Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

A Case For Mtor Pathway Screening In Early Epilepsy Diagnosis, David Seamons

Student Works

Mutations in the mTOR pathway can give rise to epileptic seizures in patients. While a variety of antiepileptic drugs are available to treat epilepsy, a large proportion of patients will experience refractory seizures (Chen et al., 2018). Additionally, patients with mTOR-related epilepsy may experience reduced efficacy in traditional therapeutic options to treat seizures (French et al., 2016; Hadzsiev et al., 2023; Kato et al., 2022; Moloney et al., 2023). Mutations resulting in mTOR-related epilepsy are genetically inherited; however, some variability in family histories of epilepsy may be due to second-hit somatic mutations in focal areas of the brain (Dawson et …

Stress, Resilience, And Suicidal Ideation In Autistic Young Adults, Cole Murphy, Jared Nielsen

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2025

Autistic young adults face a higher risk of suicide than their neurotypical peers due to the stress associated with potential difficulties with social interactions. It is known that stress may increase suicidal ideation, and that resilience may decrease it, but this study investigates the specific relationship between stress, resilience, and suicidal ideation in autistic young adults.

Methamphetamine And Ros Effects On Dopamine And Atp Release, Tyler Love, Jordan T. Yorgason, Taylor Rose, Hillary Wadsworth, Lydia Hawley, Lauren Ford, Sara Linderman, Nathan Sheets

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2025

The Nucleus Accumbens is a reward center of the brain that receives dopamine projections from the Ventral Tegmental Area

Methamphetamine (Meth) is a psychostimulant drug that decreases dopamine clearance and increases Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)

Meth is known to increase dopamine release in-vivo through ROS

Glucose Oxidase increases ROS

Gcsf Involvement In Ethanol Dopamine Adaptations, Zachary Valentine, Chase Seiter, Rachel Campbell, Camryn Holt, Jordan T. Yorgason

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2025

Objective: Investigate the role of Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) in ethanol-induced dopamine adaptations using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry.

Hypothesis: Prolonged alcohol exposure will weaken GCSF release, resulting in diminished effects on dopamine terminals.

Dopamine (DA) release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) plays a crucial role in learning stimuli associated with reward

Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) is a known neuromodulator for for DA release

Ethanol has been demonstrated to increase the firing rate of dopamine neurons in the (VTA)

The effects of ethanol on GCSF neuromodulation remains unknown

Investigating The Role Of The Liver-Brain Axis In Addiction, Camryn Holt, Isabella Roque, Shimran Sharma, Chris Galbraith, Jordan T. Yorgason

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2025

Ethanol (EtOH) increases dopamine (DA) release, leading to addictive behaviors.

Ex vivo, EtOH only alters DA release at supraphysiological levels.

The liver metabolizes EtOH, and metabolites can escape into systemic circulation and cross the blood-brain barrier.

We hypothesize that these metabolites may induce changes in the mesolimbic circuitry and thus contribute to the reinforcing effects of EtOH.

We examined the effects of bile acids (BAs) and other EtOH metabolites on accumbal DA release and CIN firing.

We also investigated downstream effects of EtOH metabolism, such as macrophage migration and TGR5-mediated release of glucagon- like peptide-1 (GLP-1).

Understanding Refractory Status Epilepticus With Novel Hd-Mea Technology, Isaac Stubbs, Ryley Parrish, Melissa Blotter, Max Holmes, Skyler Russell

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

3rd Place Oral Presentation

Status Epilepticus (SE) is a severe medical condition marked by continuous seizures lasting over 5 minutes. When SE becomes resistant to anticonvulsant drugs, the condition is known as Refractory Status Epilepticus (RSE), which lacks effective treatments and has a mortality rate of 38%. RSE lacks effective treatments partially due to our limited understanding of the mechanisms that lead to patient antiepileptic drug resistance.

Ivermectin Activates Striatal Cholinergic Interneurons To Enhance Dopamine Release, Tyler Love, Jordan Yorgason, Hillary Wadsworth, Alicia Warnecke, Joshua Barlow, Emma Steimle, Joakim Ronström, Pacen Williams, Christopher Galbraith, Jared Baldridge, Michael Jakowec, Daryl Davies

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

• The substantia nigra compacta releases dopamine into the dorsal striatum, a brain region associated with movement and motivation

• Cholinergic interneurons in the dorsal striatum can directly cause dopamine release

• IVM is a known positive allosteric modulator of P2X4 receptors as well as nicotinic

• acetylcholine receptors

• Ivermectin is known to affect many dopamine linked behaviors, but no studies have been conducted to determine if Ivermectin is able to modulate dopamine release

The Cold Hard Truth: Cryopreserved Tissue Is Superior To Ffpe Tissue In Molecular Analysis, Delaney Anderson, Jeffrey Okojie, Mackenzie Burr, Peyton Worley, Isaac Parker, Jack Davis, Bridger Kearns, Jared Barrott

