Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Eeg In The Classroom: Synchronised Neural Recordings During Video Presentation, Andreas Trier Poulsen, Simon Kamronn, Jacek Dmochowski, Lucas C. Parra, Lars Kai Hansen

Publications and Research

We performed simultaneous recordings of electroencephalography (EEG) from multiple students in a classroom, and measured the inter-subject correlation (ISC) of activity evoked by a common video stimulus. The neural reliability, as quantified by ISC, has been linked to engagement and attentional modulation in earlier studies that used high-grade equipment in laboratory settings. Here we reproduce many of the results from these studies using portable low-cost equipment, focusing on the robustness of using ISC for subjects experiencing naturalistic stimuli. The present data shows that stimulusevoked neural responses, known to be modulated by attention, can be tracked for groups of students with …

Neurophysiological And Behavioral Responses Of Mandarin Lexical Tone Processing, Yan H. Yu, Valerie L. Shafer, Elyse S. Sussman

Publications and Research

Language experience enhances discrimination of speech contrasts at a behavioral- perceptual level, as well as at a pre-attentive level, as indexed by event-related potential (ERP) mismatch negativity (MMN) responses. The enhanced sensitivity could be the result of changes in acoustic resolution and/or long-term memory representations of the relevant information in the auditory cortex. To examine these possibilities, we used a short (ca. 600 ms) vs. long (ca. 2,600 ms) interstimulus interval (ISI) in a passive, oddball discrimination task while obtaining ERPs. These ISI differences were used to test whether cross-linguistic differences in processing Mandarin lexical tone are a function of …

Differences In Behavioral Responses To Stress In Zebrafish: Exploring Underlying Neural Mechanisms, Jacalyn B. Russ

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Two alternative “stress coping styles” are documented across a wide range of taxa: proactive and reactive. While behavior differences can be observed between coping styles, brain regions potentially mediating these differences have not been studied extensively. Understanding differences in how the brain processes information between the coping styles can lead to insights on how these responses might be controlled. To assess the neural mechanisms underlying alternative stress coping styles, I utilized Danio rerio (zebrafish) and the Novel Tank Diving Test (NTDT). I hypothesize (i) that proactive fish will spend less time in the lower portion of the NTDT and spend …

Comparing Consistency Of Stress And Anxiety-Related Behaviors Across Time In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Matthew R. Baker, Alex Goodman

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Animals are frequently faced with stressors in their environment that they must overcome to survive and reproduce. Across vertebrates, two distinct stress coping styles or ‘personalities’ have been observed known as proactive (bold) and reactive (shy). Animal personalities may be advantageous by limiting individual variation and balancing different trade-offs in unpredictable environments. When identifying animal personalities, behavioral phenotypes must be consistent and repeatable across contexts and time. Here we use selectively bred lines of shy and bold zebrafish, previously shown to have consistent divergent fear- and anxiety-related behaviors across contexts, to test the repeatability and consistency of these behaviors across …

Genetic Variants Contributing To Frontotemporal Dementia With Parkinsonism, Elizabeth C. Oduwo

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism (FTDP) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by disturbances in cognition, language, and personality, which also has features of parkinsonism. This disease is associated with multiple genes including two located close together on chromosome 17: MAPT and GRN. Human and medical genetics can be used to identify the genes that contribute to the risk of this disease.

Earlier work in the Chase lab had identified a large Mennonite kindred (MEN-1) where parkinsonism and dementia were found in five members of a nuclear family. These symptoms parallel those seen in FTDP and all of the affected members share …

Movement Variability And Sensorimotor Cortical Activation During Forward And Backward Walking, Boman Groff

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Previous research has used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to show that motor areas of the cortex are activated more while walking backward compared to walking forward. It is also known that head movement creates motion artifacts in fNIRS data. The aim of this study was to expand on previous findings by examining cortical activation during forward and backward walking, while also measuring head movement. We hypothesized that greater activation in motor areas while walking backward would be concurrent with increased head movement.

Participants (N=8) performed forward and backward walking on a treadmill. Participants wore motion capture markers on their head …

Assessment Of Olfactory-Based Social Recognition: Designing A Paradigm For Marmosets, Stephanie Womack

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Navigation of the social world depends largely on one’s responsiveness to social stimuli and information from a wide range of senses can be used to discriminate between individuals. Mammals use several sensory modes to communicate and respond to their surroundings, but olfaction is the dominant sense across most species. Chemosignals provide a wealth of information including sex, age, reproductive status, and individual identity. Currently, assessment of olfaction is largely limited to the habituation-dishabituation paradigm or the two-choice discrimination task used primarily in rodents. These paradigms are limited by their reliance on inherent reward of interaction with stimuli without providing additional …

The Effect Of Observing Aggressive Interactions On The Personality Traits Of Danio Rerio, Jessica L. Bargstadt

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Social animals are easily influenced by other members of their species. Individuals will adjust their behaviors and actions both when observing another conspecific and when interacting with one. The effect that these social experiences can have on an individual vary in both magnitude and permanence, depending on the type of experience. We seek to examine the lasting effect that observing an aggressive interaction can have on the personality type of an individual.

