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Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University of Massachusetts Amherst

2016

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Neuroscience and Neurobiology

The Neural Correlates Of Emotion Reactivity And Regulation In Young Children With Adhd, Claudia I. Lugo-Candelas Nov 2016

The Neural Correlates Of Emotion Reactivity And Regulation In Young Children With Adhd, Claudia I. Lugo-Candelas

Doctoral Dissertations

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most frequently occurring pediatric neurobehavioral disorder. Although emotion reactivity and regulation are frequently impaired in ADHD, few studies have examined these factors in preschool aged children with ADHD, and none have explored the neural correlates of emotion reactivity and regulation in this group though event-related potentials (ERPs). Children aged 4 to 7 with (n = 24) and without (n = 30) ADHD symptoms completed an attention task composed of four blocks: baseline, frustration, suppression, and recovery. In the frustration and suppression blocks, negative affect was induced by false negative feedback. During the …

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Effects Of Adolescent Alcohol Binge Drinking On Prefrontal Myelin, Wanette M. Vargas-Rodriguez Nov 2016

Effects Of Adolescent Alcohol Binge Drinking On Prefrontal Myelin, Wanette M. Vargas-Rodriguez

Doctoral Dissertations

Alcohol binge drinking is highly prevalent in teenagers and is associated with various harmful health effects and social problems. During adolescence, brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are still undergoing active development, characterized by increases in white matter volume. While the morphological details and the cellular and molecular sequences governing adolescent white matter development are not fully known, it is known that this development process is sensitive and can be disrupted. Although consumption of alcohol in a binge drinking pattern has been linked to lower white matter integrity in humans, it is important to determine if alcohol is …

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Alterations To Maternal Behavior And Brain By Exogenous Estrogen Exposure, Mary Catanese Nov 2016

Alterations To Maternal Behavior And Brain By Exogenous Estrogen Exposure, Mary Catanese

Doctoral Dissertations

Maternal care is critical for the development and long-term success of offspring. Poor maternal care can have profound effects on offspring that can last into adult life. Despite our understanding of the role of endogenous estrogen in maternal behavior, the potential effects of exogenous estrogens (xenoestrogens) on maternal behavior and brain remain poorly understood. The active synthetic estrogen in contraceptive pills, 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2), is widely used as a positive control for estrogenicity in endocrinology and toxicology studies. Another xenoestrogen, bisphenol A (BPA) alters a broad range of physiological processes including neural development and reproduction. Due to public health concerns …

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The Cellular Context Of Estradiol Regulation In The Zebra Finch Auditory Forebrain, Maaya Ikeda Nov 2016

The Cellular Context Of Estradiol Regulation In The Zebra Finch Auditory Forebrain, Maaya Ikeda

Doctoral Dissertations

Estradiol, traditionally known as a hormone that communicates with distant cells in the body, is also synthesized locally in the brain to act as a neuromodulator. Neuromodulators differ from neurotransmitters in that they simultaneously affect a population of neurons and their actions are not limited to the synapse. One of the many effects of estradiol signaling is rapid modulation of auditory processing in response to external stimuli. The enzyme required for estradiol synthesis, aromatase, is highly expressed in the regions that are involved in higher-order processing of sounds in humans and songbirds. Since zebra finches, a type of songbird, are …

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Probiotics As A Treatment For Increased Nighttime Activity In Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta) Displaying Self-Injurious Behavior, Lauren L. Stanwicks Nov 2016

Probiotics As A Treatment For Increased Nighttime Activity In Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta) Displaying Self-Injurious Behavior, Lauren L. Stanwicks

Masters Theses

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is a behavioral pathology seen in a small percentage of humans and non-human primates. In one previous study, macaques with SIB had more sleep disruption than controls, but observations were limited. Two studies were conducted: a baseline study to investigate nighttime activity in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) displaying SIB and controls, and a probiotic study to assess probiotic Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 for high nighttime activity. Subjects were 13 rhesus macaques, 5 with SIB (3 females; 1 SIB). Videocapture of Nighttime Activity (VNRA) was developed to record in complete darkness. IR-receptive webcams were connected to a …

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Spider Brain Morphology & Behavior, Skye M. Long Jul 2016

Spider Brain Morphology & Behavior, Skye M. Long

Doctoral Dissertations

Spiders are ideal model animals for experimental and comparative studies of behavior, learning and perception. They display many complex behaviors, such as the multimodal mating dances of lycosid spiders, the stealthy hunting strategies of the jumping spider Portia sp., to the labile sociality of theridiids. Spiders also demonstrate a wide range of cognitive capabilities. Spiders perceive their environment using multiple sensory modalities including: chemosensory organs; lyriform and slit-sense organs and specialized hairs that detect vibration and air movement; and up to eight eyes that vary in function, some able to detect polarization and a broad spectrum of light, including …

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Evaluating A Novel Photochemical Tool For Labeling And Tracking Live, Endogenous Calcium-Permeable Ampars, Rosamund Elizabeth Combs-Bachmann Jul 2016

Evaluating A Novel Photochemical Tool For Labeling And Tracking Live, Endogenous Calcium-Permeable Ampars, Rosamund Elizabeth Combs-Bachmann

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research is to advance development of a photochemical tool designed to probe the role of ionotropic glutamate receptor signaling in neurodegenerative processes, and to delve more deeply into the biological processes underlying the role of these receptors in signaling and memory formation. This ligand-targeted nanoprobe was designed and developed in our lab to label endogenous calcium-permeable AMPARs (CP-AMPARs) in live cells with minimal disruption to native receptor activity. Nanoprobe is designed to use naphthyl acetyl spermine (NASPM) as a photocleavable ligand to target and covalently label native CP-AMPARs with a non-perturbing, fluorescent marker that then allows …

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Characterization Of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Cells In The Medial Prefrontal Cortex Of Rats, Yi-Ling Lu Mar 2016

Characterization Of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Cells In The Medial Prefrontal Cortex Of Rats, Yi-Ling Lu

Doctoral Dissertations

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is the major peptide involved in regulating the body’s autonomic, hormonal, and behavioral responses to stress. Cells that produce and release this peptide are widely distributed throughout the brain. This dissertation focuses on a specific population of CRF cells residing in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) that could potentially influence a number of higher order functions through modulation of local circuits. The prefrontal cortex is known to function sub-optimally in patients suffering from various stress-related psychiatric conditions including alcohol use disorder (AUD), and dysregulated CRF signaling may be an underlying mechanism. Surprisingly little is known about this …

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