Behavioral Neurobiology Commons^™

The Effect Of Caffeine On Bee Behavior: A Progressive Ratio Study, Kayle Cohen, Becky Hansis-O'Neill, Aimee Dunlap Dr

Undergraduate Research Symposium

This presentation focuses on the effect of caffeine on bee behavior using behavioral pharmacology methodologies. Researchers trained bumblebees to drink out of artificial flowers, then administered sucrose nectar or caffeinated sucrose nectar during a schedule of progressive and fixed ratios. The finding suggests that caffeine did increase the number of rewards during the fixed ratio, but not in the progressive ratio. However, research is still ongoing as bees continue to be tested..

Effects Of The Cb1 Receptor Antagonist, Am251, On Maternal Behavior In Long-Evans Rat Dams, Jennifer Aguilera-Fonseca, Karla Colley, Eddie Galarza, Atoria Hamm, Joe Morse, Rachel Ntor, Destiny Pichardo, Vincent P. Markowski

McNair Scholars Program

No abstract provided.

Nucleus Accumbens Core Single Cell Ensembles Bidirectionally Respond To Experienced Versus Observed Aversive Events, Oyku Dinckol, Noah Harris Wenger, Jennifer E Zachry, Munir Gunes Kutlu

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

Fear learning is a critical feature of survival skills among mammals. In rodents, fear learning manifests itself through direct experience of the aversive event or social transmission of aversive stimuli such as observing and acting on conspecifics' distress. The neuronal network underlying the social transmission of information largely overlaps with the brain regions that mediate behavioral responses to aversive and rewarding stimuli. In this study, we recorded single cell activity patterns of nucleus accumbens (NAc) core neurons using in vivo optical imaging of calcium transients via miniature scopes. This cutting-edge imaging methodology not only allows us to record activity patterns …

Editorial: Sex Differences In The Neurobiology Of Drug Relapse Vulnerability, Daniel F Manvich, Jessica A Loweth, Wendy J Lynch, Jayme R Mcreynolds

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Sex And Estrous Cycle On Intravenous Oxycodone Self-Administration And The Reinstatement Of Oxycodone-Seeking Behavior In Rats, Nicole M. Hinds, Ireneusz D. Wojtas, Corinne A. Gallagher, Claire M. Corbett, Daniel F. Manvich

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

The increasing misuse of both prescription and illicit opioids has culminated in a national healthcare crisis in the United States. Oxycodone is among the most widely prescribed and misused opioid pain relievers and has been associated with a high risk for transition to compulsive opioid use. Here, we sought to examine potential sex differences and estrous cycle-dependent effects on the reinforcing efficacy of oxycodone, as well as on stress-induced or cue-induced oxycodone-seeking behavior, using intravenous (IV) oxycodone self-administration and reinstatement procedures. In experiment 1, adult male and female Long-Evans rats were trained to self-administer 0.03 mg/kg/inf oxycodone according to a …

Effects Of Creative Movement & Play Based Interventions On Motor Skills Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Results From A Randomized Controlled Trial, Sharanya Chandu

Honors Scholar Theses

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of creative movement, general movement, and seated play interventions on bilateral coordination, balance, and upper limb coordination motor skills of children with autism spectrum disorder.

Methods: This data was collected as a part of a multisite intervention study, Play and Move study, by the University of Connecticut and University of Delaware. Participants were contacted through the SPARK database, UConn Kids, fliers sent to local autism services, schools, community centers and by posting information online or to listservs. Forty-five children agreed to participate in this study and were randomly assigned …

Local Field Potentials In The Male Rat Nucleus Accumbens During Effort-Based Behavior, Celine Aliko, John Salamone, Alev Ecevitoglu

