Digital Commons Network^™

Affective Flexibility As A Developmental Building Block Of Cognitive Reappraisal: An Fmri Study, Jordan E. Pierce, Eisha Haque, Maital Neta

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty and Staff Publications

Cognitive reappraisal is a form of emotion regulation that involves reinterpreting the meaning of a stimulus, often to downregulate one’s negative affect. Reappraisal typically recruits distributed regions of prefrontal and parietal cortex to generate new appraisals and downregulate the emotional response in the amygdala. In the current study, we compared reappraisal ability in an fMRI task with affective flexibility in a sample of children and adolescents (ages 6–17, N = 76). Affective flexibility was defined as variability in valence interpretations of ambiguous (surprised) facial expressions from a second behavioral task. Results demonstrated that age and affective flexibility predicted reappraisal ability, …

Extended Functional Connectivity Of Convergent Structural Alterations Among Anxiety Disorders: A Meta-Analysis And Functional Connectivity Analysis, Brianna S. Pankey

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety-related disorders are some of the most pervasive mental health disorders affecting adult and youth populations. Despite growing evidence of the neurobiology associated with anxiety-related disorders, a consensus on the neurobiological mechanisms of anxiety-related disorders remains to be elucidated. We first provide background literature on the reasoning behind this dissertation in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, we conducted a neuroimaging meta-analysis on posttraumatic stress disorder to identify convergent structural and functional alterations associated with this anxiety-related disorder among adults. In Chapter 3, we conducted a neuroimaging meta-analysis to identify convergent structural alterations across diverse groupings of anxiety-related disorders …

Brain Parcellation Selection: An Overlooked Decision Point With Meaningful Effects On Individual Differences In Resting-State Functional Connectivity, Nessa V. Bryce, John C. Flournoy, João F. Guassi Moreira, Maya L. Rosen, Kelly A. Sambook, Patrick Mair, Katie A. Mclaughlin

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

Over the past decade extensive research has examined the segregation of the human brain into large-scale functional networks. The resulting network maps, i.e. parcellations, are now commonly used for the a priori identification of functional networks. However, the use of these parcellations, particularly in developmental and clinical samples, hinges on four fundamental assumptions: (1) the various parcellations are equally able to recover the networks of interest; (2) adult-derived parcellations well represent the networks in children's brains; (3) network properties, such as within-network connectivity, are reliably measured across parcellations; and (4) parcellation selection does not impact the results with regard to …

The Effects Of Mapk Signaling On The Development Of Cerebellar Granule Cells, Kerry Morgan

University Scholar Projects

The granule cells are the most abundant neuronal type in the human brain. Rapid proliferation of granule cell progenitors results in dramatic expansion and folding of the cerebellar cortex during postnatal development. Mis-regulation of this proliferation process causes medulloblastoma, the most prevalent childhood brain tumor. In the developing cerebellum, granule cells are derived from Atoh1-expressing cells, which arise from the upper rhombic lip (the interface between the roof plate and neuroepithelium). In addition to granule cells, the Atoh1 lineage also gives rise to different types of neurons including cerebellar nuclei neurons. In the current study, I have investigated the …

The Effects Of Mapk Signaling On The Development Of Cerebellar Granule Cells, Kerry Morgan

Honors Scholar Theses

The granule cells are the most abundant neuronal type in the human brain. Rapid proliferation of granule cell progenitors results in dramatic expansion and folding of the cerebellar cortex during postnatal development. Mis-regulation of this proliferation process causes medulloblastoma, the most prevalent childhood brain tumor. In the developing cerebellum, granule cells are derived from Atoh1-expressing cells, which arise from the upper rhombic lip (the interface between the roof plate and neuroepithelium). In addition to granule cells, the Atoh1 lineage also gives rise to different types of neurons including cerebellar nuclei neurons. In the current study, I have investigated the …

Reorganization Of The Human Ventricular-Subventricular Zone Neural Stem Cell Niche In Fetal-Onset Hydrocephalus, Saurabh Kumar

University Scholar Projects

Fetal-onset hydrocephalus is a relatively common birth defect occurring in 1-2 cases per thousand births and is characterized by abnormally expanded brain ventricles. Current diagnosis for this complex pathology often involves relatively simple metrics and heavy reliance on clinician experience over objective measures. Those affected often suffer chronic headaches and cognitive deficits and may present with a bulging skill. Shunting is considered the standard treatment for communicating hydrocephalus (i.e. cerebrospinal fluid flow is physically unobstructed in the ventricular system). Shunting remains a highly invasive procedure often performed during the critical period of infancy and has a high failure rate of …

