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Behavioral Neurobiology Commons

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Doctoral Dissertations

Adolescence

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Full-Text Articles in Behavioral Neurobiology

Sex Differences In Myelin Deficits And Neuroinflammatory Responses To Adolescent Drinking In Rats, Andrea Silva-Gotay Mar 2022

Sex Differences In Myelin Deficits And Neuroinflammatory Responses To Adolescent Drinking In Rats, Andrea Silva-Gotay

Doctoral Dissertations

Alcohol binge drinking during adolescence is associated with higher risk of developing alcohol use disorders later in life. Alcohol can lead to decreased white matter volume, myelin damage, and neuroinflammation in animal models of adolescent binge alcohol exposure. These deficits in turn are associated with cognitive disfunctions that are long-lasting and could contribute to alcohol abuse and alcoholism later in life. Importantly, human males are more likely to develop alcohol use disorders than females, thus the mechanisms underlying this might be different between the sexes. Understanding how alcohol impacts the developing adolescent brain can help us identify molecular and cellular …


Effects Of Adolescent Alcohol Binge Drinking On Prefrontal Myelin, Wanette M. Vargas-Rodriguez Nov 2016

Effects Of Adolescent Alcohol Binge Drinking On Prefrontal Myelin, Wanette M. Vargas-Rodriguez

Doctoral Dissertations

Alcohol binge drinking is highly prevalent in teenagers and is associated with various harmful health effects and social problems. During adolescence, brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are still undergoing active development, characterized by increases in white matter volume. While the morphological details and the cellular and molecular sequences governing adolescent white matter development are not fully known, it is known that this development process is sensitive and can be disrupted. Although consumption of alcohol in a binge drinking pattern has been linked to lower white matter integrity in humans, it is important to determine if alcohol is …


Characterization Of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Cells In The Medial Prefrontal Cortex Of Rats, Yi-Ling Lu Mar 2016

Characterization Of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Cells In The Medial Prefrontal Cortex Of Rats, Yi-Ling Lu

Doctoral Dissertations

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is the major peptide involved in regulating the body’s autonomic, hormonal, and behavioral responses to stress. Cells that produce and release this peptide are widely distributed throughout the brain. This dissertation focuses on a specific population of CRF cells residing in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) that could potentially influence a number of higher order functions through modulation of local circuits. The prefrontal cortex is known to function sub-optimally in patients suffering from various stress-related psychiatric conditions including alcohol use disorder (AUD), and dysregulated CRF signaling may be an underlying mechanism. Surprisingly little is known about this …