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Full-Text Articles in Neuroscience and Neurobiology

Characterization Of Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 2 And Its Role In Parkinson's Disease Pathogenesis Using Drosophila, Antonio Joel Tito Jr., Sheng Zhang Dec 2016

Characterization Of Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 2 And Its Role In Parkinson's Disease Pathogenesis Using Drosophila, Antonio Joel Tito Jr., Sheng Zhang

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by the selective loss of the dopaminergic neurons in the Substantia nigra pars compacta region of the brain. PD is also the most common neurodegenerative disorder and the second most common movement disorder. PD patients exhibit the cardinal symptoms, including tremor of the extremities, rigidity, slowness of movement, and postural instability, after 70-80% of DA neurons degenerate. It is, therefore, imperative to elucidate the underlying mechanisms involved in the selective degeneration of DA neurons. Although increasing numbers of PD genes have been identified, why these largely widely expressed genes induce …


Cellular And Genetic Bases Of Cold Nociception And Nociceptive Sensitization In Drosophila Larvae, Heather N. Turner Dec 2016

Cellular And Genetic Bases Of Cold Nociception And Nociceptive Sensitization In Drosophila Larvae, Heather N. Turner

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Organisms from flies to mammals utilize thermoreceptors to detect and respond to noxious thermal stimuli. Although much is understood about noxious heat avoidance, our understanding of the basic biology of noxious cold perception is gravely minimal. Numerous clinical conditions disrupt the sensory machinery, such as in patients suffering from tissue damage (from wound or sunburn), or injury to the peripheral nerves, as in patients with diabetes or undergoing chemotherapy. Our goal is to determine the genetic basis for noxious cold perception and injury-induced nociceptive sensitization using the genetically tractable Drosophila model. Using a novel "cold probe" tool and assay we …


Extracellular Vesicle-Associated Aβ Mediates Trans-Neuronal Bioenergetic And Ca2+-Handling Deficits In Alzheimer's Disease Models, Erez Eitan, Emmette R. Hutchison, Krisztina Marosi, James Comotto, Maja Mustapic, Saket M. Nigam, Caitlin Suire, Chinmoyee Maharana, Gregory A. Jicha, Dong Liu, Vasiliki Machairaki, Kenneth W. Witwer, Dimitrios Kapogiannis, Mark P. Mattson Sep 2016

Extracellular Vesicle-Associated Aβ Mediates Trans-Neuronal Bioenergetic And Ca2+-Handling Deficits In Alzheimer's Disease Models, Erez Eitan, Emmette R. Hutchison, Krisztina Marosi, James Comotto, Maja Mustapic, Saket M. Nigam, Caitlin Suire, Chinmoyee Maharana, Gregory A. Jicha, Dong Liu, Vasiliki Machairaki, Kenneth W. Witwer, Dimitrios Kapogiannis, Mark P. Mattson

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder in which aggregation-prone neurotoxic amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) accumulates in the brain. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, are small 50–150 nm membrane vesicles that have recently been implicated in the prion-like spread of self-aggregating proteins. Here we report that EVs isolated from AD patient cerebrospinal fluid and plasma, from the plasma of two AD mouse models, and from the medium of neural cells expressing familial AD presenilin 1 mutations, destabilize neuronal Ca2+ homeostasis, impair mitochondrial function, and sensitize neurons to excitotoxicity. EVs contain a relatively low amount of Aβ but have an …


Memory And Punishment, O. Carter Snead Aug 2016

Memory And Punishment, O. Carter Snead

O. Carter Snead

This article is the first scholarly exploration of the implications of neurobiological memory modification for criminal law. Its point of entry is the fertile context of criminal punishment, in which memory plays a crucial role. Specifically, this article will argue that there is a deep relationship between memory and the foundational principles justifying how punishment should be distributed, including retributive justice, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, moral education, and restorative justice. For all such theoretical justifications, the questions of who and how much to punish are inextricably intertwined with how a crime is remembered - by the offender, by the sentencing authority, …


Symmetries Constrain Dynamics In A Family Of Balanced Neural Networks, Andrea Barreiro, J Nathan Kutz, Eli Shlizerman May 2016

Symmetries Constrain Dynamics In A Family Of Balanced Neural Networks, Andrea Barreiro, J Nathan Kutz, Eli Shlizerman

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.


