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Full-Text Articles in Neuroscience and Neurobiology

Sex Differences In Mood And Anxiety-Related Outcomes In Response To Adolescent Nicotine Exposure, Tsun Hay Jason Ng Aug 2023

Sex Differences In Mood And Anxiety-Related Outcomes In Response To Adolescent Nicotine Exposure, Tsun Hay Jason Ng

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Nicotine dependence is causally linked to increased risk of mood/anxiety disorders in later life. Females are reported to experience a higher prevalence of anxiety/depressive disorders and challenges in smoking cessation therapies, suggesting a potential sex-specific response to nicotine exposure and mood/anxiety disorder risk. However, pre-clinical evidence of sex-specific responses to adolescent nicotine exposure is unclear. Thus, to determine any sex differences in anxiety/depressive-related outcomes, adolescent male and female Sprague Dawley rats received nicotine (0.4 mg/kg; 3x daily) or saline injections for 10 consecutive days, followed by behavioural testing, in-vivo electrophysiology and Western Blot analyses. Our results revealed that adolescent nicotine …


Reduced Gabaergic Signaling At The Axon Initial Segment Decreases Vigilance State Transitioning, Austin John Boren Aug 2019

Reduced Gabaergic Signaling At The Axon Initial Segment Decreases Vigilance State Transitioning, Austin John Boren

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Sleep is a highly regulated homeostatic process that is disrupted in an estimated 50-70 million Americans. Regulation of sleep depends upon coordinated signaling of multiple neurotransmitter systems. In particular, inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) signaling is required to suppress wake-active brain regions in order to initiate and maintain sleep states. GABA type A receptors (GABAARs) are ionotropic receptors with subunit compositions uniquely enriched on subcellular domains of target cells. α2 subunit-containing GABAARs are the primary target of GABA released onto the axon initial segment (AIS), a site critical for phasing the oscillatory activity of cortical cells. α2-containing GABAARs have previously been …


Quantifying Expression Of Interneuron Subtype Markers For Dlx-2 Transfected Ng2 Cells, Timothy Nolan May 2019

Quantifying Expression Of Interneuron Subtype Markers For Dlx-2 Transfected Ng2 Cells, Timothy Nolan

Honors Scholar Theses

Neurons are a post-mitotic cell population, and therefore, they are not able to regenerate in vivo after a traumatic injury. Because inhibitory GABAergic interneurons and oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) are derived from the same precursor, recent studies have focused on transforming these OPCs into GABAergic neurons. However, there are different types of GABAergic interneurons that have different electrophysiological responses, which can lead to functional differences. The Nishiyama laboratory had already used a key gene in GABAergic interneuron and OPC differentiation, Distal-less homeobox 2 (Dlx-2), to transfect OPCs; early electrophysiology tests showed most of these transfected cells behaved like immature neurons, …


A Comparison Of The Effects Of Different Doses Of Gabab Receptor Ligands On Spatial Learning And Memory And Memory Flexibility, Chelcie Heaney May 2015

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Different Doses Of Gabab Receptor Ligands On Spatial Learning And Memory And Memory Flexibility, Chelcie Heaney

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The principal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, gamma amino-butyric acid (GABA), mediates several types of learning and memory. Of the two main receptor subtypes for GABA, the in vivo role of GABAB receptor in learning and memory is less well characterized and the current data often conflict. Based on the current literature, it is unclear, for instance, whether enhancing GABAergic activity via the GABAB receptor could be beneficial for or detrimental to learning and memory. Hippocampally-dependent learning and memory tasks are of particular interest due to their clinical relevance to patients with schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s disease, who exhibit impaired performance …


Hilar Mossy Cells Provide The First Glutamatergic Synapses To Adult-Born Dentate Granule Cells, Jessica H. Chancey, David J. Poulsen, Jacques I. Wadiche, Linda Overstreet-Wadiche Feb 2014

Hilar Mossy Cells Provide The First Glutamatergic Synapses To Adult-Born Dentate Granule Cells, Jessica H. Chancey, David J. Poulsen, Jacques I. Wadiche, Linda Overstreet-Wadiche

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Adult-generated granule cells (GCs) in the dentate gyrus must establish synapses with preexisting neurons to participate in network activity. To determine the source of early glutamatergic synapses on newborn GCs in adult mice, we examined synaptic currents at the developmental stage when NMDA receptor-mediated silent synapses are first established. We show that hilar mossy cells provide initial glutamatergic synapses as well as disynaptic GABAergic input to adult-generated dentate GCs.


Alternations Of Nmda And Gabab Receptor Function In Development: A Potential Animal Model Of Schizophrenia, Monica Bolton Aug 2013

Alternations Of Nmda And Gabab Receptor Function In Development: A Potential Animal Model Of Schizophrenia, Monica Bolton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental disorder that affects up to 3% of the world population. The behavioral symptoms are categorized into positive and negative symptoms, which appear during late adolescence/early adulthood. Unfortunately, the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of the disease are poorly understood. Several hypotheses exist to explain mechanisms contributing to these behavioral alterations. One model proposes that a reduced function of the NMDA glutamate receptor on specific GABAergic interneurons may be responsible for deficits in schizophrenia. Post-mortem investigations provide evidence of reductions in both glutamate and GABA-related proteins in patients with schizophrenia. Further, GABAergic interneurons that are activated …


Neurosteroids—Endogenous Regulators Of Seizure Susceptibility And Role In The Treatment Of Epilepsy, Doodipala S. Reddy, Michael A. Rogawski Dec 2011

Neurosteroids—Endogenous Regulators Of Seizure Susceptibility And Role In The Treatment Of Epilepsy, Doodipala S. Reddy, Michael A. Rogawski

Michael A. Rogawski

Certain steroid hormone metabolites that have activity as modulators of GABA-A receptors but lack conventional hormonal effects—including allopregnanolone and allotetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone—are synthesized within the brain, predominantly in principle (excitatory) neurons, and also in peripheral tissues. At low concentrations, such neurosteroids potentiate GABA-A receptor currents, whereas at higher concentrations they directly activate the receptor; large magnitude effects occur on nonsynaptic delta subunit-containing GABA-A receptors that mediate tonic currents. GABA-A receptor modulatory neurosteroids confer seizure protection in diverse animal models, without tolerance during chronic administration. Endogenous neurosteroids may play a role in catamenial epilepsy, stress-induced changes in seizure susceptibility, temporal lobe epilepsy, and …