Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Glial-Specific Genes Are Strongly Associated With Alzheimer's Disease By Gene-Based Polygenic Risk Score Analysis, Jennifer Zheng, Faria Tavacoli, Tyrell Pratt, Alice Lee, Tingwei Liu, Jingchun Chen

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Methods: Gene-based PRSs were constructed in AD cases and controls within each gene of the glial cells, according to the GWAS summary statistics of European ancestry. In detail, gene-based PRSs were first calculated for each glial cell type-specific gene for AD cases and controls in the discovery dataset (ADc1234ADA) using PRSet software. A meta-analysis with a fixed model was performed when the signal in both datasets was in the same direction. Bonferroni corrections for multiple testing (at α = .05) were used to determine significance within each of the three glial groups. Forest plots were used to visualize the results …

Evaluating Human Plasma Biomakers For Alzheimer's Disease; Phosphorylated-Tau 217, Phosphorylated-Tau 181, And Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein, Mason Jonah, Mayarae N. Mugosa, Bella Hou, Emma-Nikole Krilchev, Zhengshi Yang, Dietmar Cordes, Aaron Ritter, Jefferson W. Kinney

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is primarily identifiable by amyloid-beta (Aβ) neuronal plaques, neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) that form as aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau (ptau) proteins clump together, and the presence of neuroinflammation; all of which are otherwise known as the hallmarks of AD pathology. Recent emerging research has discovered striking similarities between AD and diabetes mellitus pathology, illustrating how insulin deficiency and insulin resistance–both of which result in the chronic hyperglycemic state seen in the diabetic–are involved in an increase in the phosphorylation of tau. This leads to and intensifies the formation of intracellular NFTs serving …

Exploring Modality Differences In Recognition Memory: Repetition Effects On Recollection And Familiarity, Ivanesa Velikova, Kevin Mohawk, Colleen Parks

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Research has shown that memory for visual objects tends to be superior compared to memory for auditory objects. The present study aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of why recognition memory tends to be better for visual information. Recognition memory relies on two processes, recollection and familiarity. Recollection involves retrieving contextual details of a memory while familiarity is simply a feeling that something has been encountered before. We investigated recollection and familiarity in the two modalities by having participants lean a list of auditory objects (e.g., dog barking) and visual objects (e.g., picture of a lion) under full attention (FA) …

The Effect Of Encoding Strategies On Recognition Memory, Camila Schettini, Cole Kaneshiro, Kevin Mohawk, Colleen Parks

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Successful memory decisions require distinguishing between true and false memories. VariouS strategies can be used to avoid false memories such as the Recall-To-Reject (R-R) strategy and the Distinctiveness Heuristic (DH). R-R involves rejecting false information by recalling correct information (I know this person is not Bob, because Bob has brown hair); while DH involves the rejection of false information due to failure to recollect expected information (I know I never met this person because I would remember if I had). The purpose of this study is to examine how these strategies affect recognition memory. In the present study participants were …

Comparing Forgetting Rates Between Item And Relational Memories, Lex De Asis, Rhiannon N. Soriano Smith, Colleen M. Parks

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Forgetting is an everyday occurrence where an idea that could be recalled successfully is no longer able to be retrieved (Tulving, 1974). Multiple theories suggest how forgetting occurs, such as the decay theory, which suggests that memories are gradually forgotten over time, and the interference theory, in which forgetting occurs because of competing information. Additionally, there are two newer theories which both predict that item representations should be forgotten because of interference and mnemonic discrimination should be forgotten due to decay: the memory system-dependent forgetting hypothesis (Hardt, Nader, & Nadel, 2013), and the representation theory of forgetting (Sadeh et al., …

Examining Emotion And Ease Of Recall For Life Story Memories In Young Adults, Roxanna E. Chavez, Erin L. Murphy, David E. Copeland

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Life stories are narratives that use autobiographical memories to shape personal identity. This study investigated how emotional valence and ease of recall may change over time. Participants were asked to recall ten life story memories in two interviews held three weeks apart. Participants provided ratings of emotional valence and ease of recall for each memory. A significant difference was found in emotional valence between Session 1 (M = 3.159, SD = .772) and Session 2 (M = 2.905, SD = .788), t(68) = 2.734, p < .01, with Session 1 memories rated as significantly more negative (M = 1.812, SD = 1.427) than those in Session 2 (M = 1.275, SD = 1.316), t(68) = 3.232, p < .01. Furthermore, negative memories were more frequent in the last five Session 1 memories (M = 0.986, SD = 0.866) than in all of Session 2 memories (First Five: M = 0.652, SD = .783; Last Five: M = 0.623, SD = .892), F(3, 204) = 3.663, p < .05. For ease of recall, the first five memories in both sessions (Session 1: M = 5.684, SD = 0.806; Session 2: M = 5.612, SD = 0.963) were significantly easier to recall than the last five in both sessions (Session 1: M = .214, SD = 1.128; Session 2: M = 5.136, SD = 1.080), F(2.498, 169.864) = 7.369, p < .001. Overall, these findings suggest participants recalled more accessible memories first, with negative memories being harder to retrieve as sessions progressed.