Wilson-Cowan Coupled Dynamics In A Model Of The Cortico-Striato-Thalamo-Cortical Circuit, Anca R. Radulescu May 2016

Wilson-Cowan Coupled Dynamics In A Model Of The Cortico-Striato-Thalamo-Cortical Circuit, Anca R. Radulescu

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.


Chronic Consumption Of A Western Diet Induces Robust Glial Activation In Aging Mice And In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Leah C. Graham, Jeffrey M. Harder, Ileana Soto Reyes, Wilhelmine N. De Vries, Simon W. M. John, Gareth R. Howell Feb 2016

Chronic Consumption Of A Western Diet Induces Robust Glial Activation In Aging Mice And In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Leah C. Graham, Jeffrey M. Harder, Ileana Soto Reyes, Wilhelmine N. De Vries, Simon W. M. John, Gareth R. Howell

Faculty Scholarship for the College of Science & Mathematics

Studies have assessed individual components of a western diet, but no study has assessed the long-term, cumulative effects of a western diet on aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Therefore, we have formulated the first western-style diet that mimics the fat, carbohydrate, protein, vitamin and mineral levels of western diets. This diet was fed to aging C57BL/6J (B6) mice to identify phenotypes that may increase susceptibility to AD, and to APP/PS1 mice, a mouse model of AD, to determine the effects of the diet in AD. Astrocytosis and microglia/monocyte activation were dramatically increased in response to diet and was further increased …


Predicting The Knowledge–Recklessness Distinction In The Human Brain, Iris Vilares, Michael J. Wesley, Woo-Young Woo-Young Ahn, Richard J. Bonnie, Morris B. Hoffman, Owen D. Jones, Stephen J. Morse, Gideon Yaffe, Terry Lohrenz, Read Montague Jan 2016

Predicting The Knowledge–Recklessness Distinction In The Human Brain, Iris Vilares, Michael J. Wesley, Woo-Young Woo-Young Ahn, Richard J. Bonnie, Morris B. Hoffman, Owen D. Jones, Stephen J. Morse, Gideon Yaffe, Terry Lohrenz, Read Montague

All Faculty Scholarship

Criminal convictions require proof that a prohibited act was performed in a statutorily specified mental state. Different legal consequences, including greater punishments, are mandated for those who act in a state of knowledge, compared with a state of recklessness. Existing research, however, suggests people have trouble classifying defendants as knowing, rather than reckless, even when instructed on the relevant legal criteria.

We used a machine-learning technique on brain imaging data to predict, with high accuracy, which mental state our participants were in. This predictive ability depended on both the magnitude of the risks and the amount of information about those …


Consumer Neuroscience: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach To Marketing Leveraging Advances In Neuroscience, Psychology And Economics, Bridget E. Blum Jan 2016

Consumer Neuroscience: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach To Marketing Leveraging Advances In Neuroscience, Psychology And Economics, Bridget E. Blum

CMC Senior Theses

For decades, neuroscience has greatly contributed to our foundational understanding of human behavior. More recently, the findings and methods of neuroscience have been applied to study the process of decision-making in order to offer advanced insights into the neural mechanisms that influence economic and consumer choices. In this thesis, I will address how customized marketing strategies can be enriched through the integration of consumer neuroscience, an integrative field anchored in the biological, cognitive and affective mechanisms of consumer behavior. By recognizing and utilizing these multidisciplinary interdependencies, marketers can enhance their advertising and promotional mix to elicit desired neural and affective …


Scalar Short-Term Memory, Tyler D. Bancroft Jan 2016

Scalar Short-Term Memory, Tyler D. Bancroft

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The location of the brain’s working and short-term memory (WM/STM) “system” is unclear. The existence of a dedicated WM/STM system is itself under debate. Recently, it has been proposed that WM/STM storage relies not on a dedicated system in prefrontal cortex, but rather that it is an emergent function of interaction between attentional and representational systems (e.g., sensory cortex) in the brain. However, mnemonic representations of very simple stimuli have repeatedly been shown to exist in frontal cortex. In this manuscript, I use computational and behavioural methods to demonstrate similarities between the representations of different types of very simple stimuli …