Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Effects Of Arginine-Vasopressin In The Brain On Cardiovascular Function In A Psychosocial Stress Animal Model, Esmeralda Lopez-Garcia, Ariana V. Hinojosa, Esperanza I. Alaniz, Fernando Dominguez, Giselle Padilla, Mario Gil

Research Symposium

Background: Psychosocial stress impacts cardiovascular health, increasing the risk of events like myocardial infarction (MI), stress cardiomyopathy, and neuropsychiatric disorders, including Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Anxiety. However, our understanding of the biological mechanisms that connect psychosocial stress with negative cardiovascular and psychological outcomes remains incomplete. Arginine-vasopressin (AVP) is linked to both mental and physical health by regulating social behavior, blood pressure, and anxiety-related behaviors. This study investigates the potential cardioprotective effects of the neuropeptide AVP, in an effort to generate evidence that it may strengthen heart function and lessen the severity of adverse cardiovascular events caused by stress, brain …

Exploring The Effects Of Serotonin And Ssris On The Neurological, Behavioral, And Cardiovascular Systems Under Induced Stress –Using The Animal Model Of The Syrian Hamster, Ariana V. Hinojosa, Esperanza I. Alaniz, Esmeralda Lopez-Garcia, Giselle Padilla, Fernando Dominquez, Mario Gil

Research Symposium

Background: Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that has been found to have a wide range of effects on not just the neuropsychological processes but has also been found to exert effects outside the central nervous system (CNS); regulating numerous biological processes, such as metabolism, gastrointestinal system, reproductive function, and even the cardiovascular system. However, there is still a limited understanding of how serotonin affects all these systems due to its complexity and ability to regulate homeostasis. This project aims to create a stronger foundation of knowledge about serotonin and its influence on the interaction between the CNS, behavior, and cardiac function …

In-Silico Modeling And Characterization Of Kcc2 Protein Interaction With A Small Molecule Direct Agonist Identifies Potential Binding Sites For Modulating Behaviors Associated With Substances Of Abuse, William Hai Dang Ho, Alfred Amendolara, Kenyon Mitchell, Jaden Miner, Ruth Northcott, Braxton Bingham, Andrew J. Payne

Annual Research Symposium

Purpose

KCC2 is a potassium-chloride cotransporter that plays a critical role in neuronal function by regulating GABAergic signaling via chloride gradients. Maintaining this concentration gradient is crucial for balancing excitation and inhibition in the brain. While KCC2 dysregulation has been implicated in epilepsy and seizures, recent studies suggest that KCC2 inhibition results in phenotypes mirroring those seen in chronic opioid dependence. As such, increasing evidence support KCC2 being a potential therapeutic target for modulating behaviors associated with substances of abuse. Currently, only a few direct small molecule agonists against KCC2 have been reported, and no definitive active site on the …

Effects Of Aging On Diurnal Transcriptome Change In The Mouse Corpus Callosum, Hidehiro Ishikawa, Tomonori Hoshino, Gen Hamanaka, Emiri T. Mandeville, Shuzhen Guo, Shintaro Kimura, Norito Fukuda, Wenlu Li, Akihiro Shindo, Sava Sakadzic, Mary E. Harrington, Eng H. Lo, Ken Arai

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

The corpus callosum, a major white matter region central to cognitive function, is vulnerable to aging. Using zeitgeber time (ZT) aligned with environmental light/dark cycles, we investigated temporal gene expression patterns in the corpus callosum of young (5-month-old) and aged (24-month-old) mice using RNA-seq. Comparative analysis revealed more differentially expressed genes across ZT pairs in young mice than aged mice. In addition, complement pathway genes, including C4b, C3, C1qa, C1qb, and C1qc, were consistently upregulated in aged mice regardless of ZT. Furthermore, genes such as Etnppl, Tinagl1, Hspa12b, Ppp1r3c, Thbd, Pla2g3, and Tsc22d3 exhibited ZT-dependent rhythmicity in young mice, but …

Integrated Multi-Omics Analyses Of Synaptosomes Revealed Synapse-Associated Novel Targets In Alzheimer’S Disease, Subodh Kumar, Enrique Ramos, Axel Hidalgo, Daniela Rodarte, Bhupender Sharma, Melissa M. Torres, Davin Devara, Shrikanth Gadad

