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Behavioral Neurobiology Commons

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2013

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Articles 1 - 30 of 48

Full-Text Articles in Behavioral Neurobiology

The Effects Of Chronic Simvastatin Treatment On The Expression Of Behavioral Symptoms In A Transgenic Mouse Model Of Huntington’S Disease, Ashley Whitmarsh Dec 2013

The Effects Of Chronic Simvastatin Treatment On The Expression Of Behavioral Symptoms In A Transgenic Mouse Model Of Huntington’S Disease, Ashley Whitmarsh

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a heritable, neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor, cognitive, and psychiatric disturbances. An unstable CAG expansion within the gene normally encoding for the Huntingtin protein is responsible. The expanded mutant form of Huntingtin and the putative protein co-factor Rhes interact and cause cell death within the striatum. We hypothesized chronic treatment with simvastatin, a cholesterol lowering drug, would disrupt the biosynthetical pathway which gives both Rhes and its target cells binding sites and render Rhes inactive. Healthy and HD mice were treated with simvastatin or a vehicle. Animals’ motor behavior was assessed with three separate tests over …


Controlling Feeding Behavior By Chemical Or Gene-Directed Targeting In The Brain: What’S So Spatial About Our Methods?, Arshad Khan Dec 2013

Controlling Feeding Behavior By Chemical Or Gene-Directed Targeting In The Brain: What’S So Spatial About Our Methods?, Arshad Khan

Arshad M. Khan, Ph.D.

Intracranial chemical injection (ICI) methods have been used to identify the locations in the brain where feeding behavior can be controlled acutely. Scientists conducting ICI studies often document their injection site locations, thereby leaving kernels of valuable location data for others to use to further characterize feeding control circuits. Unfortunately, this rich dataset has not yet been formally contextualized with other published neuroanatomical data. In particular, axonal tracing studies have delineated several neural circuits originating in the same areas where ICI injection feeding-control sites have been documented, but it remains unclear whether these circuits participate in feeding control. However, comparing …


Reaching For The Light: The Prioritization Of Conspicuous Visual Stimuli For Reflexive Target-Directed Reaching, Daniel K. Wood Dec 2013

Reaching For The Light: The Prioritization Of Conspicuous Visual Stimuli For Reflexive Target-Directed Reaching, Daniel K. Wood

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The degree to which something stands out against the background of its environment communicates important information. The phenomenon of camouflage is a testament of the degree to which visual salience and probability of survival tend to overlap. Salient stimuli often elicit fast, reflexive movements in order to catch prey or avoid a predator. The overarching goal of the work presented in this thesis is to investigate how the physical salience of visual stimuli influence the programming and execution of reaching movements. I approached this question by recording kinematics and muscle responses during reaching movements. Broadly, this thesis investigates the effect …


Contribution Of Trpm2 To Memory Loss In An Alzheimer's Mouse Model, Megan M. Chen Dec 2013

Contribution Of Trpm2 To Memory Loss In An Alzheimer's Mouse Model, Megan M. Chen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive deterioration of memory and other intellectual abilities. Accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide, the major contributor to the senile plaques central to AD, is thought to mediate neurotoxicity by inducing oxidative stress and calcium dysregulation. Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin type 2 (TRPM2) is a calcium permeable, non-selective cation channel activated under oxidative stress and ultimately induces cell death. The APPSWE/PSEN1ΔE9 double transgenic mouse model carries the human APPswe (Swedish mutations K594N/M595L) and PS1 mutations with a deletion in exon 9 (PS1-dE9), and is one of the most commonly used AD …


Mtorc1 Signaling In Memory Formation And Dysfunction, Natalia S. Rozas De O'Laughlin Dec 2013

Mtorc1 Signaling In Memory Formation And Dysfunction, Natalia S. Rozas De O'Laughlin

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

The mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway integrates cellular availability of growth factors, energy and amino acids to regulate protein synthesis and autophagy. The mTORC1 pathway has also been shown to be required for memory consolidation, and its dysregulation is associated with many neurological disorders. MTORC1 is negatively regulated by the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC1/2). When ATP and growth factors are available, TSC1/2 is inhibited and mTORC1 activity can be restored. In a complementary regulatory pathway, amino acids signal to mTORC1 through the Rag GTPases and Ragulator complex, which modulate the translocation of mTORC1 from the cytoplasm to …


Neural Correlates Of Audiovisual Speech Perception In Aphasia And Healthy Aging, Sarah H. Baum Dec 2013

Neural Correlates Of Audiovisual Speech Perception In Aphasia And Healthy Aging, Sarah H. Baum