Contextual Fear Memory Modulates Psd95 Phosphorylation, Ampar Subunits, Pkmζ And Pi3k Differentially Between Adult And Juvenile Rats, Roseanna M. Zanca, Shirley Sanay, Jorge A. Avila, Edgar Rodriguez, Harry N. Shair, Peter A. Serrano

Publications and Research

It is well known that young organisms do not maintain memories as long as adults, but the mechanisms for this ontogenetic difference are undetermined. Previous work has revealed that the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4isoxazolepropionic acidreceptor (AMPAr)subunits aretraffickedinto the synaptic membranefollowing memory retrieval in adults. Additionally, phosphorylated PSD-95-pS295 promotes AMPAr stabilization at the synapse. We investigated these plasticity related proteins as potential mediators in the differential contextual stress memory retrieval capabilities observed between adult and juvenile rats. Rats were assigned to either pedestal stress (1h) or no stress control (home cage). Each animal was placed alone in an open field for 5minat the base …

Role Of Mcp-1 And Ccr2 In Ethanol-Induced Neuroinflammation And Neurodegeneration In The Developing Brain, Kai Zhang, Haiping Wang, Mei Xu, Jacqueline A. Frank, Jia Luo

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Neuroinflammation and microglial activation have been implicated in both alcohol use disorders (AUD) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Chemokine monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and its receptor C-C chemokine receptor type 2 (CCR2) are critical mediators of neuroinflammation and microglial activation. FASD is the leading cause of mental retardation, and one of the most devastating outcomes of FASD is the loss of neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). The underlying molecular mechanisms, however, remain unclear. We hypothesize that MCP-1/CCR2 signaling mediates ethanol-induced neuroinflammation and microglial activation, which exacerbates neurodegeneration in the developing brain.

Methods: C57BL/6 mice and …

Minocycline Protects Developing Brain Against Ethanol-Induced Damage, Xin Wang, Kai Zhang, Fanmuyi Yang, Zhenhua Ren, Mei Xu, Jacqueline A. Frank, Zun-Ji Ke, Jia Luo

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are caused by ethanol exposure during the pregnancy and is the leading cause of mental retardation. Ethanol exposure during the development results in the loss of neurons in the developing brain, which may underlie many neurobehavioral deficits associated with FASD. It is important to understand the mechanisms underlying ethanol-induced neuronal loss and develop appropriate therapeutic strategies. One of the potential mechanisms involves neuroimmune activation. Using a third trimester equivalent mouse model of ethanol exposure, we demonstrated that ethanol induced a wide-spread neuroapoptosis, microglial activation, and neuroinflammation in C57BL/6 mice. Minocycline is an antibiotic that inhibits …

The Variability Of Neural Responses To Naturalistic Videos Change With Age And Sex, Agustin Petroni, Samantha Cohen, Lei Ai, Nicolas Langer, Simon Henin, Tamara Vanderwal, Michael P. Milham, Lucas C. Parra

Publications and Research

Neural development is generally marked by an increase in the efficiency and diversity of neural processes. In a large sample (n=114) of human children and adults with ages ranging from 5 to 44 yr, we investigated the neural responses to naturalistic video stimuli. Videos from both real-life classroom settings and Hollywood feature films were used to probe different aspects of attention and engagement. For all stimuli, older ages were marked by more variable neural responses. Variability was assessed by the intersubject correlation of evoked electroencephalographic responses. Young males also had less-variable responses than young females. These results were replicated in …

Brain Networks Supporting Literacy Development, Iris J. Broce

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The development of fluent reading requires coordinated development of key fiber pathways. While several fiber pathways have been implicated in reading, including the recently re-identified vertical occipital fasciculus (VOF), inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), arcuate fasciculus and its 3 components, and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), whether these fiber pathways support reading in young children with little to no exposure to print remains poorly understood. Consequently, over the course of three studies, the current dissertation aimed to narrow this research gap by addressing the following research questions: 1) Which fiber pathways support early literacy skill in young children 5-10 years old? 2) …

The Role Of Daf-19 In Non-Ciliated Neurons: How Is Neural Development Regulated By Different Daf-19 Isoforms?, Zabdiel Ek Vazquez

