Metabolic Characterization Of Mpnst Cell Lines, Christopher A. Waker

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Malignant transformation is the process by which cells develop cancer properties. While many causes for malignant transformation are known (i.e. common genetic mutations and/or exposure to toxins or viruses), the basic requirements that allow a cell to stay alive with altered nutrient and energy requirements are just now being studied. In some tumor types malignant cells undergo changes that result in metabolic differences compared to normal cells. These can include defects in mitophagy resulting in an accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria and/or a metabolic switch resulting in increased glycolysis, termed the Warburg effect. Increased tumor growth and metastasis have also been …

Sensorimotor Analysis Of Oxaliplatin Treated Rats, Krystyna Blanka Wieczerzak

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There is currently no direct evidence that chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) necessarily explains the sensorimotor deficits seen in 90% patients treated with oxaliplatin (OX). Some patients develop sensory symptoms without CIPN. Our laboratory reported abnormal signaling from IA afferents in OX treated rats with no evidence of neuropathy. We hypothesized that in the absence of CIPN, the behavioral disability is associated with impaired sensory encoding in OX treated rats. The purpose of this study was to investigate the sensorimotor abilities of OX treated rats. The battery of behavioral tests was designed to address proprioception and sensorimotor integration. In the …

Correlations Between Sensory Encoding And Central Morphology Of Muscle Proprioceptors In The Rat, Hanna Marie Gabriel

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Until now, observations regarding the central morphology and organization of Ia, group II and Ib Golgi tendon organ afferents have been confined to the cat model. As the use of rodents in the study of the development and organization of segmental spinal cord circuitry increases, a complete account of the peripheral encoding and central connectivity of rodent muscle proprioceptors is necessary. The data presented in this study establish the central morphology and spatial distribution of 12 (4 of each class) functionally phenotyped muscle proprioceptor afferents in the rat by intracellular labeling with Neurobiotin. Each afferent type showed a characteristic central …

Polychlorinated Biphenyl Exposure Alters Oxytocin Receptor Gene Expression And Maternal Behavior In Rat, Howard Cromwell

Howard Casey Cromwell

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) is a persistent organic pollutant known to induce diverse molecular and behavioral alterations. Effects of PCB exposure could be transmitted to future generations via changes in behavior and gene expression. Previous work has shown that PCB-exposure can alter social behavior. The present study extends this work by examining a possible molecular mechanism for these changes. Pregnant rats (Sprague-Dawley) were exposed through diet to a combination of non-coplanar (PCB 47 - 2,20,4,40-tetrachlorobiphenyl) and coplanar (PCB 77 - 3,30,4,40- tetrachlorobiphenyl) congeners. Maternal care behaviors were examined by evaluating the rate and quality of nest building on the last 4 …

Distinct Mechanisms Underlie Quiescence During Two Caenorhabditis Elegans Sleep-Like States, Nicholas Trojanowski, Matthew D. Nelson, Steven Flavell, Christopher Fang-Yen, David M. Raizen

Christopher Fang-Yen

Sciatic Endometriosis Induces Mechanical Hypersensitivity,.Pdf, Sisi Chen

SISI CHEN

No abstract provided.

Sciatic Endometriosis Induces Mechanical Hypersensitivity,.Pdf, Sisi Chen

SISI CHEN

No abstract provided.

Cognitive Fallacies Reading List, Curtis E.A. Karnow

Curtis E.A. Karnow

Reading list of books, articles, reports, and other material relating to cognitive fallacies, i.e., errors in reasoning which affect us all, including lawyers and judges. These errors in turn affect lawyers’ competence and judges’ ability to provide fair, impartial and well-reasoned decisions.

Ought We To Forget What We Cannot Forget? A Reply To Sybille Schmidt, Attila Tanyi

Attila Tanyi

This is a short response to Sybille Schmidt's paper (in the same volume) "Is There an Ethics of Forgetting?". The response starts out by admitting that forgetting is an essential function of human existence, that it serves, as it were, an important evolutionary function: that it is good, since it contributes to our well-being, to have the ability to forget. But this does not give us as answer, affirmative or not, to Schmidt’s title question: “Is There an Ethics of Forgetting?” The main impediment to answering this question, certainly to answering it in the affirmative, seems to be a problem …

Quantile Rank Maps: A New Tool For Understanding Individual Brain Development, Huaihou Chen, Clare Kelly, F. Xavier Castellanos, Ye He, Xi-Nian Zuo, Philip T. Reiss

Philip T. Reiss

We propose a novel method for neurodevelopmental brain mapping that displays how an individual’s values for a quantity of interest compare with age-specific norms. By estimating smoothly age-varying distributions at a set of brain regions of interest, we derive age-dependent region-wise quantile ranks for a given individual, which can be presented in the form of a brain map. Such quantile rank maps could potentially be used for clinical screening. Bootstrap-based confidence intervals are proposed for the quantile rank estimates. We also propose a recalibrated Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for detecting group differences in the age-varying distribution. This test is shown to be …

