Digital Commons Network^™

Incorporating Information From Neuroscience And Endocrinology Regarding Sexual Orientation Into Social Work Education, Jill Littrell

jill l littrell Dr.

The brains of heterosexual males and heterosexual females are different. Moreover, the brains of gay men are similar to heterosexual females whereas the brains of lesbians are similar to heterosexual males. Neuroscience research supporting these postulates is reviewed. The gestational processes that might explain the differences in brain structure and function corresponding with gender are reviewed. Following a discussion of the physiological bases for sexual orientation, a discussion of the physiological bases for the expression of gender related traits and a discussion of factors contributing to sexual identity are provided. Throughout the article, alternative ways to think about gender are …

How Addiction Happens, How Change Happens, And What Social Workers Need To Know To Be Effective Facilitators Of Change, Jill Littrell

jill l littrell Dr.

During the last two decades, neuroscience research has proliferated examining brain mechanisms that explain why some people are compelled to pursue drugs and alcohol. The findings suggest that addiction is independent of pleasure, and that drug seeking can be triggered outside of conscious awareness (Berridge, Robinson, & Aldridge, 2009; Goldstein et al., 2009; Kalivas, Volkow, & Seamans, 2005). The observations and conclusions from this research can be used to advantage in treating addiction. The use of social psychological principles, in the context of motivational interviewing, offers a platform for taking advantage of these new insights. After a brief sketch of …

Methamphetamine-Induced Short-Term Increase And Long-Term Decrease In Spatial Working Memory Affects Protein Kinase M Zeta (Pkmζ), Dopamine, And Glutamate Receptors, Stephen H. Braren, Damian Drapala, Ingrid K. Tulloch, Peter A. Serrano

Publications and Research

Methamphetamine (MA) is a toxic, addictive drug shown to modulate learning and memory, yet the neural mechanisms are not fully understood. We investigated the effects of 2 weekly injections of MA (30 mg/kg) on working memory using the radial 8-arm maze (RAM) across 5 weeks in adolescent-age mice. MA-treated mice show a significant improvement in working memory performance 1 week following the first MA injection compared to saline-injected controls. Following 5 weeks of MA abstinence mice were re-trained on a reference and working memory version of the RAM to assess cognitive flexibility. MA-treated mice show significantly more working memory errors …

Neurorhetoric(S) And Neurocomposition: Foundational Questions For Future Research, Robert Manfredi

English Theses

This thesis aspires to give voice to Jordynn Jack and L. Greggory Appelbaum’s call for more research in Neurorhetorics. The first chapter reviews the pertinent literature encompassing what is titled, “The Rhetoric of Science,” noting appropriate concepts, arguments, and theories. The second chapter provides an introduction to fundamental ideas in Neuroscience and connects them to possible concepts and concerns within Rhetoric and Composition, raising questions for future consideration.

Measuring Neural And Behavioral Activity During Ongoing Computerized Social Interactions: An Examination Of Event-Related Brain Potentials, Jason R. Themanson

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

University Of New England Center For Excellence In Neuroscience K-12 Outreach Program, Alexandria D'Ambruoso, Kelsey Schwarz, Alex Deal, Kristen Erickson, Edward Bilsky, Michael Burman

Posters

Research poster describing UNE's Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences (CEN) K-12 outreach program. Founded in 2009 with three main areas of focus—research, scholarship and community outreach—CEN includes over 40 faculty members affiliated with neuroscience research and/or education. The Neuroscience Outreach Program was established in 2009 with the goal of bringing fun, interactive neuroscience lessons to schools to engage students in learning about neuroscience. UNE undergraduate and professional students present the lessons in classrooms with support from UNE faculty and staff.