Personality traits of Danio rerio will be examined in a novel environment setting in which the subject’s movements are recorded to determine their reactivity or proactivity in response …

Higher-Order Power Harmonics Of Pulsed Electrical Stimulation Modulates Corticospinal Contribution Of Peripheral Nerve Stimulation, Chiun-Fan Chen, Marom Bikson, Li-Wei Chou, Chunlei Shan, Niranjan Khadka, Wen-Shiang Chen, Felipe Fregni

Engineering Science Faculty Publications

It is well established that electrical-stimulation frequency is crucial to determining the scale of induced neuromodulation, particularly when attempting to modulate corticospinal excitability. However, the modulatory effects of stimulation frequency are not only determined by its absolute value but also by other parameters such as power at harmonics. The stimulus pulse shape further influences parameters such as excitation threshold and fiber selectivity. The explicit role of the power in these harmonics in determining the outcome of stimulation has not previously been analyzed. In this study, we adopted an animal model of peripheral electrical stimulation that includes an amplitude-adapted pulse train …

Higher-Order Power Harmonics Of Pulsed Electrical Stimulation Modulates Corticospinal Contribution Of Peripheral Nerve Stimulation, Chiun-Fan Chen, Marom Bikson, Li-Wei Chou, Chunlei Shan, Niranjan Khadka, Wen-Shiang Chen, Felipe Fregni

Publications and Research

It is well established that electrical-stimulation frequency is crucial to determining the scale of induced neuromodulation, particularly when attempting to modulate corticospinal excitability. However, the modulatory effects of stimulation frequency are not only determined by its absolute value but also by other parameters such as power at harmonics. The stimulus pulse shape further influences parameters such as excitation threshold and fiber selectivity. The explicit role of the power in these harmonics in determining the outcome of stimulation has not previously been analyzed. In this study, we adopted an animal model of peripheral electrical stimulation that includes an amplitude-adapted pulse train …

Spatial And Temporal High Processing Of Visual And Auditory Stimuli In Cervical Dystonia, Gaetana Chillemi, Alessandro Calamuneri, Francesca Morgante, Carmen Terranova, Vincenzo Rizzo, Paolo Girlanda, Maria Felice Ghilardi, Angelo Quartarone

Publications and Research

Objective: Investigation of spatial and temporal cognitive processing in idiopathic cervical dystonia (CD) by means of specific tasks based on perception in time and space domains of visual and auditory stimuli.

Background: Previous psychophysiological studies have investigated temporal and spatial characteristics of neural processing of sensory stimuli (mainly somatosensorial and visual), whereas the definition of such processing at higher cognitive level has not been sufficiently addressed. The impairment of time and space processing is likely driven by basal ganglia dysfunction. However, other cortical and subcortical areas, including cerebellum, may also be involved.

Methods: We tested 21 subjects with CD and …

Cytomegalovirus Serostatus, Inflammation, And Antibody Response To Influenza Vaccination In Older Adults: The Moderating Effect Of Beta Blockade, Rebecca G. Reed, Richard N. Greenberg, Suzanne C. Segerstrom

Psychology Faculty Publications

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been implicated as a factor in immunosenescence, including poor antibody response to vaccination and higher immune activation and inflammation. Some people may be more or less vulnerable to the negative effects of CMV. The present investigation tested the effects of beta-blocker use and chronological age on the associations between CMV and immunity in adults aged 60–91 (N=98; 69% CMV seropositive) who were administered the trivalent influenza vaccine for up to 5 years. Peak antibody response, corrected for baseline, and spring (persistent) antibody response, corrected for peak, were assessed, as well as beta-2 microglobulin (β2μ) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). …

Neuroimaging Biomarkers Of Caloric Restriction On Brain Metabolic And Vascular Functions, Ai-Ling Lin, Ishita Parikh, Jared D. Hoffman, David Ma

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

Purpose of Review

Non-invasive neuroimaging methods have been developed as powerful tools for identifying in vivo brain functions for studies in humans and animals. Here, we review the imaging biomarkers that are being used to determine the changes within brain metabolic and vascular functions induced by caloric restriction (CR) and their potential usefulness for future studies with dietary interventions in humans.

Recent Findings

CR causes an early shift in brain metabolism of glucose to ketone bodies and enhances ATP production, neuronal activity, and cerebral blood flow (CBF). With age, CR preserves mitochondrial activity, neurotransmission, CBF, and spatial memory. CR also …

Development Of Ad Like Symptoms Following Co-Administration Of Alcl3 And D-Gal In Rats: A Neurochemical, Biochemical And Behavioural Study, Laraib Liaquat, Saara Muddasir, Sadia Adir, Zehra Batool, Saima Khaliq, Saiqa Tabassum, Shaista Emad, Syeda Madiha, Sidrah Shahzad, Saida Haider

