Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Let Kids Sleep: The Role Of Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Outreach In Stimulating Brains And Developing Research-Informed Approaches To Community Concerns, Marc Chenard

University Honors Theses

Northwest Noggin (NW Noggin), an all-volunteer neuroscience education outreach non-profit, serves its community by bringing students, artists, scientists and other participants together for artistic collaboration and learning. The outreach takes place in K-12 schools and other institutions (such as museums, coffee shops and correctional facilities) all over the Pacific Northwest. Neuroscience education outreach generates discourse surrounding community concerns through illuminating the brain-centric qualities of issues and by drawing on neuroscience research to create solutions. The neuroscience research-informed perspectives on these concerns stimulate awareness, create momentum towards evidence-based reform, and can result in policy interventions. This thesis details how NW Noggin …

Where To Draw The Line: Evaluating Visuospatial And Attentional Processing In Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Alisha Steigerwald

University Honors Theses

Objective: We investigated visuospatial processing in individuals with autism using bisection and quadrisection tasks to evaluate the presence of a possible downward vertical spatial bias that could provide insights into the preference for attending to the mouth in ASD populations.

Methods: Twenty participants with ASD and 20 age, IQ, and sex-matched control participants were recruited (ages 6-23). Participants were asked to bisect, quadrisect from the top, and quadrisect from the bottom vertical lines placed in their left, center, and right visual spaces. Distance from the true midpoint and quadripoint were calculated and compared between the two groups.

Results: No significant …

The Effect Of Diazepam On Early Neural Stem Cells Proliferative Activity And Hippocampal-Dependent Memory After Traumatic Brain Injury, Van Khanh Doan

University Honors Theses

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) induces an upregulation of neurogenesis in the brain specifically in the hippocampus, an area pertaining to learning and memory formation. Although this upregulated response is intuitively thought to be restorative, previous studies show that the nascent neurons generated after TBI exhibit abnormalities, such as aberrant morphologies and early migrations, which could suggest to be maladaptive. The GABA-A agonist diazepam has been shown to inhibit this upregulation in neurogenesis and normalizes dendrites after TBI. To determine whether this modulation of neurogenesis is ultimately beneficial or detrimental to cognitive recovery, diazepam was administered to C57BI/6J wild-type mice following …

The Effects Of Neuron Degeneration And Methods Of Neurogenesis, Jesus I. Martinez

University Honors Theses

In the 1960’s, Joseph Altman discovered the creation of new neurons continues well into the adulthood of mammals. His work lay dormant for several decades possibly as a result of limitations in technology or the limited perceived usefulness at the time. In the 1990’s Altman’s discovery gained newfound interest and has stayed in researcher's interest ever since. A combination of improved imaging techniques, a continued shift in the public image of mental disorders, and a desire to aid those suffering from neurodegenerative disorders has led to many attempts to parse out the details of neurogenesis. After a number of studies …