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Understanding speech in face-to-face conversation utilizes the integration of multiple pieces of information, most importantly the auditory vocal sounds and visual lip movements. Prior studies of the neural underpinnings of audiovisual integration in the brain have provided converging evidence to suggest that neurons within the left superior temporal sulcus (STS) provide a critical neural hub for the integration of auditory and visual information in speech. While most studies of audiovisual processing focus on neural mechanisms within healthy, young adults, we currently know very little about how changes to the brain can affect audiovisual integration in speech. To examine this further, …


Iptakalim Attenuates Self-Administration And Acquired Goal-Tracking Behavior Controlled By Nicotine, S. Charntikov, N. Swalve, Steven T. Pittenger, K. Fink, S. Schepers, G. C. Hadlock, A. E. Fleckenstein, G. Hu, Ming Li, Rick A. Bevins Dec 2013

Iptakalim Attenuates Self-Administration And Acquired Goal-Tracking Behavior Controlled By Nicotine, S. Charntikov, N. Swalve, Steven T. Pittenger, K. Fink, S. Schepers, G. C. Hadlock, A. E. Fleckenstein, G. Hu, Ming Li, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Iptakalim is an ATP-sensitive potassium channel opener, as well as an a4b2-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) antagonist. Pretreatment with iptakalim diminishes nicotine-induced dopamine (DA) and glutamate release in the nucleus accumbens. This neuropharmacological profile suggests that iptakalim may be useful for treatment of nicotine dependence. Thus, we examined the effects of iptakalim in two preclinical models. First, the impact of iptakalim on the interoceptive stimulus effect of nicotine was evaluated by training rats in a discriminated goal-tracking task that included intermixed nicotine (0.4 mg/kg, SC) and saline sessions. Sucrose was intermittently presented in a responseindependent manner only on nicotine sessions. …


Synaptic And Systems Memory Consolidation In The Black-Capped Chickadee (Poecile Atricapillus), Matthew Barrett Oct 2013

Synaptic And Systems Memory Consolidation In The Black-Capped Chickadee (Poecile Atricapillus), Matthew Barrett

Matthew J. Barrett

ABSTRACT Memory consolidation - the time-dependent stabilization of information- involves two processes: 1) synaptic consolidation and 2) systems consolidation. Synaptic consolidation uses a series of protein synthesis cascades that make lasting changes in the underlying neural architecture of a memory. Systems consolidation involves the reorganization of memory such that, with the passage of time, memory that is initially hippocampus-dependent can be retrieved and activated independent of the hippocampus. Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) store and relocate food using hippocampus-dependent spatial memory. In Chapter 2 inhibition of protein synthesis by anisomycin, either 0 and 2 h or 4 and 6 h after …


Day-Night Differences In Neural Activation In Histaminergic And Serotonergic Areas With Putative Projections To The Cerebrospinal Fluid In A Diurnal Brain, Alexandra Castillo-Ruiz, Andrew J. Gall, Laura Smale, Antonio A. Nunez Oct 2013

Day-Night Differences In Neural Activation In Histaminergic And Serotonergic Areas With Putative Projections To The Cerebrospinal Fluid In A Diurnal Brain, Alexandra Castillo-Ruiz, Andrew J. Gall, Laura Smale, Antonio A. Nunez

Faculty Publications

In nocturnal rodents, brain areas that promote wakefulness have a circadian pattern of neural activation that mirrors the sleep/wake cycle, with more neural activation during the active phase than during the rest phase. To investigate whether differences in temporal patterns of neural activity in wake-promoting regions contribute to differences in daily patterns of wakefulness between nocturnal and diurnal species, we assessed Fos expression patterns in the tuberomammillary (TMM), supramammillary (SUM), and raphe nuclei of male grass rats maintained in a 12:12 h light-dark cycle. Day-night profiles of Fos expression were observed in the ventral and dorsal TMM, in the SUM, …


Sensory-Specific Appetition: Postingestive Detection Of Glucose Rapidly Promotes Continued Consumption Of A Recently Encountered Flavor, Kevin P. Myers, Marisa S. Taddeo, Emily K. Richards Sep 2013

Sensory-Specific Appetition: Postingestive Detection Of Glucose Rapidly Promotes Continued Consumption Of A Recently Encountered Flavor, Kevin P. Myers, Marisa S. Taddeo, Emily K. Richards

