Cognitive Neuroscience Commons^™

Individual Differences In Age And Testosterone Are Uniquely Associated With Neural Oscillatory Activity Serving Verbal Working Memory In Children And Adolescents, Abraham D. Killanin

Theses & Dissertations

During the sensitive period of adolescence, the human brain undergoes dynamic changes in structure and function resulting in vast executive function gains. Verbal working memory (VWM) is one executive function that serves as a foundation to language acquisition, reading, and learning. Many have examined the development of VWM in youth, but few have probed age-related changes in the underlying neural oscillatory dynamics, and none have examined testosterone-related changes. We recorded magnetoencephalography during a modified Sternberg VWM task in 82 youth participants aged 6 – 14 years old and collected salivary testosterone samples. Significant oscillatory responses were identified and imaged using …

Aberrant Age-Related Alterations In Spontaneous Cortical Activity In Participants With Cerebral Palsy, Hannah Bergwell

Theses & Dissertations

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the most common neurodevelopmental motor disability, resulting in life-long sensory, perception and motor impairments. These impairments appear to drastically worsen with advancing age within the CP population, although the underlying neuro-physiological mechanisms remain poorly understood. Herein, we began to address this knowledge gap by utilizing magnetoencephalographic (MEG) to study how aging impacts the amplitude of spontaneous brain activity (i.e., resting state) in a cohort of 38 individuals with spastic diplegic CP (Age = 22.08 ± 10.46 years) and 67 neurotypical controls (NT) (Age = 19.56 ± 10.25 years). Participants completed an eyes-closed resting-state paradigm while undergoing …

Frailty And Neurocognition In Prostate Cancer, Lindsey Hanson

Theses & Dissertations

Prostate cancer (PCa) treatment often leads to distressing side effects ranging from muscle loss, physical inactivity, and fatigue to cancer associated cognitive decline (CACD). Evidence suggests that men treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) may have a specifically high risk of CACD, partially due to increased frailty. However, the current literature on cognitive effects of ADT is equivocal. Therefore, the primary objectives of this study were to (1) compare cognitive function, physical activity (PA), and fitness in men receiving ADT, men scheduled to receive radiation, and men under active surveillance for PCa; (2) examine changes in cognitive performance and PA …

Neurocognitive Impairment In People Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Hiv): Risk Factors And Mortality, Zaeema Naveed

Theses & Dissertations

Despite the widespread use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment (NCI) persists in people living with HIV (PLWH) with clinical and public health implications. Studies have generated inconsistent results regarding etiological factors for NCI in PLWH and a brief user-friendly predictive tool is desirable in clinical practice to assess the probability of having NCI in PLWH. Furthermore, factors associated with clinically meaningful decline in neurocognitive status and survival disadvantage for patients with NCI are understudied in the post-cART era. The goal of this dissertation was to investigate factors associated with baseline NCI and neurocognitive decline and the association …

Dynamic Oscillatory Interactions Between Neural Attention And Sensorimotor Systems, Alex Wiesman

Theses & Dissertations

The adaptive and flexible ability of the human brain to preference the processing of salient environmental features in the visual space is essential to normative cognitive function, and various neurologically afflicted patient groups report negative impacts on visual attention. While the brain-bases of human attentional processing have begun to be unraveled, very little is known regarding the interactions between attention systems and systems supporting sensory and motor processing. This is essential, as these interactions are dynamic; evolving rapidly in time and across a wide range of functionally defined rhythmic frequencies. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and a range of novel cognitive paradigms …

Role Of Astrocyte-Derived Extracellular Vesicles In Neuroinflammation Mediated By Drug Abuse, Ke Liao

Theses & Dissertations

Neuronal damage and neuroinflammation is a hallmark feature of HIV-associated neurological disorders (HANDs). Opioids abuse accelerates the incidence and progression of HAND; however, the mechanisms underlying the potentiation of neuropathogenesis by these drugs remain elusive. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are essential conduits in HIV and drug abuse-mediated synaptodendritic injury and neuroinflammation. Findings from our group have demonstrated that astrocyte-derived EV (ADEV)-miRNA-29b mediates HIV Tat and morphine-induced neuronal injury, thus underscoring the importance of such interactions in NeuroHIV.

Besides, HIV Tat and morphine-mediated synaptodendritic injury via ADEVs, we are also interested in whether ADEVs contributes to neuroinflammation. Microglia are critical players in …

Neural Correlates Of Polysubstance Use: Differential And Interactive Effects Of Alcohol And Cannabis On The Adolescent Brain, Joseph Aloi

Theses & Dissertations

Two of the most commonly used and abused substances by adolescents in the United States are alcohol and cannabis, which are associated with adverse medical and psychiatric outcomes. Alcohol use and cannabis use during adolescence is also associated with an increased risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and/or cannabis use disorder (CUD) in adulthood as well as increased likelihood of relapse after successful treatment. Despite this, much of the previous work on the neurobiology of substance use disorders has focused on adult substance use. This work has shown that individuals with AUD and/or CUD show dysfunction within reward processing, emotion …

Electrophysiological Biomarkers Of Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Impairment In Hematological Malignancy Patients, David E. Anderson

Theses & Dissertations

Multiple cancer populations frequently report cognitive impairment following treatment with chemotherapy agents (“chemo-brain”). Impaired neuropsychological performance is commonly reported in cognitive domains of attention and executive function. Understanding neural mechanisms underlying cognitive impairments is essential to developing prevention and rehabilitation strategies. Brain imaging studies frequently show chemotherapy-related impairments within the attentional control network, which is comprised of a constellation of cortical regions that govern reportedly impaired cognitive functions. In the current dissertation research, I developed a novel electrophysiology battery aimed at recording near-instantaneous neural activity within the attentional control network during cognitive task performance. Cancer patients diagnosed with hematological malignancy …

Voltage-Gated K+ Channels And Hiv-1-Induced Neural Injury: Implications For Pathogenesis Of Hiv-1-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders, Han Liu

Theses & Dissertations

Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1)-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) is a subcortical disease involving neuronal loss and myelin damage. Myelin is deposited by oligodendrocytes through a complex process including oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) proliferation and maturation. Oligodendrocytes/OPCs are susceptible to viral proteins such as Tat and that myelin damage is associated with oligodendrocyte number decrease. It has been shown that activation of voltage-gated K⁺ (K_V) channels mediates apoptosis in various cell types. K_V1.3 is the most predominant K_V channel expressed in OPCs/oligodendrocytes and potentially involved in OPC developmental regulation. We studied the involvement of K_{V …}