Investigating The Impact Of Psychological Interventions On Autoimmune Disease Progression In Women, Nicole Datastanyan

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Autoimmune disease arises when an individual's immune system mistakenly attacks and damages the body’s tissues. Autoimmune disease disproportionately affects women, with eighty percent of diagnosed patients being female. This research proposal aims to explore the relationship between psychological factors (e.g., stress, anxiety, depression) and the progression of autoimmune diseases. This poster will propose a detailed study to assess whether reducing psychological distress through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can slow disease progression. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of talk therapy to relieve symptoms of mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, stress, or grief. Two hundred female patients diagnosed with …

Pathway-Based Polygenic Risk Score Analysis Of Brain Glial Indicates Cell-Type-Specific Roles In Alzheimer's Disease, Tyrell Pratt, Alice Lee, Jennifer Zheng, Faria Tavacoli, Hayley Ho, Tingwei Liu, Jingchun Chen

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive cognitive decline and extensive brain pathology, including amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and neuroinflammation. This study aims to identify any glial cell type-specific pathways associated with AD.

Methods: We first investigated the correlation between AD and the genetic risk of glia-specific pathways using pathway-based polygenic risk score (PRS) with PRSet software in the discovery data (ADc1234ADA) adjusted by the top two principal components (PC1, PC2) (Model 1), followed by additional adjustment with sex, age, and APOE ε4 count in Model 2. Further PRSet analyses were replicated in independent data …

Inter-Rater Reliablility Of Sharp Wave Ripple Detection In Recently Trained Experts, Orlando Montiel, Gage Pompa, Yader Gomez, Talha Soluoko

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Sharp wave ripples (SWR) are a brain phenomenon that originate in the hippocampus, a region crucial for memory and learning. These events occur during periods of rest or slow-wave sleep and are characterized by fast oscillatory bursts (150-250Hz) and are thought to be important for the brain to consolidate memory. SWR are believed to facilitate the transfer of information from the hippocampus to the cortex, strengthening synaptic connections & enabling long-term memory storage. Accurate detection & assessment of SWRs is essential for advancing how the brain processes and stores information.

This study examines the accuracy/consistency of SWR image selection and …

Association Between Polygenic Scores For Brain Structure And Alzheimer's Disease, Eunjae Lee, Faria Tavacoli, Tingwei Liu, Brittany Diaz Ruiz, Hayley Ho, Alice Lee, Jingchun Chen

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition and the most common type of dementia. Research has shown that volumetric changes in subcortical brain structures, which make up roughly 25% of the brain's total volume and affect many physiological functions. This research project aims to investigate the genetic association between brain structures and AD. GWAS data of eight different brain structures (ICV, accumbens, amygdala, caudate, hippocampus, pallidum, putamen, and thalamus) were used to create polygenic scores (PGSs) in a discovery (cases/controls = 2,651/2,768) and replication dataset (cases/controls = 553/644). We utilized PRSice-2 software to generate PGSs and assess genetic correlations …

Dehydration And Traumatic Brain Injury: A Pilot Study Of A Translational Rodent Model Of Conditions In Professional Combat Sports, Alexander S. Martinie, Corey Peacock, Chris Algeri, Bill Kochen

Journal for Sports Neuroscience

Traumatic brain injuries are a widespread public health issue, with athletes being at an increased risk of traumatic brain injury, especially in contact sports. Dehydration and rehydration prior to use of a weight drop served as a model for conditions experienced by professional boxers in a rodent model of traumatic brain injury. Following dehydration, rehydration, and traumatic brain injury procedures, subjects’ symptoms were assessed using the novel object recognition task, sucrose preference test, open field maze, and elevated zero maze. There were significant effects of both dehydration and TBI on time to righting, and there was a significant interaction between …

An Investigation Of Frequency-Domain Pruning Algorithms For Accelerating Human Activity Recognition Tasks Based On Sensor Data, Jian Su, Haijian Shao, Xing Deng, Yingtao Jiang