School of Medicine Publications

Synapse dysfunction is an early event in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) caused by various factors, including amyloid beta, p-tau, inflammation, and aging. However, the precise molecular mechanism underlying synapse dysfunction in AD remains largely unknown. To understand this, we comprehensively analyzed the synaptosomes fraction in post-mortem brain samples from AD patients and cognitively normal individuals. We conducted high-throughput transcriptomic analyses to identify changes in microRNA (miRNA) and mRNA levels in synaptosomes extracted from the brains of unaffected individuals and those with AD. Additionally, we performed mass spectrometry analysis of synaptosomal proteins in the same sample group. These analyses revealed significant differences …

Positive Allosteric Modulation Of Glun1/Glun3 Nmda Receptors, Mia Ruth Johns

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are ionotropic glutamate receptors that mediate excitatory neurotransmission in the central nervous system (CNS) where they play critical roles in normal and pathological brain functions and neurodevelopment. While the glutamate/glycineactivated GluN2-containing NMDA receptors (GluN1/GluN2) have been extensively studied, the physiological roles and pharmacology of glycine-activated GluN3-containing receptors (GluN1/GluN3) remain less understood. Although GluN1/GluN3 receptors exhibit unique functional properties and play distinct roles in neuronal development and synapse maturation, studies of their precise roles in neurophysiology and circuit function are impeded by limited availability of GluN3-selective pharmacological tools. This study describes UCM-A86, a novel GluN3-selective positive allosteric …

Regulation And Function Of Mec-2 Alternative Splicing In Single Cells, Canyon Calovich-Benne

Biological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

One mechanism for generating diversity at the single cell level is selective expression of a unique set of transcription factors (TFs) and RNA binding proteins (RBPs). These regulatory factors contribute to functions of cells by controlling cell fate, turning genes on and off, and processing of transcripts either co- or post-transcriptionally. Many genes, especially neuronal genes, have multiple different splicing events, promoters, and/or polyadenylation sites. Post-transcriptional coordination is in the infancy of being studied and the functional consequences of this coupling at the single cell level has yet to be explored. Here we show, mec-2 coordination of alternative transcription start …

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 …

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 …

The Neuroscience Of Mindfulness Based Art Therapy: A Literature Review, Elizabeth Strasser

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Art therapy and neuroscience are two fields which are currently growing and expanding with the development of new technology which allows for therapists and scientists to advance their understanding of how the brain and the body respond to the world around us. The interaction between the brain, body, and environment is complex, and for the sake of clarity for this thesis this interaction will be conceptualized through the lens of the body-mind model, polyvagal theory, neuroaesthetics, the flow state, mindfulness, sensory engagement, and art as therapy. Neuroscience in relation to psychology can be used to develop a deeper understanding of …

Prelimbic Neuronal Ensembles In Natural Reward Seeking, Roger Ian Grant

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

External cues can become powerful motivators of behavior when paired with rewarding stimuli, such as natural rewards or drugs of abuse, as is the case in individuals with substance use disorder (SUD). The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) has been implicated as a neural substrate which encodes cue-reward associations and has been shown to exert top-down control over both natural and drug reward seeking. We and others have shown that activity within the dmPFC is heterogeneous during reward seeking, with some neurons displaying excitatory responses to reward-predictive cues, and others showing inhibitory responses to the same cues. Furthermore, this response heterogeneity …

Early Onset Alzheimer’S Disease Markers In Mouse Hippocampus Unveiled By Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analysis Following Cranial Radiotherapy, Tuba Aksoy

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Cranial radiation therapy plays an integral role in the treatment of brain tumors but can lead to progressive cognitive deficits in survivors by mechanisms that are poorly understood. To develop preventive or mitigative strategies, it is crucial to better understand the underlying pathogenesis of radiation-induced cognitive impairments. The study investigated single-cell transcriptomics and DNA methylation changes as potential drivers of persistent cellular dysfunction after radiation exposure, specifically concentrating on the CA1-3 regions of the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex due to their role in cognitive functions. Thirteen-week-old mice underwent whole-brain radiation at clinically relevant doses. Following whole-brain radiation, an assessment …

External And Internal Attribution In Human-Agent Interaction: Insights From Neuroscience And Virtual Reality, Nina Lauharatanahirun, Andrea Won, Angel Hsing-Chi Hwang

