Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Open Neuroscience Initiative, Austin Lim

College of Science and Health Full Text Publications

The Open Neuroscience Initiative is a free-to-use textbook

This project began as a means to overcoming the financial burden that face undergraduate neuroscience students when buying textbooks. By compiling and writing a completely free-to-access textbook that covers the foundations of a typical college introduction to neuroscience course, students would have one less obstacle to overcome in their educational career, allowing them to focus their valuable time and attention on learning rather than finances. To make this project a reality, I began with a humble tweet in May 2019 that managed to gain a tiny bit of traction among the neuroscience …

Mice Exposed To Combined Chronic Low-Dose Irradiation And Modeled Microgravity Develop Long-Term Neurological Sequelae, Amber M. Paul, Eliah G. Overbey, William A. Da Silveira, Candice G.T. Tahimic, Sigrid S. Reinsch, Nathaniel Szewczyk, Seta Stanbouly, Charles Wang, Jonathan M. Galazka, Xiao Wen Mao

Publications

Spaceflight poses many challenges for humans. Ground-based analogs typically focus on single parameters of spaceflight and their associated acute effects. This study assesses the long-term transcriptional effects following single and combination spaceflight analog conditions using the mouse model: simulated microgravity via hindlimb unloading (HLU) and/or low-dose γ-ray irradiation (LDR) for 21 days, followed by 4 months of readaptation. Changes in gene expression and epigenetic modifications in brain samples during readaptation were analyzed by whole transcriptome shotgun sequencing (RNA-seq) and reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS). The results showed minimal gene expression and cytosine methylation alterations at 4 months readaptation within single …

Distinct Patterns Of Default Mode And Executive Control Network Circuitry Contribute To Present And Future Executive Function In Older Adults, Christopher A. Brown, Frederick A. Schmitt, Charles D. Smith, Brian T. Gold

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

Executive function (EF) performance in older adults has been linked with functional and structural profiles within the executive control network (ECN) and default mode network (DMN), white matter hyperintensities (WMH) burden and levels of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Here, we simultaneously explored the unique contributions of these factors to baseline and longitudinal EF performance in older adults. Thirty-two cognitively normal (CN) older adults underwent neuropsychological testing at baseline and annually for three years. Neuroimaging and AD pathology measures were collected at baseline. Separate linear regression models were used to determine which of these variables predicted composite EF scores at baseline …

Bilateral Carotid Artery Stenosis Causes Unexpected Early Changes In Brain Extracellular Matrix And Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity In Mice, Jill M. Roberts, Michael E. Maniskas, Gregory J. Bix

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

Bilateral carotid artery stenosis (BCAS) is one experimental model of vascular dementia thought to preferentially impact brain white matter. Indeed, few studies report hippocampal and cortical pathology prior to 30 days post-stenosis; though it is unclear whether those studies examined regions outside the white matter. Since changes in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability precede more overt brain pathology in various diseases, we hypothesized that changes within the BBB and/or BBB-associated extracellular matrix (ECM) could occur earlier after BCAS in the hippocampus, cortex and striatum and be a precursor of longer term pathology. Here, C57Bl/6 mice underwent BCAS or sham surgeries …

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy-Integration Of Canonical Traumatic Brain Injury Secondary Injury Mechanisms With Tau Pathology, Jacqueline R. Kulbe, Edward D. Hall

Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center Faculty Publications

In recent years, a new neurodegenerative tauopathy labeled Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), has been identified that is believed to be primarily a sequela of repeated mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), often referred to as concussion, that occurs in athletes participating in contact sports (e.g. boxing, football, football, rugby, soccer, ice hockey) or in military combatants, especially after blast-induced injuries. Since the identification of CTE, and its neuropathological finding of deposits of hyperphosphorylated tau protein, mechanistic attention has been on lumping the disorder together with various other non-traumatic neurodegenerative tauopathies. Indeed, brains from suspected CTE cases that have come to autopsy …

Targeting Mitochondrial Dysfunction In Cns Injury Using Methylene Blue; Still A Magic Bullet?, Hemendra J. Vekaria, Lora Talley Watts, Ai-Ling Lin, Patrick G. Sullivan

Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center Faculty Publications

Complex, multi-factorial secondary injury cascades are initiated following traumatic brain injury, which makes this a difficult disease to treat. The secondary injury cascades following the primary mechanical tissue damage, are likely where effective therapeutic interventions may be targeted. One promising therapeutic target following brain injury are mitochondria. Mitochondria are complex organelles found within the cell, which act as powerhouses within all cells by supplying ATP. These organelles are also necessary for calcium cycling, redox signaling and play a major role in the initiation of cell death pathways. When mitochondria become dysfunctional, there is a tendency for the cell to loose …

Characterizing Tissue Fate After Transient Cerebral Ischemia Of Varying Duration Using Quantitative Diffusion And Perfusion Imaging, Juergen Bardutzky, Qiang Shen, Nils Henninger, Stefan Schwab, Timothy Duong, Marc Fisher

Nils Henninger

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of reperfusion on ischemic lesion evolution and pixel-by-pixel apparent diffusion coefficient-cerebral blood flow (ADC-CBF) dynamics of core and mismatch tissues after 35, 60, and 95 minutes of transient focal ischemia in rats (n=28). METHODS: Serial diffusion-, perfusion-, and T2-weighted imaging were performed up to 24 hours. The evolution of the magnetic resonance image-derived lesion volume was investigated and ADC-CBF scatterplots were performed to prospectively characterize the ADC and CBF dynamics of core and mismatch tissues with different fates. For comparison, similar analysis was performed on a historical …

Ischemic Lesion Volume Determination On Diffusion Weighted Images Vs. Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Maps, Bernt Bratane, Birgül Bastan, Marc Fisher, James Bouley, Nils Henninger

Nils Henninger

Though diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is frequently used for identifying the ischemic lesion in focal cerebral ischemia, the understanding of spatiotemporal evolution patterns observed with different analysis methods remains imprecise. DWI and calculated apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were serially obtained in rat stroke models (MCAO): permanent, 90 min, and 180 min temporary MCAO. Lesion volumes were analyzed in a blinded and randomized manner by 2 investigators using (i) a previously validated ADC threshold, (ii) visual determination of hypointense regions on ADC maps, and (iii) visual determination of hyperintense regions on DWI. Lesion volumes were correlated with 24 hour 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazoliumchloride …