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Effects Of The Antidepressant Drug Vortioxetine On Ventral Pallidal Neuronal Activity, Respiration, And Heart Rate In The Rat, Piper Rogers Mar 2021

Effects Of The Antidepressant Drug Vortioxetine On Ventral Pallidal Neuronal Activity, Respiration, And Heart Rate In The Rat, Piper Rogers

Theses and Dissertations

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a mental illness that affects millions of people worldwide. People diagnosed with MDD are often prescribed antidepressant drugs. Most antidepressants increase levels of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in the synapses between neurons. Selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), one class of antidepressants, do this by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin released into the synapse. Serotonin neurons from the brainstem raphe nuclei affect a wide range of areas throughout the brain. Among these areas is the ventral pallidum (VP), located in the basal forebrain. Citalopram, an SSRI, has been found to increase the firing rate of action potentials of …


Physiological Consequences Of Neuromodulation And The Cellular Properties That Underlie Them, Margaret Louise Demaegd Feb 2021

Physiological Consequences Of Neuromodulation And The Cellular Properties That Underlie Them, Margaret Louise Demaegd

Theses and Dissertations

Neuronal activity is a product of more than the underlying neuronal connections. Modulatory influences like changes in the animal’s environment, the animals physiological state, or the release of neuromodulators can dramatically alter neuronal activity. Modulatory influences can be beneficial for the animal because they are a source of neuronal and behavioral plasticity, and they can provide neuronal circuits with the robustness needed to continue to function in new conditions, states, or tasks.However, malfunctions of the modulatory system can disrupt neuronal activity and lead to pathologies. Predicting how modulatory influences will alter neuronal activity is challenging because the underlying cellular and …