Human-Machine Communication

Agents are designed in the image of humans, both internally and externally. The internal systems of agents imitate the human brain, both at the levels of hardware (i.e., neuromorphic computing) and software (i.e., neural networks). Furthermore, the external appearance and behaviors of agents are designed by people and based on human data. Sometimes, these humanlike qualities of agents are purposely selected to increase their social influence over human users, and sometimes the human factors that influence perceptions of agents are hidden. Inspired by Blascovich’s “threshold of social influence’, a model designed to explain the effects of different methods of anthropomorphizing …

Local And Distal Projections Of Vta Gaba Neurons, Trinity M. Pirrone

Neuroscience Honors Projects

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by the abuse of drugs, compulsive drug seeking, and addiction. Addiction is facilitated by social, environmental, genetic, and neurobiological mechanisms. The underlying neural circuitry of addiction encompasses several brain regions, circuits, and cell types contributing to the reward system both collectively and independently. Evidence has shown that the ventral tegmental area of the brain is a control center of reward, an important mechanism for drug-seeking in addiction. Previous research has described the ventral tegmental area as a highly heterogeneous region containing various cell types serving different roles. GABAergic neurons of the …

Psychology And Neuroscience Interactions: Roles, Challenges, And Breakthroughs, Xiaolan Fu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Psychology and neuroscience are deeply cross-fertilized to reveal the neural mechanisms of psychological processes and to promote the precise diagnosis and treatment of mental diseases. Psychology and neuroscience need to further break down disciplinary boundaries in the future to jointly address the complex challenges of human mental and brain health. This study discusses the role of psychology in the interaction with neuroscience, analyzes the challenges facing the interaction between the two parties as well as the direction of future breakthroughs, and uses a community-based population-based cohort study of depression as an example to further illustrate the multiple challenges of such …

Modeling Human Temporal Eeg Responses To Vr Visual Stimuli, Richard R. Foster, Connor Delaney, Dean J. Krusienski, Cheng Ly

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Spike Timing-Dependent Plasticity And Synaptic Scaling Invoke Episodic Bursting In An Excitatory Recurrent Neuronal Population, Ryno Chen, Gregory D. Conradi Smith

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Analysis And Computation Of Constrained Sparse Coding On Emerging Non-Von Neumann Devices, Kyle Henke

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

This dissertation seeks to understand how different formulations of the neurally inspired Locally Competitive Algorithm (LCA) represent and solve optimization problems. By studying these networks mathematically through the lens of dynamical and gradient systems, the goal is to discern how neural computations converge and link this knowledge to theoretical neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI). Both classical computers and advanced emerging hardware are employed in this study. The contributions of this work include:

1. Theoretical Work: A comprehensive convergence analysis for networks using both generic Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) and Rectified Sigmoid activation functions. Exploration of techniques to address the binary …

Understanding The Importance Of Social Emotional Learning In Children And The Link Between Mental Health, Lynette Marie Lubiak

Student Research Symposium

I will examine how very important it is to society to teach structured Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs to children in school. It can bring mental wellbeing and the ability to have healthy relationships, non addictive behaviors and being able to emotionally regulate themselves. Since we have pushed on only academia and not SEL for our children, mental illness has skyrocketed. This problem started after the SEL part of school was taken out of schools and then the division between rich and poor became wider and wider as time went on. If we were to bring back SEL into school, …

Immunopathogenesis Of Post-Infectious Hydrocephalus, Sascha Powers Bernier

Honors Scholar Theses

Hydrocephalus is characterized by the abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the brain ventricles. In post-infectious hydrocephalus (PIH) cases, the condition presents challenges in understanding the immune response. PIH is a complex condition, often persisting after the initial infection is treated and thus requiring a deeper understanding of the immune mechanisms involved in its development. This thesis will explore the immunopathogenesis of PIH, elucidating the relationship between the immune response and neurological complications that would succeed infection. The immune response of PIH includes a series of events, beginning with the activation of immune cells and finishing with the release …

Isolation Of Aged Mouse Primary Microglia As A Model System For Alzheimer’S Disease Research, Michael Landis

Biology Honors Papers

Microglia and their role as the immune cells of the central nervous system are an emerging area of interest within Alzheimer’s research, particularly as they have shown in a benevolent and malevolent cellular context. Models of Alzheimer’s disease are very light in studying microglia, so in this study a model of microglia isolated from aged mice is established in order to study the phagocytic activity and protein expression of microglia in response to Amyloid Beta. The cells were isolated from aged mice and cultured before being used to confirm cellular identity, as well as to measure phagocytic activity. This study …