Honors Scholar Theses

Major depression is a devastating disorder that consists of multiple symptoms such as low mood and motivational dysfunction. It has been shown that motivational dysfunction can be studied in animal models by using effort-based choice paradigms, which vary in their response requirements. It has been reported that dopamine depletion in the nucleus accumbens decreases ratio-scheduled lever-pressing in a manner related to the size of the ratio requirement. One dopamine depleting agent is tetrabenazine (TBZ), which has been shown to decrease lever-pressing and induce low-effort bias. The current study aims to investigate behavioral and electrophysiological changes that occur with animals performing …

Effects Of Diet On Lcn2 Expression And Onset Of Neuroinflammation In An Alzheimer’S Disease Mice Model, Abdirahman A. Hayir

Neuroscience Honors Projects

This project covers the findings regarding the impact of diet on lipocalin 2 (LCN2) and the effects it has on neuroinflammation Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). LCN2 is a protein that is critical to the functionality of mitochondria and inflammatory responses. Evidence has shown that mitochondrial dysfunction is a potential central event in driving AD pathogenesis and contributing to formation of pathological hallmarks such as chronic inflammation. Furthermore, studies have shown that LCN2 can be deficient under metabolic conditions such as high-fat-diet (HFD). This study investigates if HFD induces LCN2 deficiency and increased neuroinflammation in an AD mice model.

Glutamate, And Its Relationship To Task-Induced Functional Connectivity In The Human Brain: A Focus On Schizophrenia, Kathleen Liu Young, John Kopchick, Jeffrey Stanley, Vaibhav Diwadkar

Medical Student Research Symposium

Glutamate is the brain’s major excitatory neurotransmitter mediating both neuroplasticity and network function (Zhou & Danbolt, 2014). Basal glutamate (Glu) measured using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) provides insight into a region’s density of neuropil related to the glutamatergic system. Moreover, given the role of glutamate in mediating brain network function, Glu levels may play a role in the brain’s functional connectivity (FC), which is typically estimated from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) time series data. These questions converge when considering the clinical syndrome of schizophrenia (SCZ). Patients with SCZ show abnormalities in basal Glu in the hippocampus and prefrontal …

Examining The Role Of Chronic Stress In Cancer Progression And Metastasis: P53 As A Potential Mechanism, Jillian R. Dean

Behavioral Neuroscience Honors Papers

The influence of stress on the development and progression of cancer has been a longstanding hypothesis. Chronic stress can have a significant impact on the immune system and inflammatory response, potentially leading to decline of the body's immune capabilities (Segerstrom & Miller, 2004). Stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which triggers the release of stress hormones, such as cortisol (Smith & Vale, 2006). When chronically activated, this can lead to corresponding changes in the immune system, including decreased activity of natural killer cells, which play a crucial role in identifying and destroying cancer cells. Chronic inflammation has also been shown …

Cognitive And Neural Development In A Rodent Model Of Ptsd From Maternal Maltreatment, Nhi Doan

Behavioral Neuroscience Honors Papers

Childhood neglect influences development and increases the risk for and severity of mental illness. Previous study has shown that early life stress (ELS) alters stress circuitry, elevates basal stress hormone, and impairs regulation of the HPA. In this study, we seek to understand the impacts of decreased quality of care and trauma on the cognitive and neural development of rats at adolescence. We used a 1-week limited bedding protocol to induce fragmented care in dams and a 10-minute exposure to fox odor to induce stress in offspring later. Memory function and patterns of brain activity following stressor exposure were assessed …

Neural Systems Underlying Rdoc Social Constructs: An Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-Analysis, Rosario Pintos Lobo, Katherine L. Bottenhorn, Michael C. Riedel, Afra I. Toma, Megan M. Hare, Donisha D. Smith, Alexandra C. Moor, Isis K. Cowan, Javier A. Valdes, Jessica E. Bartley, Taylor Salo, Emily R. Boeving, Brianna Pankey, Matthew T. Sutherland, Erica D. Musser, Angela R. Laird