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder associated with neurochemical and neurobehavioural alterations. Aluminium (Al) is considered as a contributing factor in the etiology of several neurodegenerative disorders like AD. D-galactose (D-gal) is a physiological nutrient but over supply induces some neurochemical and biochemical changes that exacerbate natural aging process. In this study, we aimed to develop AD animal model by co-administration of Al and D-gal in rats. Male albino Wistar rats were intraperitoneally injected with AlCl₃ and D-gal at a dose of 150mg/kg and 300mg/kg respectively for one week. After one week rats were subjected to behavioural …

Neurotensin Nts1 And Nts2 Receptor Agonists Produce Anxiolytic-Like Effects In The 22-Khz Ultrasonic Vocalization Model In Rats, Floyd F. Steele Iii, Shannon C. Whitehouse, Jacob S. Aday, Adam J. Prus

Journal Articles

Neurotensin is a neuropeptide neurotransmitter that interacts with multiple neurotransmitter systems, including those regulating amygdalar function, via NTS₁ and NTS₂ receptors. Both receptors are expressed in the amygdala and agonists for NTS₁ or NTS₂ receptors have exhibited anxiolytic effects in animal models. Systemic adminstration of NTS₁ receptor agonist PD149163 was recently shown to reduce footshock conditioned 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats, suggesting that PD149163 produced an anxiolytic effect. The effects that neurotensin may have or a selective NTS₂receptor agonist may have on 22-kHz vocalizations has yet to be examined. The current study evaluated …

Effect Of Unloading On Myofiber Profiles In Male And Female Rats, Hailey Ramsey

Science Research Symposium

Many injuries and surgeries result in necessary muscle unloading to aid in recovery. It is known that muscle unloading can lead to muscle atrophy¹. A previous study conducted in this lab found that females suffer greater decline in strength than males, as a result of unloading¹. Another experiment confirmed that females are more susceptible to adaptations due to unloading and suggested that this is caused by the neural drive from the central nervous system². This study aims to explain what causes the gender-related discrepancy in strength after unloading by looking at the effect of …

Notes On Human Trials Of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Between 1960 And 1998, Zeinab Esmaeilpour, Pedro Schestatsky, Marom Bikson, André R. Brunoni, Ada Pellegrinelli, Fernanda X. Piovesan, Mariana M. S. A. Santos, Renata B. Menezes, Felipe Fregni

Publications and Research

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is investigated to modulate neuronal function including cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychiatric therapies. While cases of human stimulation with rudimentary batteries date back more than 200 years, clinical trials with current controlled stimulation were published intermittently since the 1960s. The modern era of tDCS only started after 1998.

Objectives: To review methods and outcomes of tDCS studies from old literature (between 1960 and 1998) with intention of providing new insight for ongoing tDCS trials and development of tDCS protocols especially for the purpose of treatment.

Methods: Articles were identified through a search …

Effectiveness Of A Novel Qigong Meditative Movement Practice For Impaired Health In Flight Attendants Exposed To Second-Hand Cigarette Smoke, Peter Payne, Steven Fiering, James C. Leiter, David T. Zava, Mardi A. Crane-Godreau

Dartmouth Scholarship

This single-arm non-randomized pilot study explores an in ervention to improve the health of flight attendants (FA) exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke prior to the smoking ban on commercial airlines. This group exhibits an unusual pattern of long-term pulmonary dysfunction. We report on Phase I of a two-phase clinical trial; the second Phase will be a randomized controlled trial testing digital delivery of the intervention. Subjects were recruited in the Northeastern US; testing and intervention were administered in 4 major cities. The intervention involved 12h of training in Meditative Movement practices. Based on recent research on the effects of nicotine …

Communicating Through A Brain-Computer Interface: Towards The Assessment Of Quality Of Life In Minimally Conscious And Covertly Aware Vegetative State Patients, Jasmine Tung

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Neuroimaging has been utilized to establish communication, using a brain-computer interface, with select patients with severe brain injuries and profound communication impairments. Due to the severe injuries sustained by these patients, traditional techniques used to develop quality of life instruments cannot be used. The Aware Study used a novel approach to establish the key dimensions for assessing the quality of life of patients who can only communicate using this sophisticated technology. Consensus methodology was employed, with the assistance of a multidisciplinary panel of experts, to collectively decide which dimensions are essential for the inclusion in a quality of life instrument …

Calcium's Role As Nuanced Modulator Of Cellular Physiology In The Brain, Hilaree N. Frazier, Shaniya Maimaiti, Katie L. Anderson, Lawrence D. Brewer, John C. Gant, Nada M. Porter, Olivier Thibault

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Neuroscientists studying normal brain aging, spinal cord injury, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases have focused considerable effort on carefully characterizing intracellular perturbations in calcium dynamics or levels. At the cellular level, calcium is known for controlling life and death and orchestrating most events in between. For many years, intracellular calcium has been recognized as an essential ion associated with nearly all cellular functions from cell growth to degeneration. Often the emphasis is on the negative impact of calcium dysregulation and the typical worse-case-scenario leading inevitably to cell death. However, even high amplitude calcium transients, when executed acutely can …