Faculty Journal Articles

It is generally thought that macronutrients stimulate intake when sensed in the mouth (e.g., sweet taste) but as food enters the GI tract its effects become inhibitory, triggering satiation processes leading to meal termination. Here we report experiments extending recent work (see [1]) showing that under some circumstances nutrients sensed in the gut produce a positive feedback effect, immediately promoting continued intake. In one experiment, rats with intragastric (IG) catheters were accustomed to consuming novel flavors in saccharin daily while receiving water infused IG (5 ml/15 min). The very first time glucose (16% w/w) was infused IG instead of water, …


Explorations Of Object And Location Memory Using Fmri, Andrew D. Passaro, L. Caitlin Elmore, Timothy M. Ellmore, Kenneth J. Leising, Andrew C. Papanicolaou, Anthony A. Wright Aug 2013

Explorations Of Object And Location Memory Using Fmri, Andrew D. Passaro, L. Caitlin Elmore, Timothy M. Ellmore, Kenneth J. Leising, Andrew C. Papanicolaou, Anthony A. Wright

Publications and Research

Content-specific sub-systems of visual working memory (VWM) have been explored in many neuroimaging studies with inconsistent findings and procedures across experiments. The present study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a change detection task using a high number of trials and matched stimulus displays across object and location change (what vs. where) conditions. Furthermore, individual task periods were studied independently across conditions to identify differences corresponding to each task period. Importantly, this combination of task controls has not previously been described in the fMRI literature. Composite results revealed differential frontoparietal activation during each task period. A separation of object …


Functional Analysis Of Corazonin And Its Receptor In Drosophila Melanogaster, Kai Sha Aug 2013

Functional Analysis Of Corazonin And Its Receptor In Drosophila Melanogaster, Kai Sha

Doctoral Dissertations

Corazonin (Crz) is an amidated undecapeptide originally isolated from the American cockroach. It has been shown to affect diverse physiological functions in a species-specific manner. However, the functionality of Crz in Drosophila melanogaster has not yet been determined. To gain insight into the role of Crz signaling in vivo, Crz and CrzR null alleles were obtained by transposable element mobilization. Flies carrying a deficiency uncovering Crz and pr-set7 loci were generated via P-element excision, and the latter was rescued by wild-type pr-set7 transgene. A mutation of Crz receptor (CrzR) was generated by Minos-element mobilization from …


Network Dynamics Of Visual Naming, Christopher R. Conner Aug 2013

Network Dynamics Of Visual Naming, Christopher R. Conner

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Recognition and naming of objects and actions are fundamental components of language. They involve several different systems working in coordination to accomplish a complex behavior. During visual naming, sensory and semantic processing are carried out by dedicated cortical substrates in the temporal and occipital lobes, while response selection and articulatory planning are handled by prefrontal cortex. Despite decades of research using lesion analysis, functional MRI and electro-encephalography, the precise dynamics involved remain unknown due to the inadequate spatio-temporal resolution of these methodologies. Of particular interest is the organization of semantic knowledge and the degree of serial and parallel organization of …


Enhanced Nicotine Self-Administration And Suppressed Dopaminergic Systems In A Rat Model Of Diabetes, Laura O'Dell Jul 2013

Enhanced Nicotine Self-Administration And Suppressed Dopaminergic Systems In A Rat Model Of Diabetes, Laura O'Dell

Laura Elena O'Dell

Patients with diabetes display a heightened propensity to use tobacco; however, it is unclear whether they experience enhanced rewarding effects of nicotine. Thus, this study examined the reinforcing effects of nicotine in a rodent model of diabetes involving administration of streptozotocin (STZ), a drug that is toxic to pancreatic insulin-producing cells. The first study compared STZ- and vehicle-treated rats that had 23-hour access to intravenous self-administration (IVSA) of nicotine or saline and concomitant access to food and water. In order to examine the contribution of dopamine to our behavioral effects, dopamine transporter (DAT), D1 and D2 receptor levels were compared …


Dopamine Modulation Of Emotional Learning In The Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Nicole M. Lauzon Jul 2013

Dopamine Modulation Of Emotional Learning In The Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Nicole M. Lauzon

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Dopamine (DA) transmission plays a critical role in the processing of emotionally salient information and in associative learning and memory processes. Within the mammalian brain, neurons within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are involved critically in the encoding, expression, and extinction of emotionally salient learned information. Within the mPFC, DAergic transmission is involved importantly in controlling attention related and motivational processes, particularly within the context of emotionally salient sensory information. Considerable evidence suggests differential roles for DA D1-like versus D2-like receptors, including the D4-receptor subtype, in the regulation of neuronal activity and emotional processing …


Lesions Of The Intergeniculate Leaflet Lead To A Reorganization In Circadian Regulation And A Reversal In Masking Responses To Photic Stimuli In The Nile Grass Rat, Andrew J. Gall, Laura Smale, Lily Yan, Antonio A. Nunez Jun 2013

