Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Effects Of Methamphetamine On Microglia Through Reactive Oxygen Species, Chase Seiter, Jordan Yorgason, Nathan Sheets, James Blood, Lydia Hawley, Erin Taylor, Eliza White, Hillary Wadsworth, Jason Hansen

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

▪ Dopamine release in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) underlies motivational behavior for methamphetamine (METH) reward.

▪ ATP is a chemoattractant to microglia and is METH on ATP release and clearance are unknown.

▪ Furthermore, METH is known to produce reactive dopamine terminal function, microglia morphology and METH interactions are unknown.

A Causal Inference Approach For Spike Train Interactions, Zach Saccomano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since the 1960s, neuroscientists have worked on the problem of estimating synaptic properties, such as connectivity and strength, from simultaneously recorded spike trains. Recent years have seen renewed interest in the problem coinciding with rapid advances in experimental technologies, including an approximate exponential increase in the number of neurons that can be recorded in parallel and perturbation techniques such as optogenetics that can be used to calibrate and validate causal hypotheses about functional connectivity. This thesis presents a mathematical examination of synaptic inference from two perspectives: (1) using in vivo data and biophysical models, we ask in what cases the …

Neuropsychological Malingering Determination: The Illusion Of Scientific Lie Detection, Chunlin Leonhard, Christoph Leonhard

Georgia Law Review

Humans believe that other humans lie, especially when stakes are high. Stakes can be very high in a courtroom, from substantial amounts of monetary damages in civil litigation to liberty or life in criminal cases. One of the most frequently disputed issues in U.S. courts is whether litigants are malingering when they allege physical or mental conditions for which they are seeking damages or which would allow them to avoid criminal punishment. Understandably, creating a scientific method to detect lies is very appealing to all persons engaged in lie detection. Neuropsychologists claim that they can use neuropsychological assessment tests (Malingering …

Zebrafish Electroretinogram Responses, Brooke Campbell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this project is to be able to streamline a protocol for conducting ERGs on zebrafish from mice ERG protocol already present in Dr. Renna’s lab. The objective is to create a protocol specifically for zebrafish and to eliminate any issues that occur when transiting from a mice ERG protocol to a zebrafish ERG protocol and to obtain a light response from zebrafish retinae in differing light intensities. Dr. Renna’s lab has designed an Ex Vivo ERG system with less electrical interference creating defined electrical responses from mouse retina. The setup allows for continual perfusion of the retinal …

Palmitoylation As A Regulator Of Maguk Proteins Postsynaptic Localization, Rozena Shirvani-Arani, Santiago Balderas, Yonghong Zhang, Xioaqian Fang

Research Symposium

Synaptic plasticity is the ability of the brain to make changes and the changes occur at synapses. To achieve the complicated functions, a good number of proteins are present at synapse and are called synaptic proteins. To stabilize these proteins at synapses, proteins are modified through posttranslational modifications (PTMs). The most studied PTMs include phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitination, glycosylation, palmitoylation, etc. Palmitoylation is a type of lipid modification and has received more attention recently for its contribution to protein trafficking, localization, and interaction in various synaptic plasticity. The membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) family includes PSD-95, PSD-93 (also known as chapsyn-110), SAP102, …

Brainwaves, Memory, And Reward, Rebecca Mccune

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The development of effective educational curricula for enhancing learning involves the crucial consideration of effort and rewards. In the realm of education, teachers commonly employ rewards as motivational tools. Traditionally, these rewards are given to students as a recognition of their successful performance. However, a thought-provoking idea emerges: What if we were to extend rewards to students not solely based on accurate answers, but also on the effort they invest, even in cases where their actual response might be incorrect? Our study explores the potential impact of this approach on the way information is absorbed and subsequently retained, specifically focusing …

Music Advocacy: The Cognitive Development, Behavioral And Emotional Management, And Academic Success That Music Education Provides Students In Louisiana’S Low Socioeconomic Elementary Schools, Cory D. Dugar

