Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Axonal Transport And Life Cycle Of Mitochondria In Parkinson's Disease Model, Hyun Sung

Open Access Dissertations

In neurons, normal distribution and selective removal of mitochondria are essential for preserving compartmentalized cellular function. Parkin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase associated with familial Parkinson’s disease, has been implicated in mitochondrial dynamics and removal. However, it is not clear how Parkin plays a role in mitochondrial turnover in vivo, and whether the mature neurons possess a compartmentalized Parkin-dependent mitochondrial life cycle. Using the live Drosophila nervous system, here, I investigate the involvement of Parkin in mitochondrial dynamics; organelle distribution, morphology and removal. Parkin deficient animals displayed less number of axonal mitochondria without disturbing organelle motility behaviors, morphology and metabolic state. …

The Effects Of Body Weight, Food Intake, Activity, And Anxiety In Female Rats, Rachel Mangan

Senior Honors Projects

Zolpidem is a nonbenzodiazepine sedative-hypnotic drug. It is placed in the imidazopyridine class of drugs, which are gamma aminobutyric acis (GABA)-A receptor agonists due to their effect on the alpha-1 GABA-A receptor subunit. The present study focused on differences observed during administration of zolpidem to female rats as compared to a previous study performed on male rats. Female rats receiving zolpidem did not differ significantly from those rats not receiving zolpidem; whereas, male animals were shown to be more affected by zolpidem causing increased food intake, lowered activity levels, increased anxiety, and increased visceral adiposity. Female rats exhibited little change …

Oxytocin Receptor (Oxtr) Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Indirectly Predict Prosocial Behavior Through Perspective Taking And Empathic Concern, Christa C. Christ, Gustavo Carlo, Scott F. Stoltenberg

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Engaging in prosocial behavior can provide positive outcomes for self and others. Prosocial tendencies contribute to the propensity to engage in prosocial behavior.The oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) has also been associated with prosocial tendencies and behaviors. There has been little research, however, investigating whether the relationship between OXTR and prosocial behaviors is mediated by prosocial tendencies.This relationship may also vary among different types of prosocial behavior. The current study examines the relationship between OXTR, gender, prosocial tendencies, and both altruistic and public prosocial behavior endorsement. Students at a midwestern university (N = 398; 89.2% Caucasian; M …

Suprachiasmatic Nucleus And Subparaventricular Zone Lesions Disrupt Circadian Rhythmicity But Not Light-Induced Masking Behavior In Nile Grass Rats, Andrew J. Gall, Dorela D. Shuboni, Lily Yan, Antonio A. Nunez, Laura Smale

Faculty Publications

The ventral subparaventricular zone (vSPVZ) receives direct retinal input and influences the daily patterning of activity in rodents, making it a likely candidate for the mediation of acute behavioral responses to light (i.e., masking). We performed chemical lesions aimed at the vSPVZ of diurnal grass rats (Arvicanthis niloticus) using N-methyl-D,L-aspartic acid (NMA), a glutamate agonist. Following NMA lesions, we placed grass rats in various lighting conditions (e.g., 12:12 light-dark, constant dark, constant light); presented a series of light pulses at circadian times (CT) 6, 14, 18, and 22; and placed them in a 7-h ultradian cycle to assess behavioral masking. …

Consonant Discrimination In The Inferior Colliculus Of Young And Aged Rats, Christopher S. Soverns

Open Access Theses

Complex acoustic stimuli are thoroughly encoded and processed along the primary auditory pathway to give reliable and relevant information about the environment, and elucidating the neural coding mechanisms is essential to informing clinical attempts to combat auditory dysfuntion. Receiving a uniquely diverse set of ascending and descending inputs, the inferior colliculus (IC) is a site of intricate temporal processing. In this work, natural and modified human speech is used to investigate discrimination of voice onset time (VOT) in the spiking output of IC neurons. A template-matching classification model is proposed in which single stimulus presentation responses are correlated with aggregate …

The Effect Of Voluntary Binge Caffeine And Ethanol Coexposure On Neurobehavioral Sensitivity To Cocaine In Male C57bl/6j Mice, Brandon M. Fritz