Psychology Faculty Publications

Neuroscientists have sought to identify the underlying neural systems supporting social processing that allow interaction and communication, forming social relationships, and navigating the social world. Through the use of NIMH’s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, we evaluated consensus among studies that examined brain activity during social tasks to elucidate regions comprising the “social brain”. We examined convergence across tasks corresponding to the four RDoC social constructs, including Affiliation and Attachment, Social Communication, Perception and Understanding of Self, and Perception and Understanding of Others. We performed a series of coordinate-based meta-analyses using the activation likelihood estimate (ALE) method. Meta-analysis was performed …

Norepinephrine Regulation Of Spatial Memory Using The Barnes Maze In Male And Female Rats, Serena Simpson, Ali Gheidi Phd, Nareen Sadik, Cameron J. Davidson Phd, Shane A. Perrine Phd

Medical Student Research Symposium

The role of norepinephrine (NE) in learning and memory has been extensively studied, yet its contribution remains to be clarified. This study aimed to investigate the role of NE on spatial learning and memory in female and male rats using a Barnes maze assay. We used N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine (DSP-4), a specific noradrenergic neurotoxin that can cross the blood brain barrier, to deplete NE stores. We hypothesized that brain NE ablation would attenuate spatial learning and memory in rats. Loss of NE by DSP-4 was determined by measuring NE (and dopamine and serotonin) levels in several brain regions using HPLC. For the …

The Effects Of Floral Attributes And Conspecifics On Bumble Bee Forager Memory, Lucas Lauter, Tiffany Dinh

Undergraduate Research Symposium

What do bees remember about flowers? These memories are important for both bees and flowers. The bees have better foraging success and gain more nectar and pollen from flowers when they remember the most rewarding flower types. More memorable flowers will be visited more frequently, resulting in more successful pollination for the plant. At the same time, bees can also learn about flowers from other bees and may remember this information differently. We are training and testing three floral cues and a single social cue to see how the different types of cues affect their learning and memory of rewarding …

Does Anodal Tdcs Over The Left Prefrontal Cortex Using The C3-Rso Montage Improve Cognitive Control?, Jhoan Rodriguez

Honors Scholar Theses

Executive function is the ability to change one’s behavior in order to achieve a goal, which is supported by the prefrontal cortex (for review, Abdullah et al., 2021). Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that changes the likelihood of neuronal firing by sending current through at least two electrodes on the scalp. Prior work in our lab found no enhancement of executive function on healthy participants when at- tempting to stimulate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex using anodal tDCS with the F3-RSO montage (Darling et al., 2020). However, current modeling suggests that the C3-RSO montage may …

Regaining Effort-Based Food Motivation: The Drug Methylphenidate Reverses The Depressive Effects Of Tetrabenazine In Female Rats, Deanna Pietrorazio

Honors Scholar Theses

Tetrabenazine (TBZ), a vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 (VMAT-2) inhibitor, depletes dopamine and induces motivational deficits and other depressive symptoms in humans. Methylphenidate (MPH) is a dopamine transport blocker that is used to enhance motivational function. Previous studies have shown that in male rats, TBZ induces a shift in effort-related choice such that a low-effort bias is induced. In male rats this occurs at a dose range of 0.75-1.0 mg/kg TBZ, and this effect is reversible with co-administration of MPH. Recent studies have shown that females need a higher dose of TBZ (2.0 mg/kg) to show the low-effort bias. The …

Case Study: Effects Of Ultrasonic Vocalizations On Rat Behavior And Place Cell Remapping In The Hippocampus, Qingli Hu

Honors Scholar Theses

Spatial information is known to be encoded in the hippocampus, and small changes in the environment can alter the way that it is represented by our hippocampal place cells in a process called remapping. Hearing is an important sense that can be used to orient ourselves and react to the environment accordingly. In this case study, a rat model is used to test the effects of emotional auditory stimuli, behaviorally significant ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) (50 kHz, emitted during play; 22 kHz, emitted during danger), on rat behavior on a linear track and place cell remapping in the hippocampus. Behaviorally, it …