Security Policies That Make Sense For Complex Systems: Comprehensible Formalism For The System Consumer, Rhonda R. Henning

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Information Systems today rarely are contained within a single user workstation, server, or networked environment. Data can be transparently accessed from any location, and maintained across various network infrastructures. Cloud computing paradigms commoditize the hardware and software environments and allow an enterprise to lease computing resources by the hour, minute, or number of instances required to complete a processing task. An access control policy mediates access requests between authorized users of an information system and the system's resources. Access control policies are defined at any given level of abstraction, such as the file, directory, system, or network, and can be …

Pediatric Stroke And Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: Methods For Rational Individualized Dose Optimization, Bernadette T. Gillick, Adam Kirton, Jason B. Carmel, Preet Minhas, Marom Bikson

Publications and Research

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been investigated mainly in adults and doses may not be appropriate in pediatric applications. In perinatal stroke where potential applications are promising, rational adaptation of dosage for children remains under investigation. Objective: Construct child-specific tDCS dosing parameters through case study within a perinatal stroke tDCS safety and feasibility trial. Methods: 10-year-old subject with a diagnosis of presumed perinatal ischemic stroke and hemiparesis was identified. T1 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans used to derive computerized model for current flow and electrode positions. Workflow using modeling results and consideration of dosage in previous clinical trials …

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Facilitates Cognitive Multi-Task Performance Differentially Depending On Anode Location And Subtask, Melissa Scheldrup, Pamela M. Greenwood, Ryan Mckendrick, Jon Strohl, Marom Bikson, Mahtab Alam, R. Andy Mckinley, Raja Parasuraman

Publications and Research

There is a need to facilitate acquisition of real world cognitive multi-tasks that require long periods of training (e.g., air traffic control, intelligence analysis, medicine). Non-invasive brain stimulation—specifically transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)—has promise as a method to speed multi-task training. We hypothesized that during acquisition of the complex multi-task Space Fortress, subtasks that require focused attention on ship control would benefit from tDCS aimed at the dorsal attention network while subtasks that require redirection of attention would benefit from tDCS aimed at the right hemisphere ventral attention network. We compared effects of 30 min prefrontal and parietal stimulation to …

Mental Disabilities And Duty In Negligence Law: Will Neuroscience Reform Tort Doctrine?, Jean Eggen

Jean M. Eggen

Recent developments in neuroscience may contribute to some long-needed changes in negligence law. One negligence rule in need of reform is the duty rule allowing physical disabilities to be considered in determining whether a party acted negligently, but disallowing mental disabilities for adult tortfeasors. Further, this bifurcated rule applies imposes an objective standard only on adults alleged to have acted negligently. A subjective standard applies to all parties in intentional torts and to children in negligence actions. Courts justify the bifurcated rule for adults on policy grounds, but these policy underpinnings are no longer valid in contemporary society. More accurate …

An Information Theory Account Of Cognitive Control, Jin Fan

Publications and Research

Our ability to efficiently process information and generate appropriate responses depends on the processes collectively called cognitive control. Despite a considerable focus in the literature on the cognitive control of information processing, neural mechanisms underlying control are still unclear, and have not been characterized by considering the quantity of information to be processed. A novel and comprehensive account of cognitive control is proposed using concepts from information theory, which is concerned with communication system analysis and the quantification of information. This account treats the brain as an information-processing entity where cognitive control and its underlying brain networks play a pivotal …

Pupil Dilation Dynamics Track Attention To High-Level Information, Olivia E. Kang, Katherine E. Huffer, Thalia P. Wheatley

Dartmouth Scholarship

It has long been thought that the eyes index the inner workings of the mind. Consistent with this intuition, empirical research has demonstrated that pupils dilate as a consequence of attentional effort. Recently, Smallwood et al. (2011) demonstrated that pupil dilations not only provide an index of overall attentional effort, but are time-locked to stimulus changes during attention (but not during mind-wandering). This finding suggests that pupil dilations afford a dynamic readout of conscious information processing. However, because stimulus onsets in their study involved shifts in luminance as well as information, they could not determine whether this coupling of stimulus …

Estrogens Stimulate Serotonin Neurons To Inhibit Binge-Like Eating In Mice, Xuehong Cao, Pingwen Xu, Mario G. Oyola, Yan Xia, Xiaofeng Yan, Kenji Saito, Fang Zou, Chunmei Wang, Yongjie Yang, Antentor Hinton Jr., Chunling Yan, Hongfang Ding, Liangru Zhu, Likai Yu, Bin Yang, Benjamin Feng, Deborah J. Clegg, Sohaib Khan, Richard Dimarchi, Shaila K. Mani, Qingchun Tong, Yong Xu