Lawrence University Honors Projects

A degenerative disease-like phenotype, specifically reduction in synaptic protein levels in adult worms, is correlated with loss-of-function of the only RFX transcription factor gene, daf-19, in C. elegans. This gene encodes four known transcription factor isoforms, two of which are correlated with particular functions. The DAF-19C isoform activates genes responsible for cilia development, while DAF-19M is needed for cilia specification in males. A comparison of the transcriptome of daf-19 null and isogenic wild type adult worms suggests both positive and negative regulation of gene expression is correlated with the presence of DAF-19 proteins. We have assessed DAF-19 regulation …

Acth Prevents Deficits In Fear Extinction Associated With Early Life Seizures, Andrew T. Massey, David K. Lerner, Gregory L. Holmes, Rod C. Scott, Amanda Hernan

Dartmouth Scholarship

Objective: Early life seizures (ELS) are often associated with cognitive and psychiatric comorbidities that are detrimental to quality of life. In a rat model of ELS, we explored long-term cognitive outcomes in adult rats. Using ACTH, an endogeneous HPA-axis hormone given to children with severe epilepsy, we sought to prevent cognitive deficits. Through comparisons with dexamethasone, we sought to dissociate the corticosteroid effects of ACTH from other potential mechanisms of action.

Results: Although rats with a history of ELS were able to acquire a conditioned fear learning paradigm and controls, these rats had significant deficits in their ability to extinguish …

Glyphosate Induces Neurotoxicity In Zebrafish, Nicole M. Roy, Bruno Carneiro, Jeremy Ochs

Biology Faculty Publications

Glyphosate based herbicides (GBH) like Roundup^® are used extensively in agriculture as well as in urban and rural settings as a broad spectrum herbicide. Its mechanism of action was thought to be specific only to plants and thus considered safe and non-toxic. However, mounting evidence suggests that GBHs may not be as safe as once thought as initial studies in frogs suggest that GBHs may be teratogenic. Here we utilize the zebrafish vertebrate model system to study early effects of glyphosate exposure using technical grade glyphosate and the Roundup^® Classic formulation. We find morphological abnormalities including cephalic and …

Evaluation Of The Developmental Toxicity Of Lead In The Danio Rerio Body, Nicole M. Roy, Sarah Dewolf, Bruno Carneiro

Biology Faculty Publications

Lead has been utilized throughout history and is widely distributed and mobilized globally. Although lead in the environment has been somewhat mitigated, the nature of lead and its extensive uses in the past prohibit it from being completely absent from our environment and exposure to lead is still a public health concern. Most studies regarding lead toxicity have focused on the brain. However, little is found in the literature on the effects of lead in other tissues. Here, we utilize the zebrafish model system to investigate effects of lead exposure during early developmental time windows at 24, 48 and 72 …

Inter- And Intralimb Adaptations To A Sensory Perturbation During Activation Of The Serotonin System After A Low Spinal Cord Transection In Neonatal Rats, Misty M. Strain, Sierra D. Kauer, Tina Kao, Michele R. Brumley

Publications and Research

Activation of the serotonin system has been shown to induce locomotor activity following a spinal cord transection. This study examines how the isolated spinal cord adapts to a sensory perturbation during activation of the serotonergic system. Real-time and persistent effects of a perturbation were examined in intact and spinal transected newborn rats. Rats received a spinal surgery (sham or low thoracic transection) on postnatal day 1 and were tested 9 days later. At test, subjects were treated with the serotonergic receptor agonist quipazine (3.0 mg/kg) to induce stepping behavior. Half of the subjects experienced range of motion (ROM) restriction during …

The Development Of Sleep-Wake Rhythms And The Search For Elemental Circuits In The Infant Brain, Mark S. Blumberg, Andrew J. Gall, William D. Todd

Faculty Publications

Despite the predominance of sleep in early infancy, developmental science has yet to play a major role in shaping concepts and theories about sleep and its associated ultradian and circadian rhythms. Here we argue that developmental analyses help us to elucidate the relative contributions of the brainstem and forebrain to sleep-wake control and to dissect the neural components of sleep-wake rhythms. Developmental analysis also makes it clear that sleep-wake processes in infants are the foundation for those of adults. For example, the infant brainstem alone contains a fundamental sleep-wake circuit that is sufficient to produce transitions among wakefulness, quiet sleep, …

Astroglial Boundary Formation And Epha4 Signaling In Neuroblast Migration, Nicholas B. Gallo