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There are many technological curricular activities in math and science classrooms, yet few are found in music classrooms. Although many elementary schools may be benefiting from advocacy for music and technology, many elementary schools in the state of Louisiana have lost funding for music programs. For the Louisiana Department of Education to act as an advocate for music education, there must be a thorough understanding of the benefits of music education. Extensive research is one way to suggest that elementary music classes can raise the cognitive capacity of elementary students and could be the catalyst for ensuring the upcoming generation’s …

Teaching Cognitive / Behavioral Neuroscience Through A Dei Lens, Jamie Opper

Psychology Faculty Publications

Introduction: As higher education continues to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), cognitive/behavioral neuroscience and other physiologically-based psychology courses may face challenges incorporating DEI issues into the curriculum relative to other subfields of psychology.

Statement of the Problem: Instructors of these courses may believe that their discipline is more objective than other psychology subfields, or may simply be unsure where to insert discussion of DEI issues into their course material. Literature Review: There is a substantial evidence regarding both the fallacy of total scientific objectivity and how structural inequalities can impact brain structure and function in historically marginalized populations. Teaching …

Destined Failure, Chengjun Pan

Masters Theses

I attempt to examine the complex structure of human communication, explaining why it is bound to fail. By reproducing experienceable phenomena, I demonstrate how they can expose communication structure and reveal the limitations of our perception and symbolization.I divide the process of communication into six stages: input, detection, symbolization, dictionary, interpretation, and output. In this thesis, I examine the flaws and challenges that arise in the first five stages. I argue that reception acts as a filter and that understanding relies on a symbolic system that is full of redundancies. Therefore, every interpretation is destined to be a deviation.

Plant Sentience: Getting To The Roots Of The Problem, Krzysztof Dolega, Savannah Siekierski, Axel Cleeremans

Animal Sentience

Segundo-Ortin’s (2023) target article invites us to consider the possibility that plants can experience subjectively felt states. We discuss this speculation on the basis of the functional neurobiology of consciousness. We suggest that demonstrating plant sentience would require that we identify not only behaviors analogous to those exhibited by sentient creatures, but also the functional analogues of the mechanisms causing such behaviors. The lack of clear evidence for any kind of integration between self-states, self-movement, environmental states, memory, or affective communication within plants suggests that plant sentience remains an admittedly fascinating, but ultimately merely provocative speculation.

Demystifying The Mind-Body Connection: The Neuroscience Behind How Thoughts Impact Physical Health, Sofia Pantis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The beliefs, emotions, and experiences that constitute a mindset shape numerous aspects of one’s reality, but in particular, health. Health is defined by not only the physical state of one’s body, but also the content of one’s mind. The integration of the mind and body is often associated with naturopathic medicines or pseudoscience, and thus is usually left out of Western medicinal practices. This review aims to demystify the mind-body connection in health and wellness by introducing it within an empirical, neuroscientific landscape. This research supports the hypothesis that mind over matter rings true even at the biochemical level. Activation …

Eco-Interoception: What Plants, Fungi And Protista Have Taught My Body, Sara Riley Dotterer

Art Theses and Dissertations

To me, ecology is the relational, full-body awareness that I am made up of and deeply connected to everything around me; and for better or worse, this is reciprocal. I form ecotones, an ecological transitional zone between two ecosystems, with the world around me. I use this ecotonal lens to blur binaries and dissolve boundaries between me and the world “outside my body.” During my Masters of Fine Arts at Southern Methodist University, I have continuously explored and represented the lives of various more-than-human species outside of my body, including plants, fungi and protista through an ecotonal lens. Although these …

