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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

The Temporal Nature Of The Acute Stress Response And Its Impact On Explicit Learning, Steven B. Hutchinson Dec 2015

The Temporal Nature Of The Acute Stress Response And Its Impact On Explicit Learning, Steven B. Hutchinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acute stress is commonly experienced by many throughout their lives. Given the demanding lifestyle of many career paths, it's important to gauge the influence of these stressors upon cognitive performance. The present dissertation focus' upon explicit learning in attempts to explore one avenue of the stress-cognition relationship. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used as a lab stressor for Experiments 1 and 2, in which participants are asked to give a speech and complete a difficult math task in front of 2 evaluators trained to monitor non-verbal behavior. Experiment 1 investigates the dynamic stress response during the minutes following …


Interactions Between The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (Hpa) Axis, Oxytocin System, And Behavior In Differently Reared Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca Mulatta), Amanda F. Hamel Aug 2015

Interactions Between The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (Hpa) Axis, Oxytocin System, And Behavior In Differently Reared Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca Mulatta), Amanda F. Hamel

Doctoral Dissertations

Adverse experiences that occur during early critical periods of development modify activity of neuroendocrine systems, such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and oxytocin system. This dissertation examines the effects of nursery rearing, an established model of adverse early experiences, on activity of the HPA axis and oxytocin system in infant and adult rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). In addition, influence of oxytocin system activity on the HPA axis and behavioral reactivity was examined. In infant monkeys, nursery-rearing was associated with lower HPA axis, yet higher oxytocin system activity, following the acute stress of developmental assessment. Nursery rearing may result …


The Influence Of Prenatal Stress On Behaviors Associated With Schizophrenia And Autism Spectrum Disorder., Harold Bauerle Jan 2015

The Influence Of Prenatal Stress On Behaviors Associated With Schizophrenia And Autism Spectrum Disorder., Harold Bauerle

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Disorders such as schizophrenia (SCZ) and austism spectrum disorder (ASD) have long been associated with prenatal stress. In these three experiments, we attempted to correlate stress during gestation with behaviors considered to have good facial validity with SCZ and ASD in both juvenile and adult animals. To differentiate the effects of prenatal stress (PS) from the effects of early life stress due to a dam's behavior (MS), half of offspring animals were cross fostered to dams treated in the alternative condition as the offspring during pregnancy in experiments 2 and 3. In experiment 1, but not in 2 or 3, …


Restraint Stress Alters Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Expression And Increases Superoxide Dismutase In The Rat Hypothalamus And Hippocampus, Kristina Isabel Barron Jan 2015

Restraint Stress Alters Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Expression And Increases Superoxide Dismutase In The Rat Hypothalamus And Hippocampus, Kristina Isabel Barron

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The impact of restraint stress on changes in cytokine expression and oxidative stress markers in hippocampal (Hipp) and hypothalamic (Hyp) regions of the brain, were assessed in a rat model. In addition, immune and inflammatory variables were assessed in peripheral blood. Male Wistar rats were acutely (30 min) or repeatedly (30 min/d for 14 consecutive days) exposed to a restraint stress, or maintained as non-stressed controls. At the time of sacrifice, whole blood and brain tissues enriched in Hyp or Hipp regions were collected; blood was collected with EDTA as an anticoagulant and centrifuged to yield plasma. All tissue samples …


Cortisol Levels And Voltage Conditions Of College Students, Adriana Steffens Jan 2015

Cortisol Levels And Voltage Conditions Of College Students, Adriana Steffens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a limited research base on low voltage brain conditions, which are characterized by electrical activity being measured at below 20 microvolts. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between saliva cortisol levels and voltage using an EGG in a college student population. Illuminating this relationship is important to inform how low voltage conditions can affect daily memory and cognitive functioning of undergraduate college students that may be a result of stress. The college student population may be vulnerable to the low voltage condition because of stress from the transition between teenage and adult life and …


Influence Of Stress On Substance Use: Age-Associated Variability In Molecular And Behavioral Outcomes, Christina Elizabeth D'Arcy Jan 2015

Influence Of Stress On Substance Use: Age-Associated Variability In Molecular And Behavioral Outcomes, Christina Elizabeth D'Arcy

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Stress introduces a number of neurological and neurohormonal changes in response to a number of stimuli, and can influence our relationship to rewarding experiences. As such, it holds the potential of promoting vulnerability to addiction to substances such as methamphetamine. While methamphetamine use and abuse has been steadily declining, the fact remains that it and closely related drugs are used in the treatment of conditions such as narcolepsy, weight loss, and attention deficit disorder. In an effort to develop better patient assessment metrics to aid the physician in deciding a course of treatment, we ask the following questions: Do chronic …