University Scholar Projects

Adult neurogenesis, the process of generating new neurons from neural precursors, is a highly complex process that is limited to two specific areas of the brain, the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and the subventricular zone (SVZ). Despite continued research investigating neurogenesis in these two regions, we still lack a fundamental understanding of the molecular mechanisms of neural cell division, migration, differentiation, and integration in the postnatal brain. In particular, the rostral migratory stream (RMS), which is a cellular migratory route for newly generated neuronal precursors that travel from the SVZ to the olfactory bulb, will provide a useful model …

Astroglial Boundary Formation And Epha4 Signaling In Neuroblast Migration, Nicholas B. Gallo

Honors Scholar Theses

Adult neurogenesis, the process of generating new neurons from neural precursors, is a highly complex process that is limited to two specific areas of the brain, the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and the subventricular zone (SVZ). Despite continued research investigating neurogenesis in these two regions, we still lack a fundamental understanding of the molecular mechanisms of neural cell division, migration, differentiation, and integration in the postnatal brain. In particular, the rostral migratory stream (RMS), which is a cellular migratory route for newly generated neuronal precursors that travel from the SVZ to the olfactory bulb, will provide a useful model …

Fiber Pathways For Language In The Developing Brain: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging (Dti) Study, Iris J. Broce

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study characterized two fiber pathways important for language, the superior longitudinal fasciculus/arcuate fasciculus (SLF/AF) and the frontal aslant tract (FAT), and related these tracts to speech, language, and literacy skill in children five to eight years old. We used Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) to characterize the fiber pathways and administered several language assessments. The FAT was identified for the first time in children. Results showed no age-related change in integrity of the FAT, but did show age-related change in the left (but not right) SLF/AF. Moreover, only the integrity of the right FAT was related to phonology but …

The Effect Of Age On Neural Processing Of Pleasant Soft Touch Stimuli, April C. May, Jennifer L. Stewart, Susan F. Tapert, Martin P. Paulus

Publications and Research

Tactile interactions with our environment stimulate afferent fibers within the skin, which deliver information about sensations of pain, texture, itch and other feelings to the brain as a comprehensive sense of self. These tactile interactions can stimulate brain regions involved in interoception and reward processing. This study examined subjective, behavioral, and neural processing as a function of age during stimulation of A-beta (Aβ) and C tactile (CT) afferents using a soft brush stroke task. 16 adolescents (ages 15–17), 22 young adults (ages 20–28), and 20 mature adults (ages 29–55) underwent a simple continuous performance task while periodically anticipating and experiencing …

The Mammalian Neocortex New Pyramidal Neuron: A New Conception, Miguel Marín-Padilla

Dartmouth Scholarship

The new cerebral cortex (neocortex) and the new type of pyramidal neuron are mammalian innovations that have evolved for operating their increasing motor capabilities while essentially using analogous anatomical and neural makeups. The human neocortex starts to develop in 6-week-old embryos with the establishment of a primordial cortical organization, which resembles the primitive cortices of amphibian and reptiles. From the 8th to the 15th week of age, new pyramidal neurons, of ependymal origin, are progressively incorporated within this primordial cortex forming a cellular plate that divides its components into those above it (neocortex first layer) and those below it (neocortex …

The Benefits Of Breastfeeding, Avery Kordus

Senior Honors Theses

Breastfeeding research is plentiful, and the majority of the literature shows that breast milk is the superior form of infant nutrition except in the rare circumstances of infant metabolic disorders, maternal drug use, or positive HIV status. In comparison to formula, breast milk provides improved cognition, development, behavior, bonding, nutrition, digestion, immunity, and long-term health with fewer diseases and conditions in infants. Mothers are benefited by breastfeeding through bonding, faster weight loss, and reduction in certain cancers and conditions. Breast milk contains the proper amount of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals, and is also specialized for each infant and …

Understanding Less Than Nothing: Children's Neural Response To Negative Numbers Shifts Across Age And Accuracy, Margaret M. Gullick, George Wolford

Dartmouth Scholarship

We examined the brain activity underlying the development of our understanding of negative numbers, which are amounts lacking direct physical counterparts. Children performed a paired comparison task with positive and negative numbers during an fMRI session. As previously shown in adults, both pre-instruction fifth-graders and post-instruction seventh-graders demonstrated typical behavioral and neural distance effects to negative numbers, where response times and parietal and frontal activity increased as comparison distance decreased. We then determined the factors impacting the distance effect in each age group. Behaviorally, the fifth-grader distance effect for negatives was significantly predicted only by positive comparison accuracy, indicating that …

