and pituitary: implications for control of hormone synthesis and release. Peptides 5 Suppl 1:121-38 PMID 6384946
 * Hatton GI (1983) Some well-kept hypothalamic secrets disclosed. Fed Proc 42:2869-74 PMID 6350049 Hatton maintained a vast collection of reprints throughout his life, and his scholararship made him an outstanding reviewer of the literature. As a speaker and writer of original research papers he was consistently provocative; as a reviewer he was meticulously balanced.

Glenn Hatton died on January 16, 2009, in Riverside following a brief illness from cancer; he was survived by Patricia, his wife of 54 years, and his children James, William, Christopher, Jennifer, and Tracey Silla. A son, Trent, died in 1988.

Gareth Leng, a friend of Glenn's for nearly thirty years adds "Glenn loved his family first, followed, in no particular order, by good wine, good cheese, English beer, the supraoptic nucleus, his many friends, and argument. He hated Oliver Cromwell."