Lesions Of The Intergeniculate Leaflet Lead To A Reorganization In Circadian Regulation And A Reversal In Masking Responses To Photic Stimuli In The Nile Grass Rat, Andrew J. Gall, Laura Smale, Lily Yan, Antonio A. Nunez

Faculty Publications

Light influences the daily patterning of behavior by entraining circadian rhythms and through its acute effects on activity levels (masking). Mechanisms of entrainment are quite similar across species, but masking can be very different. Specifically, in diurnal species, light generally increases locomotor activity (positive masking), and in nocturnal ones, it generally suppresses it (negative masking). The intergeniculate leaflet (IGL), a subdivision of the lateral geniculate complex, receives direct retinal input and is reciprocally connected with the primary circadian clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Here, we evaluated the influence of the IGL on masking and the circadian system in a diurnal …


Behavioral Responses To Methylphenidate: Correlations With Neuronal Activity In The Caudate Nucleus, Catherine M. Claussen May 2013

Behavioral Responses To Methylphenidate: Correlations With Neuronal Activity In The Caudate Nucleus, Catherine M. Claussen

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Methylphenidate is currently a drug of abuse and readily prescribed to both adolescents and adults. Chronic methylphenidate (MPH) exposure results in an increase in DA in the motive circuit, including the caudate nucleus (CN), similar to other drugs of abuse. This study focuses on research aimed to elucidate if there are intrinsic underlying differences in the CN electrophysiological activity of animals exhibiting different chronic responses to the same dose of MPH. Behavioral and caudate nucleus (CN) neuronal activity following acute and chronic doses of MPH was assessed by simultaneously recording the behavioral and neuronal activity. The experimental protocol lasted for …


Characterization Of The Apoptotic Functions Of The Hid Hmolog Isolated From Megaselia Scalaris, Shannon Smith May 2013

Characterization Of The Apoptotic Functions Of The Hid Hmolog Isolated From Megaselia Scalaris, Shannon Smith

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.


Behavioral, Biochemical, And Molecular Indices Of Stress Are Enhanced In Female Versus Male Rats Experiencing Nicotine Withdrawal, Laura O'Dell Apr 2013

Behavioral, Biochemical, And Molecular Indices Of Stress Are Enhanced In Female Versus Male Rats Experiencing Nicotine Withdrawal, Laura O'Dell

Laura Elena O'Dell

Stress is a major factor that promotes tobacco use and relapse during withdrawal. Although women are more vulnerable to tobacco use than men, the manner in which stress contributes to tobacco use in women versus men is unclear.Thus, the goal of this study was to compare behavioral and biological indices of stress in male and female rats during nicotine withdrawal. Since the effects of nicotine withdrawal are age-dependent, this study also included adolescent rats. An initial study was conducted to provide comparable nicotine doses across age and sex during nicotine exposure and withdrawal. Rats received sham surgery or an osmotic …


Sex-Specific Brain Deficits In Auditory Processing In An Animal Model Of Cocaine-Related Schizophrenic Disorders, Patricia A. Broderick, Taylor Rosenbaum Apr 2013

Sex-Specific Brain Deficits In Auditory Processing In An Animal Model Of Cocaine-Related Schizophrenic Disorders, Patricia A. Broderick, Taylor Rosenbaum

Publications and Research

Cocaine is a psychostimulant in the pharmacological class of drugs called Local Anesthetics. Interestingly, cocaine is the only drug in this class that has a chemical formula comprised of a tropane ring and is, moreover, addictive. The correlation between tropane and addiction is well-studied. Another well-studied correlation is that between psychosis induced by cocaine and that psychosis endogenously present in the schizophrenic patient. Indeed, both of these psychoses exhibit much the same behavioral as well as neurochemical properties across species. Therefore, in order to study the link between schizophrenia and cocaine addiction, we used a behavioral paradigm called Acoustic Startle. …


Getting A Grip On Memory: Unilateral Hand Clenching Alters Episodic Recall, Ruth E. Propper, Sean E. Mcgraw, Tad T. Brunyé Apr 2013

Getting A Grip On Memory: Unilateral Hand Clenching Alters Episodic Recall, Ruth E. Propper, Sean E. Mcgraw, Tad T. Brunyé