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

The rapidly advancing Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have brought about a paradigm shift in various computer vision tasks, while also garnering increasing interest and application in sensor-based Human Activity Recognition (HAR) efforts. However, the significant computational demands and memory requirements hinder the practical deployment of deep networks in resource-constrained systems. This paper introduces a novel network pruning method based on the energy spectral density of data in the frequency domain, which reduces the model’s depth and accelerates activity inference. Unlike traditional pruning methods that focus on the spatial domain and the importance of filters, this method converts sensor data, such …

Therapeutic Potential Of Astrocyte-Derived Extracellular Vesicles In Mitigating Cytotoxicity And Transcriptome Changes In Human Brain Endothelial Cells, Ruth Juliana Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a major role in cell-to-cell communication via the horizontal transfer of RNA, DNA, proteins, and lipids that affect the physiological response of the recipient cells. Astrocytes are a type of glial cell that exerts a protective effect on neurons and brain endothelial cells. The astrocytes and the endothelial cells form the blood-brain barrier. Due to their nano-size and non-complex structure, EVs can efficiently cross the blood-brain barrier. This study investigated and assessed the impact of EVs on reducing oxidative DNA damage in human brain endothelial cells (HBECs). The protective potential of astrocyte-derived EVs was determined by …

The Effect Of Exercise Type On Working Memory, Ariana Gonzalez, William R. Kochen

Journal for Sports Neuroscience

Martial arts encompass a wide range of sports and techniques that have been practiced for self-defense and combat for thousands of years. It has expanded to include various styles such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Taekwondo, judo, and karate. It has also been practiced as a form of exercise and entertainment. Martial arts have been associated to discipline, integrity, improved stamina, and increased mental and problem-solving capabilities. Unlike other exercise methods, most martial arts require focus, skill, and technique, which have been hypothesized to improve memory. The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a significant improvement in the …

Use Of Electrical Bone Growth Stimulators In High-Risk Patients Following Spinal Fusion, Soumya Malhotra, Khavir Sharieff

HCA-NSU MD Research Day

Title: Use of Electrical Bone Growth Stimulators in High-Risk Patients Following Spinal Fusion Authors: Soumya Malhotra, BA., MS1 & Khavir Sharieff, DO, MBA2 1Class of 2027, Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Lauderdale, FL 2Assistant Professor of Surgery, Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, Tampa Bay, FLNova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine Objective: This study aimed to elucidate the advantages of EBGSs following high-risk spinal fusions. Background: Pseudarthrosis is a condition where bones fail to fuse after an injury or surgery. It causes significant …

To Be Conscious Or Not To Be, Bjørn Grinde

Animal Sentience

Carolyn Ristau has done a fine job summarizing the work and life of the zoologist Donald Griffin. Most scientists now accept the existence of animal sentience, but identifying which species possess consciousness remains controversial. Griffin defined consciousness as "the subjective state of feeling or thinking about objects and events.” Nonconscious processes are faster and more energy-efficient, however, and often drive behavior. Consciousness probably evolved for complex decision-making, shaped by evolutionary continuity, with feelings as a common currency for evaluating outcomes. Its survival advantage may be limited, and its presence across species varies depending on evolutionary trajectories.

Proceedings From The Fifth Annual For Society For Sports Neuroscience Conference, Neurosports Editorial Staff

Journal for Sports Neuroscience

Proceedings from the Fifth Annual for Society for Sports Neuroscience Conference

Examination Of The Effects Of Various Pharmacotherapies For Diabetes On Nicotine Intake And Pain Sensitivity, Sebastian Ortegon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Tobacco use and diabetes are major public health concerns. Prior work has suggested that persons with diabetes may exhibit greater susceptibility to nicotine dependence, and treatments for nicotine cessation are less effective. From existing literature, it is also unclear if neuropathic pain contributes to nicotine use in persons with diabetes. To address these issues, this Masterâ??s thesis first assessed the efficacy of diabetes pharmacotherapies on nicotine intake, food consumption, and water intake in rodent models of insulin resistance (Aim 1). Subsequent studies assessed the impact of analgesic medications on nicotine intake and neuropathic pain in rodent models that produce neuropathic …

Structural Molecular And Developmental Evidence For Cell-Type Diversity In Cnidarian Mechanosensory Neurons, Julia Baranyk, Kristen Malir, Miguel A.P. Silva, Sakura Rieck, Gracie Scheve, Nagayasu Nakanishi