Peer Reviewed Articles

Binge eating afflicts approximately 5% of US adults, though effective treatments are limited. Here, we showed that estrogen replacement substantially suppresses binge-like eating behavior in ovariectomized female mice. Estrogen-dependent inhibition of binge-like eating was blocked in female mice specifically lacking estrogen receptor-α (ERα) in serotonin (5-HT) neurons in the dorsal raphe nuclei (DRN). Administration of a recently developed glucagon-like peptide-1–estrogen (GLP-1–estrogen) conjugate designed to deliver estrogen to GLP1 receptor–enhanced regions effectively targeted bioactive estrogens to the DRN and substantially suppressed binge-like eating in ovariectomized female mice. Administration of GLP-1 alone reduced binge-like eating, but not to the same extent as …

Buildings With Brain Power: Library Architecture In Neural Terms., Hannah Bennett

Hannah Bennett

The connection between neuroscience and the built environment is a fairly new interdisciplinary field and one in which both fields, in their respective pursuits, have worked to understand the relationship between design choices, human behavior, and biological processes. Taken together and applied in tandem, these two activities have potential to vastly improve the effectiveness of buildings designed with the healthcare facilities, laboratories, or elementary schools, all of which share objectives of healing and intellectual cultivation. This paper will extend the dialogue to library design, perhaps the most representationally loaded expression of “mental space.” The library has seen profound changes in …

Rejection Positivity Predicts Trial-To-Trial Reaction Times In An Auditory Selective Attention Task: A Computational Analysis Of Inhibitory Control, Sufen Chen, Robert D. Melara

Publications and Research

A series of computer simulations using variants of a formal model of attention (Melara and Algom, 2003) probed the role of rejection positivity (RP), a slow-wave electroencephalographic (EEG) component, in the inhibitory control of distraction. Behavioral and EEG data were recorded as participants performed auditory selective attention tasks. Simulations that modulated processes of distractor inhibition accounted well for reaction-time (RT) performance, whereas those that modulated target excitation did not. A model that incorporated RP from actual EEG recordings in estimating distractor inhibition was superior in predicting changes in RT as a function of distractor salience across conditions. A model that …

Ultra-Low-Power Neural Amplifiers, Shiuh-Hua Wood Chiang

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

Differences between conventional neural amplifiers and noise-cancelling neural amplifiers, and the application of implantable neural-recording devices

Discovery And Elucidation Of The Fgfr3-Tacc3 Recurrent Fusion In Glioblastoma, Brittany C. Parker Kerrigan

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Fusion genes occur due to chromosomal instability where two previously separate genes rearrange and fuse together, forming a hybrid gene. The first fusions were reported in leukemias; however, with the advent of more powerful sequencing technologies, fusions have recently been reported in several solid tumors. Using next-generation deep sequencing approaches, we discovered a fusion gene connecting the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene to the transforming coiled-coil containing protein 3 (TACC3) gene in glioblastoma multiforme. The fusion occurred in 8.3% of patient samples, but not in low grade or normal samples. FGFR3-TACC3 produced an in-frame …

Reduced Discomfort During High-Definition Transcutaneous Stimulation Using 6% Benzocaine, Berkan Guleyupoglu, Nicole Febles, Preet Minhas, Christoph Hahn, Marom Bikson

Publications and Research

Background: High-Definition transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) allows for non-invasive neuromodulation using an array of compact (approximately 1 cm2 contact area) “High-Definition” (HD) electrodes, as compared to conventional tDCS (which uses two large pads that are approximately 35 cm2). In a previous transcutaneous study, we developed and validated designs for HD electrodes that reduce discomfort over >20 min session with 2 mA electrode current. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a chemical pretreatment with 6% benzocaine (topical numbing agent) to further reduce subjective discomfort during transcutaneous stimulation and to allow for better sham controlled …

Biomaterial Testing Methodology For Long-Term In Vivo Applications: Silicon Carbide Corrosion Resistance, Biocompatibility And Hemocompatibility, Maysam Nezafati

