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Examining The Relationships Between Socio-Cognitive Factors And Neural Synchrony During Movie Watching Across Development, Kathleen M. Lyons Aug 2022

Examining The Relationships Between Socio-Cognitive Factors And Neural Synchrony During Movie Watching Across Development, Kathleen M. Lyons

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

While different cognitive abilities mature, the conscious experiences of children likely become richer and more elaborate. A challenge in investigating relationships between cognitive development and real-world experiences is having measures that assess naturalistic processing. Movie watching offers a solution, since following the plot of a film requires cognitive processes that are similar to real-world experiences. When different adults watch the same film, their brain activity begins to align (known as neural synchrony). The strength of this alignment has been shown to reflect the degree to which different individuals are having a similar experience of the movie. While this phenomenon has …


The Default Network And Autism Spectrum Disorder: Characterizing Sub-Networks And Behavioral Correlates, Alyssa K. Kozlowski Jun 2022

The Default Network And Autism Spectrum Disorder: Characterizing Sub-Networks And Behavioral Correlates, Alyssa K. Kozlowski

Theses and Dissertations

The default network (DN), and specifically its sub-networks default network A (DN A) and default network B (DN B), has been strongly implicated in social cognition. This study examined its role in predicting social behavior, and also differences that may exist across diagnostic groups that may explain discrepancies in social cognition and behavior. One of the popular methods of study is functional connectivity, or analyzing correlated activity in the brain. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a disorder characterized by social impairment and abnormal social behavior. To date, much of the functional connectivity research in ASD has focused on global connectivity, …


On The Roles Of Trait Anxiety And Toll Like Receptor 4 In Amphetamine Sensitization In Adolescent Male Rats, Corey A. Calhoun May 2022

On The Roles Of Trait Anxiety And Toll Like Receptor 4 In Amphetamine Sensitization In Adolescent Male Rats, Corey A. Calhoun

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Mammalian adolescence can be a difficult transition from childhood to adulthood, where increases in impulsivity and novelty- and risk-seeking are combined with heightened affect and elevated sensitivity to stress. Indeed, during adolescence, first drug use patterns emerge and in the continental United States, increasing misuse of amphetamines has been observed in adolescent youth. Myriad neural mechanisms underlie this shift in adolescence, including the dynamic remodeling of the mesocorticolimbic (MCL) pathway. Repeated drug administration affects neuroimmune substrates within the MCL circuit including toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)Advances in addiction neuroscience indicate that drugs of abuse activate neural TLR4 and implicate glial TLR4 …


Sex And Age Differences In Approach Behavior Toward A Port That Delivers Nicotine Vapor, Veronika Evangelina Espinoza May 2022

Sex And Age Differences In Approach Behavior Toward A Port That Delivers Nicotine Vapor, Veronika Evangelina Espinoza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The goal of our laboratory is to study the mechanisms that promote nicotine use, particularly in vulnerable populations such as adolescents and females. Thus, the purpose of this thesis was to characterize age and sex differences in the motivational/rewarding effects of nicotine (Aim 1) and withdrawal behavior (Aim 2). To more closely model human use patterns, the present study employed nicotine vapor methods involving passive exposure for 14 days in adolescent and adult female and male rats. Age and sex differences in approach behavior (nosepokes) were assessed in a port that delivered nicotine plumes on Day 1 and 14. Controls …


Characterizing The Expression Pattern And Function Of Tartan During Drosophila Development, Alaina Baggett May 2022

Characterizing The Expression Pattern And Function Of Tartan During Drosophila Development, Alaina Baggett

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The development of complex structures and organs by multicellular organisms relies on the ability of epithelial cells to self-organize. Epithelia are sheets of connected cells, and compartment boundaries are formed between certain epithelial cells to create distinct tissue compartments. Compartment boundaries are specialized cell-cell interfaces that are enriched for the cytoskeletal proteins actin and myosin, leading to straight cell edges under relatively high tension that act as fences keep cells from moving between compartments. In the model organism Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly), compartment boundaries in the early embryo are established in response to the non-uniform striped expression of the cell-surface …


The Effects Of Executive Function Between Anxiety And Math Achievement In Adolescents, Mckenzie Hall May 2022

The Effects Of Executive Function Between Anxiety And Math Achievement In Adolescents, Mckenzie Hall

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Anxiety in Children can develop into pervasive disorders in adulthood if not treated. Research shows dysfunctional Executive Function (EF) and anxiety are both shown to have a negative impact on math achievement in children and adolescents (Trezise & Reeve, 2018; Kalaycioglu, 2015; Owens, Stevenson, Hadwin & Norgate, 2012). Chung, Weyandt, and Swentosky (2014) found biological and neuropsychological support for EF as a unitary and multifaceted processor for regulating our emotional states as well as our daily procedures. Anderson’s (2002) model of Executive Control System (ECS) allows the factors of EF to be examined using a developmental approach towards EF processes. …