Brief Embryonic Strychnine Exposure In Zebrafish Causes Long-Term Adult Behavioral Impairment With Indications Of Embyronic Synaptic Changes, Nicole M. Roy, Brianna Arpie, Joseph Lugo, Elwood Linney, Edward D. Levin, Daniel Cerutti

Biology Faculty Publications

Zebrafish provide a powerful model of the impacts of embryonic toxicant exposure on neural development that may result in long-term behavioral dysfunction. In this study, zebrafish embryos were treated with 1.5mM strychnine for short embryonic time windows to induce transient changes in inhibitory neural signaling, and were subsequently raised in untreated water until adulthood. PCR analysis showed indications that strychnine exposure altered expression of some genes related to glycinergic, GABAergic and glutamatergic neuronal synapses during embryonic development. In adulthood, treated fish showed significant changes in swimming speed and tank diving behavior compared to controls. Taken together, these data show that …

Sexually Dimorphic Effects Of A Prenatal Immune Challenge On Social Play And Vasopressin Expression In Juvenile Rats, Patrick V. Taylor, Alexa Veenema, Matthew J. Paul, Remco Bredewold, Stephanie Isaacs, Geert De Vries

Neuroscience Institute Faculty Publications

Background: Infectious diseases and inflammation during pregnancy increase the offspring’s risk for behavioral disorders. However, how immune stress affects neural circuitry during development is not well known. We tested whether a prenatal immune challenge interferes with the development of social play and with neural circuits implicated in social behavior.

Methods: Pregnant rats were given intraperitoneal injections of the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS – 100 μg /kg) or saline on the 15th day of pregnancy. Offspring were tested for social play behaviors between postnatal days 26–40. Brains were harvested on postnatal day 45 and processed for arginine vasopressin (AVP) mRNA in …

In Search Of The Neurobiological Substrates For Social Playfulness In Mammalian Brains, Stephen M. Siviy, Jaak Panksepp

Psychology Faculty Publications

Play behavior is a fundamental and intrinsic neurobehavioral process in the mammalian brain. Using rough-and-tumble play in the juvenile rat as a model system to study mammalian playfulness, some of the relevant neurobiological substrates for this behavior have been identified, and in this review this progress. A primary-process executive circuit for play in the rat that includes thalamic intralaminar nuclei, frontal cortex and striatum can be gleaned from these data. Other neural areas that may interact with this putative circuit include amygdala, ventral hypothalamus, periaqueductal gray (PAG), and deep tectum, as well as ascending dopamine systems which participate in all …

Investigating The Diversity Of Radial Glia Fates In The Rat Neocortex, Abraham William Aron

Honors Scholar Theses

Radial Glia (RG) are a mitotically active population of cells which reside within the ventricular zone at the lateral ventricle and give rise to the pyramidal neurons and astrocytes of the neocortex. Through cellular divisions, RG produce two daughter cells, one which resides in the ventricular zone and becomes another RG while the other is an immature progenitor which migrates away from the ventricle and populates the growing cortex. RG have been found to be a heterogeneous population of cells which express different surface antigens and genetic promoters which may influence the cellular fate of their progeny. In this study …

Effects Of Chlordiazepoxide On Predator Odor-Induced Reductions Of Playfulness In Juvenile Rats, Stephen M. Siviy, Courtney L. Steets, Lauren M. Debrouse

Psychology Faculty Publications

The extent to which a non-sedative dose of chlordiazepoxide (CDP) is able to modify the behavioral responses toward a predator odor was assessed in juvenile rats. Play behavior was suppressed and defensive behaviors were enhanced in the presence of a collar previously worn by a cat, when tested 24 hours later in the same context as that where the exposure occurred, and when tested in a context different than that in which the exposure occurred for up to 3 hours after exposure. CDP had no effect on the ability of cat odor to suppress play when rats were tested in …

Long Term Impact Of Neonatal Injury In Male And Female Rats: Sex Differences, Mechanisms And Clinical Implications, Jamie L. Laprairie, Anne Z. Murphy Phd

Neuroscience Institute Faculty Publications

Over the last several decades, the relative contribution of early life events to individual disease susceptibility has been explored extensively. Only fairly recently, however, has it become evident that abnormal or excessive nociceptive activity experienced during the perinatal period may permanently alter the normal development of the CNS and influence future responses to somatosensory input. Given the significant rise in the number of premature infants receiving high‐technology intensive care over the last twenty years, ex‐preterm neonates may be exceedingly vulnerable to the long‐term effects of repeated invasive interventions. The present review summarizes available clinical and laboratory findings on the lasting …