Functional And Developmental Identification Of A Molecular Subtype Of Brain Serotonergic Neuron Specialized To Regulate Breathing Dynamics, Rachael D. Brust, Andrea E. Corcoran, George B. Richerson, Eugene Nattie, Susan M. Dymecki

Dartmouth Scholarship

Serotonergic neurons modulate behavioral and physiological responses from aggression and anxiety to breathing and thermoregulation. Disorders involving serotonin (5HT) dysregulation are commensurately heterogeneous and numerous. We hypothesized that this breadth in functionality derives in part from a developmentally determined substructure of distinct subtypes of 5HT neurons each specialized to modulate specific behaviors. By manipulating developmentally defined subgroups one by one chemogenetically, we find that the Egr2-Pet1 subgroup is specialized to drive increased ventilation in response to carbon dioxide elevation and acidosis. Furthermore, this subtype exhibits intrinsic chemosensitivity and modality-specific projections-increasing firing during hypercapnic acidosis and selectively projecting to respiratory chemosensory …

Attentional Blink: An Antecedent To Binge Eating Behavior, Gregory Denke

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how attentional sub-processes contribute to binge-eating. Dense-array EEG and a version of the canonical attentional blink task were used to ascertain the neural correlates underlying the attentional sub-processes that comprise the Posner model of attention (alerting, orienting, and executive control) and how attentional activation differs for binge-eaters vs. non-binge eaters. Furthermore, we examined a number of the event-related potentials (ERP), including P2 activation, which has been linked with orientating of attention, and N2 activation which has been linked with attentional conflict. We found decreased P2 activation for binge-eaters, in the negative condition, for incorrect target 2 (T2) …

Characterizing Persistent Developmental Dyscalculia: A Cognitive Neuroscience Approach, Stephanie D. Bugden

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a specific learning disorder of calculation abilities. In the present thesis I report a series behavioural and functional neuroimaging studies to further elucidate the core numerical deficits underlying DD. I recruited a sample of children with DD who demonstrated persistent impairments in arithmetic. In Chapter 2, to validate the selection criteria, I compared the performance of children with and without persistent DD on a test of numerical magnitude processing. The data showed that only children with persistent DD presented with deficits in numerical magnitude processing, while those with inconsistent DD perform at the level of age-matched …

Cognitive Neurosciene And Its Applications To Contemporary Acting Theory, Ryan Stiffelman

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

I personally believe that anyone can be a performer so long as they have the determination, dedication, and refuse to take no for an answer. There are all kinds of training out there designed to help turn hopeful wannabes into the “stars” that we know them as, however, not every “star” we see has had this kind of training. We often hear of young actors like Jennifer Lawrence hailed for their “natural talent”. Does this mean there’s some kind of birth-right, a specific natural inclination or ability that makes someone a potentially great actor from the start? I will refer …

Sensory Abnormalities In Focal Hand Dystonia And Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation, Angelo Quartarone, Vincenzo Rizzo, Carmen Terranova, Demetrio Milardi, Daniele Bruschetta, Maria Felice Ghilardi, Paolo Girlanda

Publications and Research

It has been proposed that synchronous and convergent afferent input arising from repetitive motor tasks may play an important role in driving the maladaptive cortical plasticity seen in focal hand dystonia (FHD).This hypothesis receives support from several sources. First, it has been reported that in subjects with FHD, paired associative stimulation produces an abnormal increase in corticospinal excitability, which was not confined to stimulated muscles. These findings provide support for the role of excessive plasticity in FHD. Second, the genetic contribution to the dystonias is increasingly recognized indicating that repetitive, stereotyped afferent inputs may lead to late-onset dystonia, such as …

A Quantitative Analysis Of The Value-Enhancing Effects Of Nicotine, Bupropion, And Varenicline In Male And Female Rats, Scott Barrett

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Smoking and tobacco dependence are serious health concerns in the United States and globally. Reward via the pharmacological effects of nicotine are believed to be the principal motivating factor that drive tobacco dependence. Research reveals differences in sensitivity between males and females to the motivational effects of nicotine in tobacco use. Enhancement of reinforcement value of non-nicotine rewards contributes to overall nicotine reward. Similar value-enhancing effects have been observed by the two most commonly prescribed smoking cessation aids, bupropion and varenicline. The present dissertation investigated the value-enhancing effects of nicotine, bupropion and varenicline in both male and female rats using …

Understanding Ten-Eleven Translocation-2 In Hematological And Nervous Systems, Feng Pan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I proposed the study of two distinct aspects of Ten-Eleven Translocation 2 (TET2) protein for understanding specific functions in different body systems.