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Personalized cancer care requires molecular characterization of neoplasms. While the research community accepts frozen tissues as the gold standard analyte for molecular assays, the source of tissue for all testing of tumor tissue in clinical cancer care comes almost universally from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPE). Specific to genomics assays, numerous studies have shown significant discordance in genetic information obtained from FFPE samples and cryopreserved or flash frozen samples. To explain the discordance between FFPE samples and cryopreserved samples, a head-to-head comparison between FFPE and cryopreserved tissues was performed to analyze the DNA yield, DNA purity and DNA quality in terms …

Adapting The Auxin-Inducible Degron (Aid) System To The Zebrafish Model Organism, Dennis Li

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

The Auxin Inducible Degron (AID) system is a conditional and reversible protein degradation system naturally occurring in plants. In the presence of the hormone Auxin, the AID tagged proteins are recruited into the plant’s E3 ubiquitin ligase machinery, ubiquitinated, and marked for degradation1. To adapt the AID system to the zebrafish model organism, our lab generated lines co-expressing Arabidopsis Thaliana plant TIR1 protein and GFP tagged with AID (GFP-AID) in superficially-located mechanosensory hair cells (HC) of the lateral line system and in spinal cord neurons found deeper in the body. Upon auxin application, GFP-AID expressed in the superficial HCs was …

Effects Of Methamphetamine On Microglia Through Reactive Oxygen Species, Chase Seiter, Jordan Yorgason, Nathan Sheets, James Blood, Lydia Hawley, Erin Taylor, Eliza White, Hillary Wadsworth, Jason Hansen

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

▪ Dopamine release in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) underlies motivational behavior for methamphetamine (METH) reward.

▪ ATP is a chemoattractant to microglia and is METH on ATP release and clearance are unknown.

▪ Furthermore, METH is known to produce reactive dopamine terminal function, microglia morphology and METH interactions are unknown.

Zmp-Induced Activation Of Ampk Enhances Accumbal Dopamine Function, Isabella Roque, Jordan Yorgason, Rachel Campbell, Serin Baker, Jared Mcfarlane, Oliver Saunders, David Thomson

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Oral Presentation Honorable Mention

• Dopamine terminal function is associated with motivation

• Fasting activates AMPK, a cellular sensor that measures intracellular AMP relative to ATP

• AMPK activation is a target of interest for age related cognitive decline, prevention of muscle wasting, etc.

• ZMP is an endogenous nucleotide AMP mimetic that activates AMPK

• The present study examined the novel precursor ZMP compound called P39 using an ex vivo mouse model

Effects Of Predation On Cognition In Brachyrhaphis Rhabdophora, Elizabeth F. Jenkins, Jerry B. Johnson

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

RESEARCH QUESTION

Does “predation environment” affect the cognitive abilities of the tropical fish Brachyrhaphis rhabdophora?

Determining If Optic Tecti Of Larval Zebrafish Receive Input From Deep Brain Photoreceptors, Emalie A. Christensen, Allison G. Pickens, Colby Odom, Griffin Sauer, Sarah Y. Jarrett, Maurice Hunt, Annalie Martin, Arminda Suli

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Deep brain photoreceptors (DBPs) are light-responsive sensory cells present in mammals and non-mammalian vertebrates. In non-mammalian vertebrates, studies have shown DBP involvement in various time and light dependent behaviors including circadian rhythm, phototaxis, and seasonal reproduction. In adult telosts, DBPs are present throughout the brain, including the optic tectum (OT), a midbrain structure that receives and integrates input from multiple sensory modalities. In this study, we aimed to determine if DBPs are part of or send input to the OT of larval zebrafish. Single-cell RNA sequencing of the larval zebrafish OT showed the presence of several opsins. We focused on …

Adhd Medication Is More Potent And Effective During Ovulation, [email protected] Ford

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

• Women escalate psychostimulant abuse more quickly than men. Women who are prescribed psychostimulants for ADHD report fluctuations in drug efficacy that correspond to their menstrual cycle.

• In rodents, females acquire psychostimulant addiction more readily and release more dopamine (DA) in the dorsal striatum, an effect mediated by estrogen.

• However, the impact of the estrous cycle in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a core region for learning and addiction in the ventral striatum, is underexplored.

• Here, we examine cocaine, methylphenidate (Ritalin), and methamphetamine (Desoxyn) effects on DA transmission in male and naturally-cycling female mice.