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Unilateral hand clenching increases neuronal activity in the frontal lobe of the contralateral hemisphere. Such hand clenching is also associated with increased experiencing a given hemisphere’s “mode of processing.” Together, these findings suggest that unilateral hand clenching can be used to test hypotheses concerning the specializations of the cerebral hemispheres during memory encoding and retrieval. We investigated this possibility by testing the effects of a unilateral hand clenching on episodic memory. The hemispheric Encoding/Retrieval Asymmetry (HERA) model proposes left prefrontal regions are associated with encoding, and right prefrontal regions with retrieval, of episodic memories. It was hypothesized that right-hand clenching …


The Possible Role Of Extra-Ocular Photoreceptors In The Entrainment Of Lobster Circadian Rhythms To Light:Dark Cycles, Sara A. Mckinney Apr 2013

The Possible Role Of Extra-Ocular Photoreceptors In The Entrainment Of Lobster Circadian Rhythms To Light:Dark Cycles, Sara A. Mckinney

Honors Theses and Capstones

The American lobster, Homarus americanus, is a decapod crustacean whose daily nocturnal rhythms of activity are driven, in part, by an internal biological clock. While this circadian clock is capable of producing a rhythm of approximately 24 hours on its own, it can also be entrained to light:dark cycles. Recent findings in our laboratory suggest that lobsters have photosensitive neurons throughout their nervous system (extra-ocular photoreceptors). The objective of this research was to test the hypothesis that these extra-ocular photoreceptors aid in entraining their daily rhythm of activity. First, the locomotion of juvenile American lobsters was measured in trials under …


Norepinephrine Involvement In The Intermittent Swim Stress-Induced Deficit In Spatial Learning And Memory, Emily Elgert Apr 2013

Norepinephrine Involvement In The Intermittent Swim Stress-Induced Deficit In Spatial Learning And Memory, Emily Elgert

Honors Theses and Capstones

Learning and memory impairments are often caused by stress disorders including depression. The present study investigated the involvement of norepinephrine in the swim stress-induced deficits of spatial learning and memory. Exposure to intermittent swim stress (ISS) followed by learning and memory tests in the Morris water maze (MWM) were used to investigate this relationship. The ISS paradigm consists of intermittent exposure to cold water, producing stress responses in rats. Reboxetine, a norepinephrine selective reuptake inhibitor (NSRI), was employed to investigate whether this compound reverses the ISS-induced deficit. In other words, rats exposed to the ISS, were hypothesized to experience impaired …


Determination Of Catecholamine Content Changes In Mouse Brain Following Chronic Ketogenic Diet, Ryan Adams Apr 2013

Determination Of Catecholamine Content Changes In Mouse Brain Following Chronic Ketogenic Diet, Ryan Adams

Senior Theses and Projects

This work investigated the effects of the ketogenic diet on catecholamine concentrations in the brains of mice. The ketogenic diet has been show to modulate the catecholamine concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid of children as well as altering hippocampal norepinephrine levels in mice. Tissue homogenates of the motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, nucleus accumbens, anterior caudate, posterior caudate and midbrain regions were analyzed using high pressure liquid chromatography to quantitate norepinephrine, dopamine, 3, 4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA), homovanillic acid (HVA) and serotonin (5-HT). No significant differences in catecholamine concentration levels were detected in the tissue homogenates. Analysis of metabolite …


Squid Ink As A Chemical Defense Against Predatory Sea Catfish, Lanna Wolfe Mar 2013

Squid Ink As A Chemical Defense Against Predatory Sea Catfish, Lanna Wolfe

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.


The Effects Of Blocking Hippocampal Acetylcholine On Meal Onset In Male Rats, Jasmine Nicole Gentry Mar 2013

The Effects Of Blocking Hippocampal Acetylcholine On Meal Onset In Male Rats, Jasmine Nicole Gentry

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.


Chemosensory Feedback Mediates Olfactory Organ Grooming In Spiny Lobsters, Jessica E. Haulk Mar 2013

Chemosensory Feedback Mediates Olfactory Organ Grooming In Spiny Lobsters, Jessica E. Haulk

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.


Selective Allosteric Activation Of M₄ Receptors For Memory Enhancement, Norma A. Hernandez Mar 2013

Selective Allosteric Activation Of M₄ Receptors For Memory Enhancement, Norma A. Hernandez

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.


Role Of Antennae In Procambarus Clarkii Thermosenstaion, Brian J. Bondy Mar 2013

Role Of Antennae In Procambarus Clarkii Thermosenstaion, Brian J. Bondy

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.


Does Periaqueductal Gray Glial Cell Activity Put Females At A Disadvantage For Pain Relief?, Laura Butkovich Mar 2013

Does Periaqueductal Gray Glial Cell Activity Put Females At A Disadvantage For Pain Relief?, Laura Butkovich

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.