Synaptic Properties Of Parabigeminal Circuits., Kyle Whyland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Subcortical structures of the visual system have been the subject of intense study in recent years, but there remain some important unanswered questions regarding the synaptic relationships linking the nuclei that comprise this important sensory network within the brain. In these studies, we use several modern and traditional approaches, including viral tract tracing, in vitro slice physiology, immunohistochemistry, optogenetics, and electron microscopy to characterize the circuits linking the superior colliculus (SC), parabigeminal nucleus (PBG), and lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), with particular focus on GABAergic and cholinergic cell types. We found that the SC, an important visuomotor structure with connections to …

Adolescents With Family History Of Alcohol-Use Disorders Have Reduced Structural Coherence Of Anterior Insula To Nucleus Accumbens Tract, Grace Wood

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Genetics play a significant role in predisposition towards alcohol use disorders. Analyzing the neural phenotypes related to alcohol use disorder development could allow researchers to predict one’s predisposition. The anterior insula (AIns) contributes to binge drinking tendencies while exhibiting downstream signaling towards the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Recent research has examined this relationship simultaneously with alcohol consumption, but the genetic effect of the AIns and NAcc functional relationship prior to alcohol consumption has yet to be examined. In this study, we used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study to analyze the structural coherence of the AIns to NAcc …

Morphological Characterization Of Two Transgenic Strategies For Genetic Access To Semilunar Granule Neurons In The Mouse Dentate Gyrus, David T. Rexford

Masters Theses

Granule cells (GCs) of the dentate gyrus (DG) have been understood as a homogeneous class of neurons exhibiting a characteristic limited firing pattern. A subtype of GC called a semilunar granule cell (SGC) has been identified exhibiting variant morphology, electrophysiology, and positioning from normal GCs. SGCs represent an emerging novel subpopulation of GCs, however, there is presently no genetic tool to access SGCs separately from normal GCs. To provide access for future in vivo studies of this population, we examined two genetic strategies for putative SGC specificity in mouse brain slices. Morphological analysis was performed for quantitative identification of putative …

The Genomics Of Autism-Related Genes Il1rapl1 And Il1rapl2: Insights Into Their Cortical Distribution, Cell-Type Specificity, And Developmental Trajectories, Jacob Weaver

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Neuropsychiatric disorders have a significant impact on modern society. These disorders affect a large percentage of the population: schizophrenia has a world-wide prevalence of 1% and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affects 1 in 59 school-aged children in the US. There is substantial evidence that most neuropsychiatric disorders have a genetic component. Thus, with the advent of high throughput sequencing much effort has gone into identifying genetic variants associated with these disorders. The emerging picture from these studies is a complex one where hundreds of genes with small effects interact with a varied landscape of common variants to result in disease. …

The Neuroscience Of Creativity (Structure And Emotion), Michael Kihanya

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The cadenza represents musical freedom, creativity, improvisation. A structure is provided but does not place rigid boundaries on the artist. In literature studying creativity it is defined as the generation of novel, useful ideas. Musical improvisation is a form of creativity in a musical context. It requires the real-time generation and evaluation of melody and rhythm. It is one of our most complex cognitive tasks. Studying this task neuroscientifically is no less complicated. How is it we measure the result of musical improvisation, musical creation, the making of something new? What happens in our brain during? After? How does musical …

Role Of Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Receptor Signaling In The Suppression Of Punished Reward Seeking, Grace M. Joyner, Anna Caroline Toburen

Senior Theses

Previous studies have shown that within the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a brain region associated with motivation and reinforcement learning, activity of neurons expressing the dopamine D2 receptor (D2R neurons) act as a “break” on risky behavior associated with negative outcomes. Moreover, when these neurons are stimulated, rats were found to become more risk averse. However, the impact of dopamine signaling through NAc D2R neurons in risk avoidance is still unclear. To further explore the role of NAc dopamine signaling in punished reward-seeking, we tested rats in a novel punished food-seeking paradigm in which subjects are trained to choose between a …

Characterizing The Roles Of The Variable Linker And Hub Domains In Camkii Activation, Noelle Dziedzic