Buprenorphine Effects On Anxiety-Like Behavior In B6 Mice, Megan K. Thibert

Select or Award-Winning Individual Scholarship

Buprenorphine, a semi-synthetic opioid prescribed for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), has been suggested as a potential pharmacological treatment for anxiety. Some preclinical and clinical studies provide support for the anxiolytic effects of buprenorphine, but research in this area is scarce, and findings to date have been mixed. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that buprenorphine alters anxiety-like behavior in C57BL/IJ (B6) mice measured using the elevated zero maze (EZM). Adult, male mice (n=10) were given subcutaneous injections of saline (control) and three doses of buprenorphine (0.3, 1, and 10 mg/kg). One hour following injection, …

Sex Differences In Lateral Hypothalamic Extracellular Glucose Concentrations During Cumulative Dosing Of Methamphetamine In Rats, Joshua A. Jolton

Honors Theses

The present study experimentally investigated sex differences in lateral hypothalamic glucose concentrations following cumulative dosing of methamphetamine. Male (n=17) and female (n=11) rats were surgically implanted with enzyme-based glucose biosensors in the lateral hypothalamus. Rats then received a saline injection followed by four methamphetamine doses (0.025 mg/kg, 0.05 mg/kg, 0.1 mg/kg, and 0.2 mg/kg) spaced 55 minutes apart. We found that while there was a general decrease in glucose baseline throughout the study for both sexes, the magnitude of the decrease was significantly greater in females compared to males. On a rapid timescale, fixed sex effects existed at the lower …

Pursuing Faith In Good Science: A Neuroscience Student's Argument For Including Science In Spirituality, Savannah A. Hastings

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Everyone can enhance their sense of spirituality by embracing science. This point is argued by referencing the science of emotions, consciousness, and perceptual learning, as well as the correlation between a strong a sense of meaning and physical health. The way that the brain produces our experience of being human is particularly emphasized. We have electrochemical brains that can do good in the world.

Self-Conscious Emotions And The Right Fronto-Temporal And Right Temporal Parietal Junction, Adriana Lavarco, Nathira Ahmad, Qiana Archer, Matthew Pardillo, Ray Nunez Castaneda, Anthony Minervini, Julian Keenan

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

For more than two decades, research focusing on both clinical and non-clinical populations has suggested a key role for specific regions in the regulation of self-conscious emotions. It is speculated that both the expression and the interpretation of self-conscious emotions are critical in humans for action planning and response, communication, learning, parenting, and most social encounters. Empathy, Guilt, Jealousy, Shame, and Pride are all categorized as self-conscious emotions, all of which are crucial components to one’s sense of self. There has been an abundance of evidence pointing to the right Fronto-Temporal involvement in the integration of cognitive processes underlying the …

Investigating Distractor-Induced Effects In Visual Search Utilizing Eye-Tracking, Anjum Shaikh

Behavioral Neuroscience Honors Papers

The present study provides an insightful look into the effects of distractors using behavioral and eye-tracking measures. In this study, two eye-tracking experiments utilizing a feature search task were conducted to investigate the distractor-induced early quitting effect with a target prevalence of 50% rather than the 100% target prevalence typical of attentional capture studies. In Experiment 1, two independent variables of target (present/absent) and distractor (target/present) were examined with behavioral measures (accuracy and response time) as well as eye-tracking methods (total fixations, total fixation durations, and total distractor saccade percentages). Distractors were categorized as salient due to their red color, …

Extended Functional Connectivity Of Convergent Structural Alterations Among Individuals With Ptsd: A Neuroimaging Meta-Analysis, Brianna S. Pankey, Michael C. Riedel, Isis Cowan, Jessica E. Bartley, Rosario Pintos Lobo, Lauren D. Hill-Bowen, Taylor Sato, Erica D. Musser, Matthew T. Sutherland, Angela R. Laird

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disorder defined by the onset of intrusive, avoidant, negative cognitive or affective, and/or hyperarousal symptoms after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event. Previous voxel-based morphometry studies have provided insight into structural brain alterations associated with PTSD with notable heterogeneity across these studies. Furthermore, how structural alterations may be associated with brain function, as measured by task-free and task-based functional connectivity, remains to be elucidated.