Examining Limbic Sexual Dimorphisms In Schizophrenia, Kennedy S. Madrid

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects a significant number of individuals in the United States and can have numerous different symptoms. Recently, interest in the differences between the neuroanatomy of individuals with schizophrenia and individuals without schizophrenia has emerged, specifically the sexual dimorphism in individuals with schizophrenia. This study aimed to gain a better understanding of the sexual dimorphisms of two structures in the limbic system: the hippocampus and amygdala. Data was harmonized and analyzed from two datasets to determine the sexual dimorphic factor of these structures in healthy controls and individuals with schizophrenia. Demographic features were also taken …

Mapping Auditory And Vestibular Response Neurons In The Optic Tectum Of Larval Zebrafish, Erika Marks, Arminda Suli

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Cellular mapping of the sensory receptive fields of brain structures is a critical step in understanding function and dysfunction in development. Deficits in the ability to receive, process and integrate the senses leads to difficulties recognizing and responding appropriately to stimuli. To understand how the senses are integrated, it is first necessary to map the neurons receptive to inputs from individual senses. The optic tectum of zebrafish is a structure known for its homology to the superior colliculus of mammals and is a center of multisensory integration – including visual, auditory, and somatosensory stimuli. However, the microcircuitry of this important …

Whole-Body Vibration Alleviates Symptoms Of Morphine Withdrawal, Gavin C. Jones, Christina A. Small, Dallin Z. Otteson, Scott C. Steffensen

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

Whole body vibration at 80 Hz has been shown to blunt neuropathological markers and behavioral symptoms of alcohol dependence Here, we evaluate its ability to ameliorate symptoms of morphine use and withdrawal.

New Treatment For Multiple Sclerosis Could Halt Disease Progression Without Weakening Immune System, Carter Helquist, Dario Mizrachi

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

• Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neurological and autoimmune disease in which immune cells cause demyelination of axons in nervous tissue.
• Current treatments for the disease are principally aimed at weakening the immune system to therefore weaken the autoimmune attack on the brain. This leaves patients prone to other sicknesses.
• We seek a treatment that prevents the immune cells from entering the central nervous system (CNS) thereby protecting its cells.
• We can prevent immune cells from entering the CNS by strengthening the blood brain barrier through targeting claudin 5 proteins in the tight junctions.
• This new treatment could mean increased …

Rising Recess Temperatures: Quantifying The Cooling Effect Of School Parks, Nicholas Kendall, Xuhui Lee

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

Many schools in the US are currently placed in urban heat islands. Children attending these schools are thought to be at greater risk to heat stress related health concerns. We used mobile heat sensors to see if there was a quantifiable difference between the playgrounds and parks within and between two schools with differing park sizes.

Effects Of Catharanthine On Dopamine Release In The Nucleus Accumbens And Ethanol Consumption, Emily Baldwin

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis discusses the history of catharanthine and related compounds, and their potential anti-addictive properties. Current research is exploring possible mechanisms of these properties. Past studies have found catharanthine has effects on neurons that project to the mesocorticolimbic system, an area implicated in addiction. We have seen that catharanthine decreases evoked dopamine (DA) release but increases basal DA release. This is the first study to investigate catharanthine’s effect on DA transmission in vivo. Using microdialysis, we determined the effect of catharanthine on DA in the nucleus accumbens of the striatum. This study determines the effect of different doses of …

Facing Fears When Fearing Faces: Binocular Rivalry Perceptual Alternation And Approach-Avoidance In College-Aged Women With Autistic Traits And A History Of Adverse Experiences, Sarah Kamhout

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Women with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASCs) may be more likely to experience symptoms of trauma exposure due to greater likelihood of facing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In order to gain a better understanding of the neural mechanisms involved with ASC and PTSD in women who experience difficulty with social interactions, I examined the ability of two vision tasks-- Binocular Rivalry Perceptual Alternation (BR) and Visual Approach/Avoidance by the Self Task (VAAST)-- to predict symptoms of both conditions as well as differentiate between them. I also examined differences in response to neutral or emotional (angry or fearful) faces under both paradigms. …

Preventing Alzheimer's: Effects Of Second Language Acquisition In Older Populations, Joshua Rhead

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Alzheimer’s disease continues to be a problem that medicine has few answers for. As a result, much research has been focused on finding a cure as well as interventions to help prevent the onset of the disease. One such intervention that has been proposed is to improve the brain’s efficiency and connectivity. A controversial method of achieving these results is through second language acquisition. Many provide evidence for or against the benefits of this intervention, but much remains unclear. Most of these studies focus on cognitive function and functional connectivity in language areas, but the default mode network, which is …

Comparative Efficacies Of Calmare Therapy And Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation In Randomized Peripheral Neuropathy Subjects With Resting State Fmri Monitoring, Ty A. Bodily, Logan Edvalson, Jordan B. Peacock, Zack M. Bradshaw, Carson Hart, Cameron Ernst, Samuel Biggs, David D. Busath