Doctoral Dissertations

Learning and memory formation at the cellular level involves decoding complex electrochemical signals between nerve cells, or neurons. Understanding these processes at the molecular level requires a comprehensive study of calcium-sensitive proteins that serve as signal mediators within cells. More specifically, the protein calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a key regulator of downstream cellular signaling events in the brain, playing an important role in long term memory formation. CaMKII is encoded in humans on four different genes: alpha, beta, gamma and delta. For added complexity, each of these gene products can be alternatively spliced and translated into multiple protein …

Leveraging A Machine Learning Based Predictive Framework To Study Brain-Phenotype Relationships, Sage Hahn

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

An immense collective effort has been put towards the development of methods forquantifying brain activity and structure. In parallel, a similar effort has focused on collecting experimental data, resulting in ever-growing data banks of complex human in vivo neuroimaging data. Machine learning, a broad set of powerful and effective tools for identifying multivariate relationships in high-dimensional problem spaces, has proven to be a promising approach toward better understanding the relationships between the brain and different phenotypes of interest. However, applied machine learning within a predictive framework for the study of neuroimaging data introduces several domain-specific problems and considerations, leaving the …

Age- And Sex-Dependent Alterations In Primary Somatosensory Neuronal Calcium Network Dynamics During Locomotion, Sami L. Case

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences

Over the past 30 years, the calcium (Ca2+) hypothesis of brain aging has provided clear evidence that hippocampal neuronal Ca2+ dysregulation is a key biomarker of aging. Indeed, age-dependent Ca2+-mediated changes in intrinsic excitability, synaptic plasticity, and activity have helped identify some of the mechanisms engaged in memory and cognitive decline. However, much of this work has been done at the single-cell level, mostly in slice preparations, and in restricted structures of the brain. Recently, our lab identified age- and Ca2+-related neuronal network dysregulation in the cortex of the anesthetized animal. Still, investigations in the awake animal are needed to …

Mapping The Malleable Self: How Self-Views Are Represented And Learned Within The Social Brain, Sasha Carmela Brietzke

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Humans possess a unique and wide-ranging ability to self-reflect that takes center stage in our everyday cognition. While many people believe their own self to be immutable, different contexts may warp how we perceive the self. The goal of this dissertation is to investigate two lenses through which we may view the self: (1) across time in the past and future, and (2) through the eyes of others via evaluative feedback. In Studies 1-3, I demonstrate that people’s ratings of their own personality become increasingly less differentiated as they consider more distant past and future selves. This effect was preferential …

Treatment Of Anxiety By Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation: A Retrospective Chart Review, Rhea Gandhi

CMC Senior Theses

Surgical vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) was FDA cleared for depression (2005) and epilepsy. (1997). In the surgical procedure, a pacemaker is implanted below the collarbone (clavicle) and connected to the vagus nerve in the neck. Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) is a non-surgical alternative to VNS and there is evidence supporting its effectiveness for several conditions. Advantages include lower cost and fewer adverse side effects.

Anxiety is tied to excess or unopposed sympathetic nervous system activity, while the parasympathetic nervous system, especially the vagus nerve, is relatively underactive. This study aimed to investigate a potential impact of regular tVNS stimulation …

Ultrastructural Correlates Of Axons And Synapses Belonging To Different Circuits In Ferret Primary Visual Cortex, Anjelique Sawh

Dissertations and Theses

The goal of this study was to determine differences in distinctive layers of mammalian primary visual cortex through analysis of their ultrastructural characteristics. Characterizing brain circuitry using 3-dimensional reconstruction of electron microscopy images, and subsequent ultrastructural analysis of axonal populations provides us with a better understanding of the connectivity of the neural circuits. By quantifying ultrastructural differences in axonal processes such as synaptic densities, types of synapses and their post-synaptic densities (PSDs), mitochondrial volumes, synaptic vesicle aggregates, dendritic targets, and bouton volumes, we aimed to understand whether differences in anatomical specializations among different cortical layers could underlie differences in function …

