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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Exercise As A Treatment For Cognitive Decline In Older Adults: The Role Of Growth Factors And Inflammatory Cytokines, Joshua A. Titus
Exercise As A Treatment For Cognitive Decline In Older Adults: The Role Of Growth Factors And Inflammatory Cytokines, Joshua A. Titus
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the effects that exercise modalities have on neurotrophic and inflammatory blood markers and cognitive outcomes in older adults. A systematic review and meta-analysis were completed. The included studies illustrated that most of the literature evaluated the effect of aerobic exercise interventions on systemic concentrations of the blood marker brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The review found that aerobic exercise increases BDNF and resistance training increases insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Interventions with sex-specific cohorts presented advantages in males for blood marker and cognitive outcomes compared to females. One of three included interventions decreased …
Assessment Of Executive Function Using A Series Of Operant Conditioning Based Tasks In T1dm Rodents, Kevin T. Murphy
Assessment Of Executive Function Using A Series Of Operant Conditioning Based Tasks In T1dm Rodents, Kevin T. Murphy
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
This study examined the impact of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) on executive function using a series of operant conditioning based tasks in rats. Sprague Dawley rats were randomized to either non-diabetic (n = 12; 6 male) or diabetic (n = 14; 6 male) groups. Diabetes was induced using multiple low-dose streptozotocin injections. All diabetic rodents were insulin-treated using subcutaneous insulin pellet implants. At week 14 of the study, rats were placed on a food restricted diet to induce 5 - 10% weight loss. Rodents were familiarized and tested on a series of tasks that required continuous adjustments to novel …
Resting State Functional Connectivity In The Default Mode Network: Relationships Between Cannabis Use, Gender, And Cognition In Adolescents And Young Adults, Megan Ritchay
Theses and Dissertations
Introduction: Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance in the United States, and nearly 1 in 4 young adults are current cannabis users. The psychoactive component of cannabis, THC, is active at cannabinoid receptors, type 1, or CB1 receptors. CB1 receptors play a critical role in neural development, and chronic cannabis use causes desensitization and downregulation of these receptors. Chronic cannabis use is associated with changes in resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) in the default mode network (DMN) in adolescents and young adults, although results are somewhat inconsistent across studies, likely due to differing methodologies. Additionally, cannabis effects appear …
Cholinergic Modulation Of Behaviour, Ornela Kljakic
Cholinergic Modulation Of Behaviour, Ornela Kljakic
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
The cholinergic system is one of the most influential and essential signalling systems in the body. In the brain, cholinergic neurons innervate many brain regions where they influence a wide variety of behaviours. However, the precise role of each cholinergic region on distinct types of behaviour is not well known. Furthermore, in recent years there has been evidence that many cholinergic neurons in the brain have a capacity for co-transmission. Yet the functional significance of secreting two classical neurotransmitters from the same neuron is still largely unidentified. In this thesis, we investigated how different cholinergic nuclei modulate behavioural functions. To …
Interplay Between Shift Work, Psychological Distress, Sleep Quality, And Cognitive Performance, Rea Therese Alonzo
Interplay Between Shift Work, Psychological Distress, Sleep Quality, And Cognitive Performance, Rea Therese Alonzo
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Shift work schedules are designed to maintain a continuous operation of goods and services. However, engaging in shift work may impact cognitive functioning. This thesis assessed the relationship between shift work and cognitive performance. Using cross-sectional data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, multiple linear regression models were used to investigate the association between shift work and cognitive performance, as well as the moderating effects of psychological distress and sleep quality. Differences by sex and retirement status were also investigated. Shift work was significantly associated with poor performance for executive functioning but not for declarative memory. Poorer cognitive performance …
Mental Fatigue: Examining Cognitive Performance And Driving Behavior In Young Adults, Abigail F. Helm
Mental Fatigue: Examining Cognitive Performance And Driving Behavior In Young Adults, Abigail F. Helm
Doctoral Dissertations
Mental fatigue causes an increase in task-based EEG theta and alpha power and a decrease in performance (for a review, see Tran et al., 2020). However, little is known about the emergence of mental fatigue in resting state EEG recordings and whether the progression of mental fatigue over time is influenced by individual differences. The current dissertation examined the utility of resting state EEG as a measure of mental fatigue by testing whether EEG power changed in young adults over the course of a cognitively demanding battery of tasks. The current dissertation also tested how this measure of mental fatigue …
Assessing Cognitive Function In A Mouse Model Of Synucleinopathy, Mei Peng Lim
Assessing Cognitive Function In A Mouse Model Of Synucleinopathy, Mei Peng Lim
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
A common hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases is the formation and spreading of misfolded protein. In synucleinopathies, the aggregation-prone alpha-synuclein (α-syn) is the pivotal player. At present, whether cognitive deficits in synucleinopathies arise due to increased protein misfolding is unclear. We utilized the Bussey-Saksida touchscreen system to study the impact of α-syn pathology on cognition. M83 homozygous mice, a model of synucleinopathy, were impaired in reversal learning in the Pairwise Visual Discrimination (PVD) reversal task, but do not show attentional impairments in the 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time task. In contrast, M83 hemizygous mice do not show deficits in the PVD reversal …
Cognitive Abilities In Hearing Loss: Perceived And Performance Abilities Of Adults Related To Attention, Memory, And Social Cognition, Karah Gottschalk
Cognitive Abilities In Hearing Loss: Perceived And Performance Abilities Of Adults Related To Attention, Memory, And Social Cognition, Karah Gottschalk
Theses and Dissertations--Gerontology
Hearing loss is the most common sensory deficit noted in aging adults. It is commonly known to reduce an individual’s ability to detect, identify, and localize sounds and speech and to cause issues in communication. However, there are other less commonly discussed impacts that hearing loss has beyond the auditory system. Literature suggests a correlation between hearing loss and cognition in aging adults. Similar to hearing loss, the domains of cognition experience performance and functional changes across the life span. In an aging adult, changes related to cognition are also suggested to be associated with hearing loss. This study aimed …