In Part I, I characterized the molecular mechanisms of Tet2 in the hematological system. As the second member of Ten-Eleven Translocation protein family, TET2 is frequently mutated in leukemic patients. Previous studies have shown that the TET2 mutations frequently occur in 20% myelodysplastic syndrome/myeloproliferative neoplasm (MDS/MPN), 10% T-cell lymphoma leukemia and 2% B-cell lymphoma leukemia. Genetic mouse models also display distinct phenotypes of various types of hematological malignancies. I performed 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) and RNA …

Longitudinal Quantitative Analysis Of Gait And Balance In Friedreich's Ataxia, Jeannie B. Stephenson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Friedreich's Ataxia (FA) is an autosomal-recessive, neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive lower extremity muscle weakness and sensory loss, balance deficits, limb and gait ataxia, and dysarthria. FA is considered a sensory ataxia because the dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord dorsal columns are involved early in the disease, whereas the cerebellum is affected later. Balance deficits and gait ataxia are often evaluated clinically and in research using clinical rating scales. Recently, quantitative tools such as the Biodex Balance System SD and the GAITRite Walkway System have become available to objectively assess balance and gait, respectively. However, there are limited studies …

Suppression Of Neurodegenerative Symptoms Via Suppressor Of Levy Mutation In Drosophila Melanogaster, William Kaputa

Forensic Science Theses

Mutation of the levy gene on chromosome 2 of Drosophila melanogaster has previously been shown to cause temperature-induced paralysis and neurodegeneration. The Suppressor of levy mutation, Su(levy), also on chromosome 2, modulates the effects of the levy mutation and partly rescues the wild-type phenotype. The goal of this research was to determine if Su(levy) mutation alleviates the effects of neurodegeneration caused by mutations associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases in humans. The mutant genes used were hLRRK2, α-Synuclein, DJ1-α, Pink, Parkin, and Aβ-42. To determine this, flies carrying the above-mentioned mutant genes were …

An Optogenetic Brain-Machine Interface For Spatiotemporal Neuromodulation, Ryan Andrew Baumgartner

Theses and Dissertations

Direct neural stimulation has recently become a standard therapy for neurological disorders such as Parkinson's Disease, Essential Tremors, and Dystonia. Currently, deep brain electro-stimulation and neuro-pharmaceutical treatments are the dominant therapeutic options available to the public. As our understanding of brain function and neurological diseases improves, we are able to develop more advanced neuromodulation techniques. These methods could become viable treatment solutions for treating brain dysfunction. Optogenetics, first introduced by a research team led by Karl Deisseroth at Stanford University, has proved to be a versatile technique with remarkable potential to be used in treatments for brain disorders, dysfunction, and …

Alcohol Use Disorders And An Fmri Stress Task: A Connectivity Analysis, Natasha E. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Little research has been conducted on neuronal stress processing in individuals

with alcohol dependence (AD). The present study examined neural stress response in AD individuals compared to controls using an fMRI stress task, assessing amygdala

activation and its connectivity to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Further, the study

analyzed the impact of hormone levels and subjective stress on frontal-limbic

connectivity patterns.

Ten abstinent AD individuals and 11 controls were recruited. Subjects

participated in an fMRI stress task. A region of interest (amygdala) analysis was

conducted using area-under-the-curve. This activation was then examined in a whole brain functional connectivity analysis. Follow-up …

A Comprehensive Study Of The Effects Of Neurotoxins On Noradrenergic Phenotypes, Neuronal Responses And Potential Intervention By Antidepressants In Noradrenergic Cells, Yan Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It has been reported that locus coeruleus (LC) degeneration precedes the degeneration of other neurons in the brain in some neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the precise mechanisms of neurodegeneration remain to be elucidated. N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine (DSP4) has been widely used as a noradrenergic neurotoxin in the development of AD and PD animal models for specific LC degeneration. However, the precise mechanism of action of DSP4 remains unclear. An increased systemic DNA damage caused by neurotoxin or oxidative stress has been found to be related to the pathogenic development of neurodegeneration. The process of neurodegeneration …

Cellular-Based Brain Pathology In The Anterior Cingulate Cortex Of Males With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jessica D. Crawford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) now affects 1 in 68 children in the United States. Disorders within this spectrum share hallmark deficits in verbal and nonverbal communication, repetitive behavior, and social interaction. The cause of ASD is still unknown. Even though hundreds of genetic abnormalities have been identified in ASD, these markers account for less than 1% of all ASD cases. Researchers continue to search for pathological markers common to all or most cases of ASD. The research presented in this dissertation used a novel combination of state-of-the-art methods to investigate brain pathology in ASD. Postmortem anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) from …