Faculty Publications

Clinical reports of Calmare protocol efficacy suggest enhanced durability compared to TENS and the possibility changes in resting fMRI connectivity. The objective was to compare peripheral neuropathy pain relief and resting fMRI changes with Calmare and TENS treatments. Randomized double-blind trials performed in August 2015 and between August 2016 and November 2017, with 18 and 20 human peripheral neuropathy subjects, respectively. The initial trial examined effects of a single session while the latter trial examined the effects of a course of ten treatment sessions on consecutive weekdays. fMRI scans were examined for changes in blood flow correlations and connectivity. Subjective …

Barriers To Prenatal Care For Hispanic Immigrants In Utah County, Maren Monson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines four barriers that may inhibit Hispanic immigrant women from receiving care in Utah County, including language, insurance, documentation, and education. Six clinics in Utah County were contacted to determine how the services they provide account for these barriers. Nine Hispanic women were then interviewed about their experience with prenatal care in Utah County with respect to the four barriers. Interpretation services were offered by each clinic, though none of the women interviewed used professional interpretation—either their husbands translated, or they met with a Spanish-speaking doctor. Every clinic accepted insurance and Medicaid, while one clinic had a flexible …

An Event-Related Potential Study Of Inhibition To Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, Hanel Watkins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the United States, the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages per capita from 1977 to 2002 doubled across all age groups. One factor that may contribute to the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is inhibitory control, or the ability to withhold a dominant response in order to correctly respond to one’s environment. Studies suggest that increased recruitment of inhibitory control resources plays a role in decreasing the consumption of high-calorie foods and that strengthening an individual’s inhibitory control may help them manage their food intake. However, the neural response to sugar-sweetened beverages versus non-sweetened beverages is unknown. Thus, we tested event-related potential …

Sex Differences In Ethanol Modulation Of Dopamine Release In The Mesolimbic Reward System, Mandy Parsons

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to synthesize previous studies that have shown sex differences in response to drugs of abuse, specifically cocaine and alcohol. These differences have been noted through the study of behavior, nitric oxide levels in the medial amygdala, and dopamine release within the mesolimbic system. Importantly, it has been consistently found that these differences seem to correlate with the changing hormonal environment produced by the estrus cycle in females. Furthermore, this thesis examines new research on how the estrus cycle modulates dopamine release within the reward circuit through the utilization of fast scan cyclic voltammetry and microdialysis techniques. A …

Mechanoreceptor Activation In The Treatment Of Drug-Use Disorders: Mechanism And Outcome, Kyle Bills

Theses and Dissertations

The therapeutic benefits attributed to activation of peripheral mechanoreceptors are poorly understood. There is growing evidence that mechanical stimulation modulates substrates in the supraspinal central nervous system (CNS) that are outside the canonical somatosensory circuits. This work demonstrates that activation of peripheral mechnoreceptors via mechanical stimulation (MStim) is sufficient to increase dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), alter neuron firing rate in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and increase membrane translocation of delta opioid receptors (DORs) in the NAc. Further, we demonstrate that these effects are dependent on DORs and acetylcholine receptors. Additionally, MStim can block neuronal markers of …

A Quantitative Motor Assessment Linked To Underlying Damage In Traumatic Brain Injury, Paula K. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of disability in the United States (Coronado et al., 2011). There is a recognized need for better motor assessments to help mitigate these disabilities. Advances in markerless motion capture and in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provide an opportunity to improve clinical assessments, and link them to damage measured in MRI scans. The primary aims of this research were to 1) develop a quantitative motor assessment (QMA), and seed a normative database to enable comparison of impaired behavior to unimpaired, 2) test the sensitivity of the QMA, and 3) link QMA results to …

"Where Was I?": Linguistic Reprocessing In Distracted Reading, Katrina Hillam

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the impact of repeated auditory and task-oriented distractors on linguistic processing. Impact was measured through eye tracking software recording first fixation duration, gaze duration, and total time spent on distractor words. This study found consistent significant difference only in the total time category, suggesting that the processing stage most impacted by distraction is global context—our awareness of how a word fits in to the paragraph at large. Participants were skilled at regaining reading speed after distraction, showing no overall impairment for other processing levels. This phenomenon could be dangerous for student comprehension, as reading speed will be …

Self-Regulation, Threat Perception, And Inhibitory Control: An Fmri Investigation Of Children With Adhd, Erin Kaseda

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the role of perceived parental support on adolescents aged 12-19 who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Specifically, the study focused on inhibitory control, one form of cognitive executive control often implicated in ADHD, in three ways: first, through the use of a Go/No-Go task during a functional MRI scan of the brain; second, through the use of a neuropsychological cognitive battery using the NIH Toolbox; and third, through a qualitative interview that examined self-control in school and home contexts. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, parental support was found to be negatively correlated with inhibitory control …