Competition And Criticality In Cortical Neural Circuits Underlie Behavior And Optimize Working Memory, Jacob Harrison Barfield

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the primary goals of neuroscience is to explain how brain function emerges from dynamic interactions among large populations of neurons. A long-standing hypothesis at the interface of physics and neuroscience posits that neural circuits may operate close to the critical point of a phase transition. In this dissertation, we will investigate a new form of criticality and the implications that it has in working memory and the generation of voluntary body movements. We will utilize this new form of criticality to investigate the functional benefits that can be harnessed by operating near the critical point when performing working …

Biophysical Model Of Retraction Motor Neurons And Their Modification By Operant Conditioning, Maria Rasheed

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Operant conditioning (OC) is a form of associative learning in which an animal modifies its behavior based on the consequences that follow that behavior. Despite its ubiquity, the underlying mechanisms of OC are poorly understood. Insights into the mechanisms of OC can be obtained by studying Aplysia feeding behavior as it can be modified by OC. This behavior is mediated by a central pattern generator (CPG) network in the buccal ganglia that contains a relatively small number of neurons. This CPG generates rhythmic motor patterns (BMPs) that move food into the gut by closing a tongue-like structure (i.e., radula) during …

Sequence Learning In A 6-Ohda Mouse Model Of Parkinson’S Disease, Ani Gribbin

Neuroscience Honors Projects

Parkinson’s disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder originating in the dopaminergic cells of the basal ganglia, is characterized by severe motor impairments such as tremors, bradykinesia, and postural instability. However, non-motor symptoms impacting sensory systems and cognition are consistently pointed to as more greatly affecting quality of life for PD patients. Cognitive impairments in PD can include changes in reward processing, depression, apathy, and increases in risk-taking behavior. Additionally, learning and memory deficits are seen in PD, specifically in motor sequence learning. Often, the neural correlates of sequence learning impairments are traced to the substantia nigra. However, there is some evidence …

The Role Of Spreading Depolarizations In Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries, Natalie J. Pinkowski

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs) often lead to acute symptoms like disorientation and discoordination, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Although most patients recover quickly from a single mTBI, repeated injuries can be debilitating. After an mTBI, a neurometabolic cascade produces metabolic burden and vulnerability. Spreading depolarizations (SDs) have been observed after mTBIs. Here we investigated SDs’ role in short-term motor behavioral deficits post-mTBI. We hypothesized that SDs contribute to the deficits, and exacerbated symptoms after repeated mTBIs. To test this, we used acute motor behavioral tests and long-term behavioral and cognitive tests after initiating SDs by mTBI, chemical, or …

Dissecting The Tissue-Specific Contributions To Seizures, Cardiorespiratory Dysfunction, And Sudden Death In The Kv1.1 Mouse Model Of Epilepsy Using Conditional Knockout Approaches, Kelsey Paulhus

Biological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), the primary cause of mortality in epilepsy, remains poorly understood. Studies suggest seizures may trigger dangerous signals affecting the heart and lungs leading to collapse and death. The Kv1.1 deficiency mouse model mirrors clinical SUDEP cases, showing spontaneous seizures, cardiorespiratory issues, and premature death. However, this model lacks regional specificity in Kv1.1 deletion, hindering insights into SUDEP’s mechanisms and anatomical substrates.

This dissertation employs three distinct conditional knockout (cKO) techniques to investigate the individual roles for the forebrain, brainstem, and heart in SUDEP related phenotypes. The findings reveal that the forebrain alone can trigger …

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 …

Neurocinematics And Empathy: How Cognitive Neuroscience Enhances Our Understanding Of Emotional Responses Of Film, Kira Trinity

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Cinema is a medium that is beloved around the globe since its inception over a century ago. There have been speculations on how it is that cinema works, from editing to emotional processing of the story, but only recently have we begun to explore the inner workings of cinematic impact on the brain. In this paper we will review research on cinematic impact and define cinematic editing, discuss the birth of “neurocinematics”, highlight what we have observed with regards to neuroimaging and empathy when viewing films, and speculate on how our responses to cinema may be driven by the Mirror …