Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Effects Of Proton Radiation On Behavior In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, John A. Bellone

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Astronauts venturing outside Earth’s magnetosphere risk exposure to charged particle radiation that has been shown to cause neurological deficits in rodents via oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, altered neurogenesis, and synaptic changes. Since these responses are similar to those observed in age-related neurodegenerative diseases, we hypothesized that individuals with a propensity toward developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) would be more adversely affected by such exposure. To test this hypothesis, we exposed young double transgenic APP/PSEN1 mice (a commercially available strain engineered to develop AD-like neuropathology) and their wild-type (non-transgenic) counterparts to low doses of 150 MeV proton particle radiation and assessed the effects …