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Full-Text Articles in Neuroscience and Neurobiology

Septal Modulation Of The Hippocampus, Siew Kian Tai Dec 2011

Septal Modulation Of The Hippocampus, Siew Kian Tai

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The medial septum (MS) is the main source of acetylcholine to the hippocampus, a structure involved in memory and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Learning and memory involve long-term changes in synaptic strengths, and are suggested to be facilitated by a brain wave, theta rhythm in the hippocampus. Since medial septal neurons influence hippocampal neural activity, lesion of two neuronal populations in the MS, cholinergic and GABAergic, was performed by intraseptal infusion of 192 IgG-saporin and orexin-saporin, respectively. I hypothesized that 1) activation of cholinergic cells by vestibular stimulation induces an atropine-sensitive theta rhythm, modulates synaptic transmission and enhances long-term potentiation (LTP), …


Effects Of Methamphetamine On Sexual Behavior, Karla S. Frohmader Oct 2011

Effects Of Methamphetamine On Sexual Behavior, Karla S. Frohmader

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Methamphetamine (Meth) is a highly addictive psychostimulant associated with enhanced sexual desire, arousal, and sexual pleasure. Moreover, Meth abuse is frequently linked with the practice of sexual risk behavior and increased prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Currently, the neurobiological basis for this drug-sex nexus is unknown. Moreover, there is a lack of studies investigating the effects of Meth on sexual behavior and more importantly, compulsive sex-seeking behavior, under controlled experimental settings in animal models. First, using immuhistochemistry for mating- and Meth-induced neural activation it was demonstrated that Meth administration in male rats activates neurons in brain regions of the …


Decoding Motor Intentions From Human Brain Activity, Jason P. Gallivan Aug 2011

Decoding Motor Intentions From Human Brain Activity, Jason P. Gallivan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

“You read my mind.” Although this simple everyday expression implies ‘knowledge or understanding’ of another’s thinking, true ‘mind-reading’ capabilities implicitly seem constrained to the domains of Hollywood and science-fiction. In the field of sensorimotor neuroscience, however, significant progress in this area has come from mapping characteristic changes in brain activity that occur prior to an action being initiated. For instance, invasive neural recordings in non-human primates have significantly increased our understanding of how highly cognitive and abstract processes like intentions and decisions are represented in the brain by showing that it is possible to decode or ‘predict’ upcoming sensorimotor …


Dissociable And Dynamic Components Of Cognitive Control: A Developmental Electrophysiological Investigation, Matthew Waxer Apr 2011

Dissociable And Dynamic Components Of Cognitive Control: A Developmental Electrophysiological Investigation, Matthew Waxer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

One standard task used to investigate the development of cognitive control is the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS). Performance and patterns of brain activity associated with the DCCS show continued age-related advances into early adolescence. According to many theoretical accounts, the DCCS places demands on a single underlying executive control process. Three experiments examined the possibility that the DCCS places demands on multiple control processes that follow distinct developmental trajectories. In Experiment 1, rule switching and conflict processing made orthogonal contributions to DCCS performance. Rule switching was associated with a cue-locked late frontal negativity (LFN) event-related potential (ERP) and conflict …