Neurosciences Commons^™

The Adaptor Protein P66shc Governs Central Nervous System Cell Metabolism And Resistance To Aβ Toxicity, Asad Lone

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a progressive and irreversible neurodegenerative disorder, and is the leading cause of dementia worldwide. It has been posited that AD is caused by the gradual deposition of toxic amyloid-b (Ab) plaques in the brain- that cause oxidative stress and eventually leads to neuronal death and synaptic loss. However, multiple therapies that either interfere with the production, or enhance the removal of Ab from the brain, have ultimately failed to slow or prevent AD. With the ever-increasing burden of AD worldwide, there exists an urgent need for novel therapeutic targets. The adult human brain is an energy demanding …

Evaluating Anesthetic Protocols For Non-Human Primate Functional Neuroimaging, Megha Verma

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive technique that can be used to measure a proxy of neural activity in vivo with high spatial specificity. One subject can be followed for a long period of time to assess changes in functional brain organization. However, fMRI is extremely sensitive to motion. The challenges of training non-human primates to reduce motion in an MRI scanner motivate the study of anesthesia which is commonly used to substitute for this training. In this thesis, I compare three different commonly used anesthetic protocols: isoflurane, propofol-fentanyl in combination, and fentanyl alone, to test which of …

Assessment Of Intrinsic Hand Neuromuscular Physiology, Philemon Tsang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Alterations to the peripheral nervous system and neuromuscular physiology may impact hand function in a typical or clinical population, such as individuals with ulnar neuropathy. The mechanisms that influence these positive and negative changes are still not well understood. The three studies within my thesis aim to validate the reliability of decomposition-based quantitative electromyography (DQEMG) measurements and explore the changes in intrinsic hand neuromuscular physiology in a typical aging population and individuals recovering from a surgical intervention for severe ulnar neuropathy.

The purpose of the first study was to determine the test-retest reliability of near-fibre (NF) jiggle, a measure of …

White Matter Inflammation And Executive Dysfunction: Implications For Alzheimer Disease And Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Alexander Levit

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

White matter integrity is crucial to healthy executive function, the cognitive domain that enables functional independence. However, in the ageing brain, white matter is highly vulnerable. White matter inflammation increases with age and Alzheimer disease (AD), which disrupts the normal function of white matter. This may contribute to executive dysfunction, but the relationship between white matter inflammation and executive function has not been directly evaluated in ageing nor AD. White matter is also particularly vulnerable to cerebrovascular disease, corresponding with the common presentation of executive dysfunction in vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). Thus, white matter may be an important substrate by …