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Deploying a conserved mechanosensory neuron known as the concentric hair cell, cnidarians have evolved diverse mechanoreceptors from hydroid filiform tentacles to jellyfish statocysts. However, it is unknown whether cnidarian mechanoreceptor evolution has relied solely on repurposing a single ancestral mechanosensory neuron type. Here we report evidence for cell-type diversity of mechanosensory neurons in sea-anemone cnidarian Nematostella vectensis. Uncovered in the ectoderm of feeding tentacles are conventional type I hair cells and previously unrecognized type II hair cells differing in the structure of apical sensory apparatus and synapses. Moreover, we identify TRP channel-encoding gene polycystin-1 as a type-II-hair-cell-specific essential mediator of …

Structural Projections To The Nucleus Accumbens Link To Impulsive Components Of Human Risk Preference, Loreen Tisdall, Kelly H. Macniven, Josiah Leong, Renato Frey, Jörg Rieskamp, Ralph Hertwig, Brian Knutson, Rui Mata

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Functional responses in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc) to risk- and reward-related cues can predict real-life risk-taking behavior. Since NAcc activity depends on neurotransmission from connected brain regions, projections to the NAcc may also predict risk preference. To quantify risk preference, we employed latent variables previously derived in a comprehensive, independent study examining the psychometric structure of risk preference, which yielded a general risk preference factor as well as several specific factors, including a factor capturing impulsivity. Informed by previous work, we preregistered a set of hypotheses concerning the association between different risk preference factors and fractional anisotropy (or FA, which …

Effects Of Retinal Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone On Reproductive Behavior And Retinal Activity In The Cichlid Fish, Astatotilapia Burtoni, Chase Anselmo

LSU Master's Theses

Many animals use visual signals to evade predators, forage for food, and communicate with conspecifics. Some animals that shift into and out of breeding stages, such as fish, can modulate their visual sensitivity to better adapt to changing internal and external conditions. Previous work in our lab demonstrated that females of the cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni have improved visual sensitivity when they enter reproductive readiness. However, little is known about how fish and vertebrates more broadly modulate visual sensitivity across their reproductive cycle. We hypothesized that the hormone and neuromodulator gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) could modulate visual sensitivity because GnRH is …

Core Concepts: Views From Physiology And Neuroscience, Jennifer E. Schaefer, Joel Michael

Biology Faculty Publications

Core concepts are “big ideas” that are central to a discipline, provide frameworks of understanding for disciplinary content, and aid student transfer of learning. Core concept lists have been developed for increasing numbers of higher education STEM disciplines. This mini-review uses physiology and neuroscience core concepts as examples to inform core concept pedagogies in these and other disciplines. The article reviews the development of physiology and neuroscience core concepts and compares the resulting concept lists. It then provides suggestions or “lessons learned” for educators and researchers who wish to utilize core concept pedagogies or who wish to develop core concepts …

Neural Correlates Of Socially Rewarding Memories In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Kyle P. Blidy

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Significance. Memory disturbances for emotional content are central to PTSD, yet most research focuses on trauma memories. Recent evidence suggests that enhancing access to positive memories could improve mood, affect regulation, self-esteem, and integration of trauma memories. However, the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying positive memory encoding in PTSD are poorly understood. No study has examined memory for positive social items in PTSD, which is important because PTSD entails social withdrawal and reduced accessibility to positive memory. Additionally, positive memories embedded in a social context have enhanced subjective value and strengthening their accessibility may confer greater benefits to wellbeing compared to non-social …

Electric Potential Energy Optimized 3d Radial Sampling Trajectories For Mri, Christopher Huynh, Datta Singh Goolaub, Christopher K Macgowan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

A novel method for creating “golden” 3D center-out radial MRI sampling trajectories was developed and analyzed. This method, called ELECTRO (ELECTRic potential energy Optimized), uses repulsive forces to minimize electric potential energy. An objective function , the electric potential energies of all subsets of consecutive readouts in a 3D radial trajectory, and its reduced form were minimized using a multi-stage optimization strategy. A metric called normalized mean nearest neighbor angular distance (NMNA) was proposed for describing distributions of points on a sphere. ELECTRO and other relevant golden trajectories were compared in silico using NMNA and point spread function analysis. Consecutive …

Memory Modulation: Dominance Of Negative Visual Context Over Neutral Verbal Memory, Stas Kozak, Noa Herz, Maya Tocker, Yair Bar-Haim, Nitzan Censor

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

Neutral memories can be modulated via intentional memory control paradigms such as directed forgetting. In addition, previous studies have shown that neutral visual memories can be modulated indirectly, via remember and forget instructions towards competing verbal memories. Here we show that direct modulation of neutral verbal memory strength is impaired by negative visual context, and that negative visual context is resistant to indirect memory modulation. Participants were directly instructed to intentionally remember or forget newly encoded neutral verbal information. Importantly, this verbal information was interleaved with embedded negative visual context. Results showed that negative visual context eliminated the well-documented effect …

