Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

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.

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?

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 …

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 …

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

Adhd Medication Is More Potent And Effective During Ovulation, Laurenf@Byu.Edu 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.

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

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.

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.

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 …

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.

Response Time Scores On A Reflexive Attention Task Predict A Child's Inattention Score From A Parent Report, Erica Suh, Katherine Christensen, Sarah Kamhout, Kahala Thompson, Yoojin Kim, Cooper Hodges

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

● Children with attention deficits have problems with sustained and reflexive attention tasks

● Few studies measure reflexive attention as a component of day-to-day attention in children

● Parents also have valuable insight into children’s behavior

● We want to identify associations between computer-based reflexive attention task performance and parent-rated attention-related problems.

Identifying Novel Cognitive Therapy Targets: Expression Of Nachr Mrna In Rat Hippocampal Interneurons, Spencer Thompson, Maxwell Wright, Taylor Grant, Brady Vance, Nicholas Ahern, Jeffrey Ogden, Romaine Drecketts, David Pugh, Zach Fisher, Sara Werner, Jaron Fowlers, Bradley Klienstuber, Richard Burgon, Ashley Sego, Doris Jackson, Sterling N. Sudweeks

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

We quantified mRNA subunit expression in the CA1 rat hippocampus. The a3 and B2 nAChR subunits are the highest expressed mRNA subunits while the a4 is the least. Current nAChR targeted cognitive therapies focus on the a4B2 and a7 nAChRs. These results provide a new avenue in cognitive therapies by targeting a3 containing nAChRs.

Fixation-Related Fmri And Syntactic Networks In The Brain, Brent Foster, Ben Carter, Steven Luke

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Humans comprehend language at varying levels of complexity. Syntax, in particular, deals with the arrangement of words and phrases into meaningful sentences. For instance, in English we expect most sentences to follow some variation of the order "Subject-Verb-Object: such as "The boy (Subject) ate (Verb) cake (Object)." On the surface, such grammatical rules seem simple. However, our understanding of how the brain implements these rules to understand sentences is incomplete.

Syntax appears to be associated with Broca's area in the frontal lobe and various regions of the left temporal lobe. However, recent research has provided controversial data suggesting that the …

Neural Changes Associated With Rewards And Punishment Following Ego Depletion Or Boredom, Travis Z. Johnson, Michael Larson, Marina Milyavskaya, Michael Inzlicht

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Our brain power is exhaustible. We are constantly trying to find ways to perform at our highest levels. There has been research that has shown that willpower--the capacity to exert self-control--is a limited resource that is depleted after exertion of the brain. Many studies have shown the negative effect that depletion has on daily decisions. Depletion can influence our day-to-day choices and actions in a variety of important ways. The neural mechanisms for ego-depletion are relatively unknown so our purpose is to measure the effects of ego-depletion, and then test ways that it can be decreased or reversed, thus finding …

Treatment Of Diabetic Neuropathy With Nitric Oxide Gel, Daniel R. Lathen, David Walton, Yukino Strong, Jeff Ward, Conner Sugrue, Jonathan Trout, Devin Vanderwood, Alonzo Cook Ph.D.

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Our study investigates a novel therapy to address a vascular factor that contributes to the development of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) using five experimental groups of a mouse model that spontaneously develops diabetes. The compound under investigation is a nitric oxide (NO)-donating topical gel which has potential as a treatment for preventing and treating DPN.

Pams: A Growing Field In Pharmacological Drug Development, Marcel Hall, J. Kolb, B. Todd Jr., D. Pugh, B. Vance, B. Klienstuber, R. Drecketts, Doris Jackson, H. R. Arias, S. N. Sudweeks

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Positive Allosteric Modulators (PAMs) are a growing field in pharmacology. PAM-5 and genisteincause acetylcholine (ACh) to elicit larger currents on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) without activating the channel themselves. In effect, PAMs increase the amplitude of currents at a synapse without altering the normal firing rate of the neurons.

Novel Pharmacological Target: Characterization Of A3b2 Nachrs Expressed In Xenopus Laevis Oocytes, Doris Jackson, Marcel Hall, J. Kolb, B. Todd Jr., D. Pugh, B. Vance, B. Klienstuber, R. Drecketts, S. N. Sudweeks

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

We have identified two subtypes of the novel a3b2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) found within interneurons of the hippocampus. This novel receptor may be a valuable pharmacological target in drug development for disease such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) which is largely characterized by degeneration of the hippocampus.

12-Month-Olds’ Discrimination Of Monkey Faces: Evidence For Perceptual Narrowing?, Jacob C. Jones, Scott Stevens, Melissa Wright, Amanda Phillippi

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

It is well known from birth that faces are salient, preferred over other stimuli, and are readily discriminated. It has also been shown that over the course of development infants’ proclivity for face discrimination is influenced by their social environment. Pascalis, deHann, andNelson (2002), for example, demonstrate that 6-month-olds are able to discriminate various monkey faces as well as human faces whereas 9-month-olds can only discriminate different human faces. Importantly, however, if 6-month-olds receive 1-2 minutes per day of familiarization with photographs of monkey faces three months later the now 9-month-olds can still discriminate unfamiliar and familiar monkey faces. Like …

Decreasing Temperature Below Tt Or Increasing Cholesterol Enhance Vesibcle-Bilayer Membrane Fusion, David E. Lee, Reed A. Doxey, Kevin J. Tuttle, Dixon J. Woodbury

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Lipid composition plays an important role in fusion of vesicles to membranes, an essential process for exocytosis. Lipid head group, tail structure, and sterol content all impact the complex phase behavior of membranes. To determine the effect of lipids on fusion, we utilized the nystatin/ergesterol (nys/erg) fusion assay and stimulated fusion with a salt (osmotic) gradient. With this assay, vesicles containing nys and erg fuse with a planar membrane producing characteristic spike increases in membrane conductance.Using PE/PC (7:3) membranes, we varied cholesterol from 0-40 mol% and observed significant increases in fusion rates. In one series of experiments, membranes were formed …