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The Effects Of Notch Signaling On Functional Recovery Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Jyoti Lodha

Theses and Dissertations

2.5 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) annually in the United States. Although there is potential for functional recovery following TBI, there is no definitive treatment to improve recovery after TBI. Our lab has shown that TBI enhances an endogenous neurogenic response in the subventricular zone and hippocampus. TBI-induced neural stem cells (NSCs) can integrate into regions such as the hippocampus and olfactory bulb. Although the mechanism behind TBI-enhanced neurogenesis remains unknown, the Notch signaling pathway has been implicated as a regulator in the maintenance and survival of NSCs.

This thesis explores the effects of Notch pathway manipulation …

Axon Initial Segment Integrity In Aging And Traumatic Brain Injury, Mazen M. Gouda

Theses and Dissertations

According to the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) report to the Congress, there are 2.2 million emergency department visits; 80,000 hospitalizations; and 50,000 deaths each year due to traumatic brain injury. Adults 65 years and older account substantially for the majority of the hospitalization and deaths. Over 70% of the traumatic brain injuries of the older adults are classified as mild to moderate; however, even with these milder injuries, older adults present with a significantly higher morbidity and mortality compared to all other age groups (LeBlanc et al., 2006). With that in mind, it seems essential to develop a deeper …

Post-Tbi Hippocampal Neurogenesis In Different Tbi Models, Kaushal S. Patel

Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) leads to short-term and long-term consequences that can cause many different life-long disorders. Studies of TBI have generally focused on the acute stage; however, it is now becoming important to investigate chronic responses following TBI as clinical reports of dementia and cognitive impairments have been linked to a history of TBI. Recent data have established that cognitive function is associated with hippocampal neurogenesis. Chronic injury induced changes in the brain may affect this endogenous process. Chronic responses following TBI include cell death pathways and inflammatory responses that are persistent in the brain for months to years …

Effects Of Traumatic Brain Injury On Oxycodone Reinstatement And Physical Dependence, Neil B. Varshneya

Theses and Dissertations

Epidemiological data indicate that patients who experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI) have an elevated risk of developing a substance use disorder (SUD), but the underlying neurobiological connections remain unclear. To further understand the relationship between TBI and SUD, we investigated the effects of TBI on the abuse-related effects of oxycodone in preclinical models. Our evaluation utilized a lateral fluid percussion injury of moderate severity in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. In the first aim, we tested the hypothesis that moderate TBI increases the risk for relapse to an opioid use disorder as measured by reinstatement of lever-pressing behavior following extinction …

The Effect Of Minocycline Treatment On Cell Proliferation And Neurogenesis In The Hippocampus In Young And Aged Brains Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Ashley Harvin

Theses and Dissertations

Following traumatic brain injury, there is an enhanced cell proliferative and neurogenic response in the young adult hippocampus, which may be associated with innate cognitive recovery. However, in the aged brain, an increased level of inflammatory cell responses was observed following injury concomitant to decreased hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive recovery in the aging population. This suggests that excessive inflammation produced in the injured aging brain has a detrimental effect on neurogenesis and cognitive function. In this study, we examined the effect of anti-inflammatory treatment with minocycline on cell proliferation and generation of new neurons in the dentate gyrus (DG) of …

The Role Of Calcineurin In Dendritic Remodeling And Epileptogenesis In A Rat Model Of Traumatic Brain Injury, John Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), a leading cause of death and disability in the United States, causes potentially preventable damage in part through the dysregulation of neural calcium levels. This dysregulation likely affects the activity of the calcium-sensitive phosphatase, calcineurin, with serious implications for neural function. To test this possibility, the present study characterized the role of calcineurin in a rat model of brain trauma, the lateral fluid percussion injury model. Golgi-Cox histochemistry revealed an acute post-TBI loss and delayed overgrowth of dendritic spines on principal cortical cells. The spine loss appeared to require calcineurin activity, since administering a calcineurin inhibitor, …