Arid1a-Baf Coordinates Zic2 Genomic Occupancy For Epithelial-To-Mesenchymal Transition In Cranial Neural Crest Specification, Samantha M. Barnada, Aida Giner De Gracia, Cruz Morenilla-Palao, Maria Teresa López-Cascales, Chiara Scopa, Francis J. Waltrich, Harald M.M. Mikkers, Maria Elena Cicardi, Jonathan Karlin, Davide Trotti, Kevin A. Peterson, Samantha A. Brugmann, Gijs W.E. Santen, Steven B. Mcmahon, Eloísa Herrera, Marco Trizzino

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

The BAF chromatin remodeler regulates lineage commitment including cranial neural crest cell (CNCC) specification. Variants in BAF subunits cause Coffin-Siris syndrome (CSS), a congenital disorder characterized by coarse craniofacial features and intellectual disability. Approximately 50% of individuals with CSS harbor variants in one of the mutually exclusive BAF subunits, ARID1A/ARID1B. While Arid1a deletion in mouse neural crest causes severe craniofacial phenotypes, little is known about the role of ARID1A in CNCC specification. Using CSS-patient-derived ARID1A induced pluripotent stem cells to model CNCC specification, we discovered that ARID1A-haploinsufficiency impairs epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process necessary for CNCC delamination and migration from …

Characterization Of Stealth Liposome-Based Nanoparticles Encapsulating Acat1/Soat1 Inhibitor F26: Potential Therapeutics For Niemann-Pick Type C And Other Neurodegenerative Diseases., Junghoon Lee

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Cholesterol dysregulation is implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease (HD) and Niemann-Pick type C disease (NPCD). This study focused on evaluating the potent ACAT1 inhibitor, F26, as a therapeutic strategy for NPCD. F26 demonstrated superior ACAT1 inhibition and efficacy compared to the previously studied inhibitor, F12511, both in vitro and in vivo. Notably, F26 exhibited enhanced pharmacokinetic properties, including prolonged duration of action and better brain retention, making it a more promising candidate for treating neurodegenerative diseases.

F26 was encapsulated in a liposome-based nanoparticle system, DSPE-PEG2000 with phosphatidylcholine (PC), for enhancing its …

Parallel Electrophysiological Abnormalities Due To Covid-19 Infection And To Alzheimer’S Disease And Related Dementia, Yang Jiang, Jennifer Neal, Pradoldej Sompol, Görsev Yener, Xianghong Arakaki, Christopher M. Norris, Francesca R. Farina, Agustin Ibanez, Susanna Lopez, Abdulhakim Al-Ezzi, Voyko Kavcic, Bahar Güntekin, Claudio Babiloni, Mihály Hajós

Neurology Faculty Publications

Many coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive individuals exhibit abnormal electroencephalographic (EEG) activity reflecting “brain fog” and mild cognitive impairments even months after the acute phase of infection. Resting-state EEG abnormalities include EEG slowing (reduced alpha rhythm; increased slow waves) and epileptiform activity. An expert panel conducted a systematic review to present compelling evidence that cognitive deficits due to COVID-19 and to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) are driven by overlapping pathologies and neurophysiological abnormalities. EEG abnormalities seen in COVID-19 patients resemble those observed in early stages of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly ADRD. It is proposed that similar EEG abnormalities in …

The Left Ventricle Under Stress: Exploring The Impact Of Gestational Stress On Postpartum Cardiovascular Health, Archana Ramesh

Senior Theses

A woman’s cardiovascular system undergoes several changes to equip it for the physiological demands of pregnancy. The left ventricle (LV) is most susceptible to changes such as increased cardiac output and workload because it is the primary chamber in the heart that pumps oxygenated blood to the entire body. Some mothers may be unable to cope with the physiological demands, and ventricular hypertrophy, along with other cardiac remodeling that takes place during pregnancy, may bring light to underlying cardiovascular disease (CVD). The peripartum period often comes with heightened stress, disproportionately for certain populations, and this stress has been linked with …

Behavioral And Neural Evidence For Perceptual Inference Of Position, Sharif Saleki

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Extensive neuroscientific research has advanced our knowledge of the mechanisms involved in the detection and recognition of visual stimuli. However, to guide flexible behavior in a changing world, the brain must also construct stable and coherent perceptual representations from retinal images that are often ambiguous. To resolve ambiguities and uncertainties, the visual system combines its input with other sources of information such as context and prior knowledge to infer the most likely interpretation of a scene. Thus, perception is inherently an inferential process that goes beyond simple detection or recognition of stimuli. Although inference has been studied in many areas …