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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Structure And Function Of Dopamine In The Inner Ear And Auditory Efferent System Of A Vocal Fish, Jonathan T. Perelmuter Sep 2019

Structure And Function Of Dopamine In The Inner Ear And Auditory Efferent System Of A Vocal Fish, Jonathan T. Perelmuter

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The neuromodulator dopamine is considered essential for coordinating the internal motivational state of an organism with appropriate behavioral responses to stimuli in the external environment. This could be accomplished by modifying the function of neural circuits involved in sensory processing such that they are “tuned in” and optimally sensitive to important stimuli during critical time windows. While dopamine modulation of auditory processing has been studied in the central nervous system, neuromodulation can also occur outside the brain, in the inner ear. The majority of investigations of dopamine in the ear are conducted using rodents and focus on its role in …


Murine Genetic Variance In Sugar And Fat-Conditioned Flavor Preferences: Roles Of Dopamine, Opioid And Nmda Receptors And Nutritive Sensing, Tamar T. Kraft Sep 2019

Murine Genetic Variance In Sugar And Fat-Conditioned Flavor Preferences: Roles Of Dopamine, Opioid And Nmda Receptors And Nutritive Sensing, Tamar T. Kraft

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As obesity and diabetes have emerged as a severe public health crisis, understanding the mechanisms underlying the consumption of sugars and fats has become a topic of vigorous study. From a biological standpoint, genetic dispositions, neurochemical and hormonal influences, and predetermined orosensory and postingestive signals that modulate the hunger and satiety process may govern physiological aspects of the obesity puzzle. In addition to an innate appetite and attraction for simple carbohydrates and fats, learning plays an important role in modulating preferences for sugar- and fat-rich foods in rodents, including inbred mouse strains. Marked genetic variance has been observed among murine …


Synchronicity: The Role Of Midbrain Dopamine In Whole-Brain Coordination, Jeff A. Beeler, Jakob Kiskye Dreyer Apr 2019

Synchronicity: The Role Of Midbrain Dopamine In Whole-Brain Coordination, Jeff A. Beeler, Jakob Kiskye Dreyer

Publications and Research

Midbrain dopamine seems to play an outsized role in motivated behavior and learning. Widely associated with mediating reward-related behavior, decision making, and learning, dopamine continues to generate controversies in the field. While many studies and theories focus on what dopamine cells encode, the question of how the midbrain derives the information it encodes is poorly understood and comparatively less addressed. Recent anatomical studies suggest greater diversity and complexity of afferent inputs than previously appreciated, requiring rethinking of prior models. Here, we elaborate a hypothesis that construes midbrain dopamine as implementing a Bayesian selector in which individual dopamine cells sample afferent …


Commentary: Sugar Metabolism Regulates Flavor Preferences And Portal Glucose Sensing, Anthony Sclafani, Karen Acroff Feb 2019

Commentary: Sugar Metabolism Regulates Flavor Preferences And Portal Glucose Sensing, Anthony Sclafani, Karen Acroff

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.


Green Tea Extract, Epigallocatechin Gallate, Protect Against Methamphetamine-Induced Striatal Neurotoxicity In Mice, Allen L. Pan Feb 2019

Green Tea Extract, Epigallocatechin Gallate, Protect Against Methamphetamine-Induced Striatal Neurotoxicity In Mice, Allen L. Pan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Methamphetamine (METH) is a strong psychostimulant and its exposure can lead to serious neurological complications. METH-induced neuronal injury is the result of a complex interplay of different factors including dopamine (DA) overflow, oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. Although the mechanisms of METH-induced neurotoxicity have been extensively studied, there is still no effective therapeutic treatment. Therefore, it is essential to study potential drug candidates that can treat METH-induced neurotoxicity. Green tea extract, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), has emerged as a neuroprotective agent that can protect against several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Recently, our lab has shown that EGCG prevents …