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (Tdcs) To Improve Lower Limb Motor Recovery Following Stroke: A Review And Study Proposal, Jessica Fantz-Sands

Scripps Senior Theses

Strokes are the result of restricted blood flow to particular areas of the brain classified by their cause. The neural damage they cause are of growing concern as the number of young adults experiencing strokes has increased by 11% in the last decade. Following stroke, there is an imbalance of inhibitory and excitatory neuronal activity, and disruption of neural networks. These changes lead to neuronal death and loss of synaptic connections that, depending on which part of the brain is affected, result in behavioral deficits such as weakness, limb hemiparesis, and loss of coordination, as well as speech and cognitive …

Glyphosate And Dopaminergic Neurotoxicity: Herbicide Impacts On Parkinson's Disease Development, Lojy Hozyen

Undergraduate Research Posters

Nearly one million individuals in the United States are living with Parkinson’s disease (PD). In the past two decades, the death rate from PD has risen by about 63 percent in the United States. Major findings have been made in the past five years about the potential impact of glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine) exposure on the onset of PD symptoms. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to provide a compiled update on the chemical and biological alterations that glyphosate imposes on the human brain. A meta-analysis was conducted to create a quantitative estimate of the connection between PD and glyphosate. Findings …

Multilingualism And Memory: Investigating Possible Differences In The Abilities Of Monolingual And Multilingual College Students, Clara E. Barned

Honors Projects

This study investigated whether there is a difference in the memories of monolingual and multilingual undergraduate students using simple memorization tasks. There were 46 participants, 30 of which were monolingual (only knew one language) and 16 of which were multilingual (knew two or more languages). There was found to be no significant difference between the performance of the two groups, with the data generating a p-value of 0.557. This study further suggests related avenues of research and ways in which the study could be improved in the future.

Investigation Of Neurotransmitter’S Knockdown Effect On Drosophila Melanogaster Female Aggression, Asil N. El Galad

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Drosophila melanogaster (D. melanogaster) is a popular model organism in neurobiology. While aggression has been studied heavily in male drosophila, there's minimal research on aggression in female drosophila. Neurotransmitters influencing aggressive behaviour in female D. melanogaster are poorly understood. Various neurotransmitters such as dopamine, octopamine, and serotonin influence aggression in D. melanogaster Further investigation of the role of neurotransmitters on aggression is thus important. The purpose of our experiment is to observe the effect of the knockdown of dopamine, octopamine and glutamate on aggression in female D. melanogaster.

Resistance Training Improves White Matter Structural Connectivity In Older Adults At-Risk For Cognitive Decline, Ryu Lien

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Diabetes is a global health concern that impacts 415 million people worldwide. Individuals who are at-risk for diabetes (characterized by high blood glucose and/or being overweight) have white matter atrophy, decreased cognitive function, and an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recently, resistance training (RT) has been shown to lower white matter atrophy and white matter lesion volume. However, investigating changes in white matter tracts is complex, hence previous findings remain inconclusive. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) serves as a highly sensitive tool that enables visualization and characterization of white matter tracts and has the potential to combat this complexity. The …

The Distinction Of Logical Decision According To The Model Of The Analysis Of Brain Signals (Eeg), Akeel Abdulkareem Al-Sakaa, Zaid H. Nasralla, Mohsin Hasan Hussein, Saif A. Abd, Hazim Alsaqaa, Kesra Nermend, Anna Borawska

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Recently, brain signal patterns have been recruited by researchers in different life activities. Researchers have studied each life activity and how brain signal patterns appear. These patterns could then be generalised and used in different disciplines. In this paper, we study the brain state during decision making in a lottery experiment. An EEG device is used to capture brain signals during an experiment to extract the optimal state for logical decision making. After collecting data, extracting useful information and then processing it, the proposed method is able to identify rational decisions from irrational ones with a success rate of 67%.