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biomedical devices that function in-vivo offer a tremendous promise to improve the quality of life for many who suffer from disease and trauma. The most important consideration for these devices is that they interact with the physiological environment as designed without initiating a deleterious inflammatory response. ISO 10993 outlines the current international guideline for investigating the biocompatibility of such devices. Numerous groups report the use of ISO 10993 as the basis for their experimental evaluation of candidate materials for neuroprosthetics, as well as other biomedical devices, however most of these reports fail to completely comply with the standard. This leads …

Selective Gene Expression By Postnatal Electroporation During Olfactory Interneuron Nurogenesis, Alexander T. Chesler, Claire E. Le Pichon, Jessica H. Brann, Ricardo C. Araneda

Jessica Brann

Neurogenesis persists in the olfactory system throughout life. The mechanisms of how new neurons are generated, how they integrate into circuits, and their role in coding remain mysteries. Here we report a technique that will greatly facilitate research into these questions. We found that electroporation can be used to robustly and selectively label progenitors in the Subventicular Zone. The approach was performed postnatally, without surgery, and with near 100% success rates. Labeling was found in all classes of interneurons in the olfactory bulb, persisted to adulthood and had no adverse effects. The broad utility of electroporation was demonstrated by encoding …

Strategies For Odor Coding In The Piriform Cortex, Jessica H. Brann, Shari R. Saideman, Matthew T. Valley, Denise Wiedl

Jessica Brann

No abstract provided.

The Aruba Trial: How Should We Manage Brain Avms?, Nikolaos Mouchtouris, Bs, Nohra Chalouhi, Md, Thana Theofanis, Md, Mario Zanaty, Md, Stavropoula L. Tjoumakaris, Md, Robert H. Rosenwasser Md, Pascal Jabbour, Md

JHN Journal

BACKGROUND

Brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs) are abnormal shunts that bypass the capillary bed and directly divert blood from the arterial to the venous circulation, without exchanging nutrients or dissipating the arterial blood pressure. They are thought to be congenital vascular lesions that occur during the late stages of fetal development, however the exact pathogenesis has not been elucidated yet.1 History of hemorrhage, small AVM size, high arterial feeding blood pressure, and deep venous drainage are the main risk factors that increase the likelihood of AVM rupture. According to the American Stroke Association, 1 in 200-500 people have an AVM, while …

Interdisciplinary Perspectives On The Development, Integration, And Application Of Cognitive Ontologies, Janna Hastings, Gwen A. Frishkoff, Barry Smith, Mark Jensen, Russell A. Poldrack, Jane Lomax, Anita Bandrowski, Fahim Imam, Jessica Turner, Maryann E. Martone

Neuroscience Institute Faculty Publications

We discuss recent progress in the development of cognitive ontologies and summarize three challenges in the coordinated development and application of these resources. Challenge 1 is to adopt a standardized definition for cognitive processes. We describe three possibilities and recommend one that is consistent with the standard view in cognitive and biomedical sciences. Challenge 2 is harmonization. Gaps and conflicts in representation must be resolved so that these resources can be combined for mark-up and interpretation of multi-modal data. Finally, Challenge 3 is to test the utility of these resources for large- scale annotation of data, search and query, and …

Moyamoya: A Review Of The Disease And Current Treatments, Eliza Anderson, Cory D. Bovenzi, Thana Theofanis, Md, Nohra Chalouhi, Md, Robert H. Rosenwasser Md, Pascal Jabbour, Md, Stavropoula Tjoumakaris, Md

JHN Journal

INTRODUCTION

Moyamoya disease is a rare progressive cerebrovascular disease characterized by bilateral stenosis of vasculature of the Circle of Willis, specifically the distal internal carotid arteries, that leads to extensive collateral circulation. These dilated collateral vessels are described as having a hazy “puff of smoke” appearance on angiography. “Moyamoya” is the Japanese word for this characteristic appearance. The disease was originally described in Japan in 1957 1 and introduced to the English literature in 1969.2 The disease is most known for its distribution in Asian populations, but recently there has been more research and attention given to moyamoya in Europe …

Deconstructing Maths Anxiety: Helping Students To Develop A Positive Attitude Towards Learning Maths, Sarah Buckley

