Life Sciences Commons^™

The Structure Of Consciousness, Lowell Keith Friesen

Open Access Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine the nature and structure of consciousness. Conscious experience is often said to be phenomenally unified, and subjects of consciousness are often self-conscious. I ask whether these features necessarily accompany conscious experience. Is it necessarily the case, for instance, that all of a conscious subject's experiences at a time are phenomenally unified? And is it necessarily the case that subjects of consciousness are self-conscious whenever they are conscious? I argue that the answer to the former is affirmative and the latter negative.

In the first chapter, I set the stage by distinguishing phenomenal unity from other …

Novel Progestin Signaling Molecules In The Brain: Distribution, Regulation And Molecular Mechanism Of Action, Karlie A. Intlekofer

Open Access Dissertations

Progesterone regulates female reproduction in many ways, yet it is still unclear how signals are conveyed through nuclear and extranuclear receptors. The traditional notion was that progesterone binds classical progesterone receptors to alter gene transcription. This view has been challenged by the discovery of additional progesterone signaling molecules important for progesterone actions in non-neural cells. In granulosa cells, the progesterone receptor membrane component 1 (Pgrmc1) mediates progesterone effects by forming a receptor complex with binding partner, Serpine mRNA binding protein 1, but it is unknown whether these molecules function similarly in the brain. To begin to address these issues, I …

Examining The Development Of Handedness In Rhesus Monkey And Human Infants Using Behavioral And Kinematic Measures, Eliza Lynn Nelson

Open Access Dissertations

Handedness is a widely studied behavioral asymmetry that is commonly measured as a preference for using one hand over the other. Right hand preference in humans occurs at a ratio of 9:1, whereas left hand preference in rhesus monkeys has been estimated at 2:1. Despite differences in the direction and degree of hand preference, this dissertation investigated whether primates share common underlying factors for the development of handedness. Previous work in human infants has identified a predictive relationship between rightward supine head orientation and later right hand preference. Experiment 1 examined the relationship between neonatal head orientation and later hand …

Investigations Into The Potential For 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine To Induce Neurotoxic Terminal Damage To Serotonergic Neurons, Dominik Biezonski

Open Access Dissertations

High doses of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; "Ecstasy") are known to reduce levels of various serotonergic markers outside of the raphe nuclei. To test the hypothesis that these deficits reflect a degeneration of distal axons/terminals, we investigated the effects of an MDMA binge (10mg/kg x 4) on the relative protein and genetic expression of several serotonergic markers in rats, as well as the effects of this compound on the quantity of serotonergic terminals in these animals. In experiment I, we examined whether MDMA alters serotonin transporter (SERT) levels as determined by lysate binding and immunoblotting analyses. Both methods of analysis revealed MDMA-induced …

Early Rearing Experience, Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (Hpa) Activity, And Serotonin Transporter Genotype: Influences On The Development Of Anxiety In Infant Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca Mulatta), Amanda Dettmer

Open Access Dissertations

A gene x environment interaction exists in the expression of anxiety for both human and nonhuman primates, such that individuals who are carriers of the (s) allele of the serotonin transporter genotype ( 5-HTT LPR) and exposed to early life stress are more at risk for exhibiting anxiety. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has also been implicated in anxiety disorders but the relationship between early life/genotype, HPA activity, and anxiety is not well understood. Further, studies linking the HPA axis to anxiety have relied on "point" samples (blood and salivary cortisol) which reflect moments in time rather than long-term activity. The …

Visuospatial Reasoning In Toddlers: A Correlational Study Of Door Task Performance, Iris Louella Price

Open Access Dissertations

Previous research using violation-of-expectation paradigms suggests that very young infants have a good understanding of unobserved physical events. Yet toddlers appear to lack this knowledge when confronted with the door task, a visuospatial reasoning task which parallels ones used in the habituation/looking time studies. Many studies have been conducted in an effort to determine why toddlers perform poorly on the door task yet the answer remains unclear. The current study used a correlational approach to investigate door task performance from both psychological (executive function), and neuroscience (prefrontal cortex) perspectives. Children between the ages of 2 ½ - 3 years were …