Methods: Using emergent meta-analytic techniques, we sought to first identify a consensus of structural alterations in PTSD using the anatomical likelihood estimation (ALE) approach. Next, we generated functional …

Inter-Subject Correlation While Listening To Minimalist Music: A Study Of Electrophysiological And Behavioral Responses To Steve Reich’S Piano Phase, Tysen Dauer, Duc T. Nguyen, Nick Gang, Jacek P. Dmochowski, Jonathan Berger, Blair Kaneshiro

Publications and Research

Musical minimalism utilizes the temporal manipulation of restricted collections of rhythmic, melodic, and/or harmonic materials. One example, Steve Reich’s Piano Phase, offers listeners readily audible formal structure with unpredictable events at the local level. For example, pattern recurrences may generate strong expectations which are violated by small temporal and pitch deviations. A hyper-detailed listening strategy prompted by these minute deviations stands in contrast to the type of listening engagement typically cultivated around functional tonal Western music. Recent research has suggested that the inter-subject correlation (ISC) of electroencephalographic (EEG) responses to natural audio-visual stimuli objectively indexes a state of “engagement,” demonstrating …

Social Selectivity And Social Motivation In Voles, Annaliese K. Beery, Sarah A. Lopez, Katrina L. Blandino, Nicole S. Lee, Natalie S. Bourdon

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

Selective relationships are fundamental to humans and many other animals, but relationships between mates, family members, or peers may be mediated differently. We examined connections between social reward and social selectivity, aggression, and oxytocin receptor signaling pathways in rodents that naturally form enduring, selective relationships with mates and peers (monogamous prairie voles) or peers (group-living meadow voles). Female prairie and meadow voles worked harder to access familiar versus unfamiliar individuals, regardless of sex, and huddled extensively with familiar subjects. Male prairie voles displayed strongly selective huddling preferences for familiar animals, but only worked harder to repeatedly access females versus males, …

Neurotranscriptomic Changes Associated With Chick-Directed Parental Care In Adult Non-Reproductive Japanese Quail, Patricia C. Lopes, Robert De Brujin

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

For many species, parental care critically affects offspring survival. But what drives animals to display parental behaviours towards young? In mammals, pregnancy-induced physiological transformations seem key in preparing the neural circuits that lead towards attraction (and reduced-aggression) to young. Beyond mammalian maternal behaviour, knowledge of the neural mechanisms that underlie young-directed parental care is severely lacking. We took advantage of a domesticated bird species, the Japanese quail, for which parental behaviour towards chicks can be induced in virgin non-reproductive adults through a sensitization procedure, a process that is not effective in all animals. We used the variation in parental responses …

The Neurological Asymmetry Of Self-Face Recognition, Aleksandra Janowska, Brianna Balugas, Matthew Pardillo, Victoria Mistretta, Katherine Chavarria, Janet Brenya, Taylor Shelansky, Vanessa Martinez, Kitty Pagano, Nathira Ahmad, Samantha Zorns, Abigail Straus, Sarah Sierra, Julian Keenan

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

While the desire to uncover the neural correlates of consciousness has taken numerous directions, self-face recognition has been a constant in attempts to isolate aspects of self-awareness. The neuroimaging revolution of the 1990s brought about systematic attempts to isolate the underlying neural basis of self-face recognition. These studies, including some of the first fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) examinations, revealed a right-hemisphere bias for self-face recognition in a diverse set of regions including the insula, the dorsal frontal lobe, the temporal parietal junction, and the medial temporal cortex. In this systematic review, we provide confirmation of these data (which are …