Dr Sarah Buckley

Higher maths ability is often believed to go hand-in-hand with greater levels of general intelligence. At the same time, many students have a negative attitude towards maths. Maths anxiety is defined in the research literature as feelings of concern, tension or nervousness that are experienced in combination with maths. In 2005, researchers in the United States estimated that approximately 20 per cent of the US population were highly maths anxious. Given the cultural similarities between the US and Australia, we can assume that the percentage would be comparable here. Research in education, cognitive psychology and neuroscience shows that anxiety can …

A Method To Make A Craniotomy On The Ventral Skull Of Neonate Rodents, Adrián Rodríguez-Contreras, Lingyan Shi, Bingmei M. Fu

Publications and Research

The use of a craniotomy for in vivo experiments provides an opportunity to investigate the dynamics of diverse cellular processes in the mammalian brain in adulthood and during development. Although most in vivo approaches use a craniotomy to study brain regions located on the dorsal side, brainstem regions such as the pons, located on the ventral side remain relatively understudied. The main goal of this protocol is to facilitate access to ventral brainstem structures so that they can be studied in vivo using electrophysiological and imaging methods. This approach allows study of structural changes in long-range axons, patterns of electrical …

Preference-Based Serial Decision Dynamics: Your First Sushi Reveals Your Eating Order At The Sushi Table, Jaeseung Jeong, Youngmin Oh, Miriam Chun, Jerald D. Kralik

Dartmouth Scholarship

In everyday life, we regularly choose among multiple items serially such as playing music in a playlist or determining priorities in a to-do list. However, our behavioral strategy to determine the order of choice is poorly understood. Here we defined ‘the sushi problem’ as how we serially choose multiple items of different degrees of preference when multiple sequences are possible, and no particular order is necessarily better than another, given that all items will eventually be chosen. In the current study, participants selected seven sushi pieces sequentially at the lunch table, and we examined the relationship between eating order and …

Design, Synthesis And Biological Evaluation Of Novel Compounds With Cns-Activity Targeting Cannabinoid And Biogenic Amine Receptors, Alexander M. Sherwood

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This work seeks to contribute to the discipline of neuropharmacology by way of structure activity relationship from the standpoint of an organic chemist. More specifically, we sought to develop robust synthetic methodology able to efficiently produce an array of compounds for the purpose of systematic evaluation of their interaction with specific sights within the central nervous system (CNS) in order to better understand the mind and to develop drugs that may have beneficial effects on neurological function.

The focus of these studies has been toward the development of novel molecules, using a structure-activity relationship approach, that exhibit binding affinity at …

Lesions Of Lateral Or Central Amygdala Abolish Aversive Pavlovian-To-Instrumental Transfer In Rats, Vincent D. Campese, Jeanny Kim, Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, Lashawn Pena, Joseph E. Ledoux, Christopher K. Cain

Publications and Research

Aversive Pavlovian conditioned stimuli (CSs) elicit defensive reactions (e.g., freezing) and motivate instrumental actions like active avoidance (AA). Pavlovian reactions require connections between the lateral (LA) and central (CeA) nuclei of the amygdala, whereas AA depends on LA and basal amygdala (BA). Thus, the neural circuits mediating conditioned reactions and motivation appear to diverge in the amygdala. However, AA is not ideal for studying conditioned motivation, because Pavlovian and instrumental learning are intermixed. Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) allows for the study of conditioned motivation in isolation. PIT refers to the ability of a Pavlovian CS to modulate a separately-trained instrumental action. …

Neuroimaging And Eyewitness Testimony, Madysen Gardner

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

This paper will explore how breakthroughs in neuroscience, specifically neuroimaging, can be used to validate eyewitness testimony. Though the use of direct evidence is decreasing, due to findings of numerous wrongful convictions that were based on eyewitness testimonies, it is still an element of many criminal trials today. Cross-examination is used to validate eyewitness testimony because memories are fallible. Cross-examination can successfully determine if a witness is telling the truth, but it cannot determine if a memory is true. This has resulted in juries convicting individuals based on questionable eyewitness testimony. Neuroscientists have found that neuroimaging methods, such as functional …