Perceived Depth In Non-Transitive Stereo Displays, Bart Farell, Cherlyn J. Ng

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering - All Scholarship

The separation between the eyes shapes the distribution of binocular disparities and gives a special role to horizontal disparities. However, for one-dimensional stimuli, disparity direction, like motion direction, is linked to stimulus orientation. This makes the perceived depth of one-dimensional stimuli orientation dependent and generally non-veridical. It also allows perceived depth to violate transitivity. Three stimuli, A, B, and C, can be arranged such that A > B (stimulus A is seen as farther than stimulus B when they are presented together) and B > C, yet A ≤ C. This study examines how the visual system handles the depth of A, …

The Role Of Brain-Synthesized E2 In Hippocampal Learning And Memory Consolidation In Female Mice, Jennifer Tuscher

Theses and Dissertations

The potent estrogen 17beta-Estradiol (E2) plays a critical role in neuroprotection, serving as an important trophic factor for neurons in the hippocampus, basal forebrain, and prefrontal cortex (Brinton, 2001). In the hippocampus, E2 promotes neurogenesis (Tanapat et al., 1999, Prange-Kiel et al., 2006), protects against cell death after ischemic injury (Garcia-Segura et al., 2001, Zhao and Brinton, 2007), and helps maintain spine morphology crucial for synaptic connectivity and memory (Woolley et al., 1990; Gould et al., 1990, Woolley and McEwen, 1992, Li et al., 2004). However, the mechanisms through which E2 promotes synaptic plasticity and enhances memory function are largely …

Functional Characterization Of The Arginine Vasotocin 4 Receptor (Vt4r) In Sensory Circumventricular Organs Of The Chicken Gallus Gallus, Nguiessan Alphonse Aman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Past studies have shown that the avian vasotocin 4 receptor (VT4R), homologous to the mammalian arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (V1aR/AVPR1A) is involved in immobilization stress. It was not known, however, whether the receptor is also associated with osmotic stress, and if so, what brain regions may be involved. Four treatment groups of chicks were used for the study. One group was subjected to 1h immobilization stress and two groups were administered intraperitoneal injection of 3 M NaCl or 0.15 M NaCl. One additional group served as controls. After 1 h, blood samples were taken for the determination of plasma levels …

The Hippocampus And Adult Neurogenesis: A Neural Circuit With A Common Role In Behavioral Flexibility And Detailed Memory, Brian Pochinski

Theses and Dissertations

Work with patient H.M. sparked great interest in the role of the hippocampus in learning and memory. Later, the findings that new neurons are born in the adult dentate gyrus (DG) and that they become functionally integrated in neural circuits created new excitement in the field of learning and memory. While there is ample evidence that the hippocampus and adult neurogenesis are involved in learning and memory, similar inconsistencies in both areas have clouded interpretations of their precise role. We propose that studying the role of hippocampus and neurogenesis in the DG must be merged into a more cohesive field …

Gene Regulatory Pathways Driving Central Nervous System Regeneration In Zebrafish, Ishwariya Venkatesh

Theses and Dissertations

Damage to the central nervous system (CNS) circuitry of adult mammals results in permanent disability. In contrast, the ability to regenerate damaged CNS nerves and achieve functional recovery occurs naturally in fish. The ability of fish to successfully regrow damaged CNS nerves is in part a consequence of their ability to re-express key neuronal growth-associated genes/proteins in response to CNS injury. On such protein is Growth-Associated Protein-43 (Gap43), a protein which is highly enriched in axonal growth cones during CNS development and regeneration. Experiments conducted in mammals have demonstrated that ectopic expression of GAP-43 improves axonal re-growth after injury. Using …

Effects Of Oxytocin On Human Aggression, Joseph L. Alcorn Iii

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

EFFECTS OF OXYTOCIN ON HUMAN AGGRESSION

Joseph Louis Alcorn III, B.S.

Advisory Professor: Scott D. Lane, Ph.D.

Human interaction is comprised of common, yet complex, behaviors and the outcomes of these social behaviors can beneficially or detrimentally impact individual and public health. One social behavior that can have profound detrimental outcomes is aggression. Aggression is a class of social behavior that is particularly prevalent in individuals with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and comorbid substance use disorder (SUD). Aggression in these individuals can manifest at maladaptive levels that place considerable burdens on public health and communities. Therefore, understanding the neurobehavioral underpinnings …

Change Detection In Rhesus Monkeys And Humans, Deepna T. Devkar, Deepna T. Devkar

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Visual working memory (VWM) is the temporary retention of visual information and a key component of cognitive processing. The classical paradigm for studying VWM and its encoding limitations has been change detection. Early work focused on how many items could be stored in VWM, leading to the popular theory that humans could remember no more than 4±1 items. More recently, proposals have suggested that VWM is a noisy, continuous resource distributed across virtually all items in the visual field, resulting in diminished memory quality rather than limited quantity. This debate about the nature of VWM has predominantly been studied with …