The Influence Of Thc, Opioids, And Age On The Plasticity Of Excitatory Inputs To Ventral Tegmental Area Gaba Neurons, Isaac Brent Ostlund Apr 2022

The Influence Of Thc, Opioids, And Age On The Plasticity Of Excitatory Inputs To Ventral Tegmental Area Gaba Neurons, Isaac Brent Ostlund

Theses and Dissertations

Adults exhibit significant differences in drug vulnerability, learning ability, and emotive processing than adolescents. Long-lasting synaptic changes, including long-term depression (LTD), can endure many hours and are believed to be key to encoding memories and persistent cognitive changes such as addiction. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is the primary source of midbrain dopamine (DA) and is regulated by local inhibitory GABA neurons. GABA regulation can decrease, resulting in dis-inhibition of DA neurons and increased feelings of reward, learning, or salience attachment to memories. Endocannabinoids (eCBs) are signaling molecules that often result in synaptic plasticity changes, and the eCB system has …


An Analysis Of The Involvement Of Toll Receptors In Cell Movements During The Elongation Of Tribolium Castaneum, Kathryn Russell Apr 2022

An Analysis Of The Involvement Of Toll Receptors In Cell Movements During The Elongation Of Tribolium Castaneum, Kathryn Russell

Senior Theses and Projects

Elongation of the anterior/posterior body axis is a critical part of embryonic development. Cell movements are known to play a significant role in embryo elongation in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. In the arthropod model organism, Drosophila, Toll receptors have a demonstrated role in the elongation of the embryo by driving convergent extension, in which rows of cells intercalate with one another in one direction to extend tissue in the other. In Drosophila, Toll receptors are a link between anterior-posterior patterning genes expressed in discrete stripes and effector molecules causing cell movements. This cell movement is caused …


Spatiotemporal Characterization Of The Prr12 Paralogues In Zebrafish, Renee Jeannine Resendes Feb 2022

Spatiotemporal Characterization Of The Prr12 Paralogues In Zebrafish, Renee Jeannine Resendes

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Pathogenic variants in the human PRR12 (Proline Rich 12) gene are associated with PRR12-related Neuroocular Syndrome. However, little is known about the gene/protein function. The zebrafish was utilized to address this, as its attributes place it as a premier model to study genes involved in human development and disease. In situ hybridization and RT-PCR of embryos and larvae, and qRT-PCR of adult tissues revealed the spatial and temporal distributions of the prr12 paralogues: prr12a and prr12b. Both paralogues were detected from the maternal and zygotic transcriptomes in a global and diffuse expression pattern, and there was enrichment …


Investigating The Role Of Chd7 And Sox11 In Retinal Cell Development And The Ocular Complications Of Charge Syndrome, Laura Krueger Jan 2022

Investigating The Role Of Chd7 And Sox11 In Retinal Cell Development And The Ocular Complications Of Charge Syndrome, Laura Krueger

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Proper formation of the visual system requires the precise interaction of several embryonic cell lineages, including the neuroectoderm (forms the retina and retinal pigment epithelium), surface ectoderm (forms the lens), mesoderm and cranial neural crest cells (form the ocular blood vessels and anterior ocular structures). When this process is disrupted structural birth defects such as coloboma result, leading to pediatric visual deficits. Ocular developmental defects are often present in larger syndromic disorders. One example is CHARGE syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by coloboma, heart defects, choanal atresia, growth retardation, genital abnormalities, and ear abnormalities. Pathogenic variants in CHD7 have been …


The Effect Of Ethanol On Cellular Movements And Development In C. Elegans, Caitlin N. O'Connor Jan 2022

The Effect Of Ethanol On Cellular Movements And Development In C. Elegans, Caitlin N. O'Connor

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Neural tube development, which gives rise to the central nervous system, is vital to embryonic development. Neural tube defects, like spina bifida, are serious and common congenital defects which can result in life-long medical complications. Folic acid has been used as a preventative measure for neural tube defects and has appeared to decrease the occurrences of neural tube defects. However, the mechanism behind folic acid’s role in neural tube development is unclear. Furthermore, some evidence suggests that ethanol decreases the levels of folates and folate coenzymes in the fetal brain and downregulates folic acid metabolism genes. To better understand the …


Understanding The Effects Of Embryonic Hyperglycemia On Retinal Development And Maintenance, Kayla Titialii-Torres Jan 2022

Understanding The Effects Of Embryonic Hyperglycemia On Retinal Development And Maintenance, Kayla Titialii-Torres

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Hundreds of millions of people are affected by diabetes worldwide. Whether they are diagnosed with prediabetes or Type I or II diabetes, there are a variety of mechanisms in the pathogenesis of diabetes. Diabetes is a disease which consists of recurring states of hyperglycemia that can be difficult to manage due to either lack of insulin production or improper utilization of insulin. While these mechanisms of action differ, complications induced by diabetes occur in both poorly regulated Type I and II. Common complications of diabetes include nerve damage, kidney damage, and eye damage. Eye damage specifically is called diabetic retinopathy …