Open Access Dissertations

Recently, the co-consumption of highly caffeinated energy drinks and alcohol has become a public health concern. Consumption of these beverages has been linked to a wide variety negative consequences including alcohol poisoning, driving under the influence, physical harm, and sexual violence. The more protracted consequences of caffeinated alcohol consumption have received very little attention, however. Some evidence suggests that individuals that frequently consume energy drinks mixed with alcohol are more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder. Interestingly, both caffeine and alcohol use alone have been linked to polydrug abuse. It is therefore of interest whether combined caffeine and alcohol …

Characterization Of Cu-Rich Aggregates In Neurogenic Niches Of The Rodent Brain By X-Ray Fluorescence Microscopy, Brendan T. Sullivan

Open Access Dissertations

Copper is an essential element in the brain playing several critical roles ranging from neurotransmitter synthesis to ATP production. As Cu is typically present in micromolar concentrations and has a spatially capricious distribution in the brain, determining concentrations has historically been challenging. X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XRF) offers excellent spatial resolution (down to 30~nm) and detection limits (sub parts per million), making it an excellent tool for analyzing metal distributions in the brain. Using XRF, it is demonstrated that Cu-rich aggregates with concentrations in the hundreds of millimolar are present in the subventricular zone of rats and mice. As the subventricular …

“My Logic Is Undeniable”: Replicating The Brain For Ideal Artificial Intelligence, Samuel C. Adams

Senior Honors Theses

Alan Turing asked if machines can think, but intelligence is more than logic and reason. I ask if a machine can feel pain or joy, have visions and dreams, or paint a masterpiece. The human brain sets the bar high, and despite our progress, artificial intelligence has a long way to go. Studying neurology from a software engineer’s perspective reveals numerous uncanny similarities between the functionality of the brain and that of a computer. If the brain is a biological computer, then it is the embodiment of artificial intelligence beyond anything we have yet achieved, and its architecture is advanced …

Regulation Of The Cystine/Glutamate Antiporter And Its Contribution To Neuronal Death, Rebecca Albano

Dissertations (1934 -)

The aim of this thesis is to better understand the regulation of the cystine/glutamate antiporter (system xc-) and its role in regulating neuronal survival and death. Expressed primarily on astrocytes, system xc- takes up cystine and releases glutamate in a 1:1 ratio. Cystine uptake is the rate-limiting step in glutathione synthesis, the brain’s main antioxidant. Glutamate released into the extrasynaptic space can regulate neuronal function; however excessive glutamate release can cause excitotoxicity. The dual actions of system xc- make it of interest in many neurodegenerative diseases where oxidative stress and excitotoxicity are involved. We investigated the regulation of system xc- …

Comparison Of Interactive Voice Response (Ivr) With Paper Administration Of Instruments To Assess Functional Status, Sexual Function, And Quality Of Life In Elderly Men, Rc Rosen, Aj Stephens-Shields, Gr Cunningham, D Cifelli, D Cella, Jt Farrar, E Barrett-Connor, Ce Lewis, M Pahor, X Hou, Pj Snyder

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures are essential for assessing subjective patient experiences. Interactive voice response (IVR) data collection provides advantages for clinical trial design by standardizing and centralizing the assessment. Prior to adoption of IVR as a mode of PRO administration in the Testosterone Trials (TTrials), we compared IVR to paper versions of the instruments to be used. METHODS: IVR versions of the FACIT-Fatigue scale and Psychosexual Daily Questionnaire, Question 4, were developed. In one pilot study, IVR versions of these scales were compared to paper versions in 25 men = 65 years at each of two clinical sites. In …

Combined Effects Of Optimism Level And Caffeine Intake On Qeeg Alpha Wave Power: A Pilot Study, Melissa Lenert, Luis E. Aguerrevere

Undergraduate Research Conference

Caffeine has a general effect on alpha brain waves (Diukova, 2010).

Heavy caffeine users experienced increased neural activity compared to vasoconstriction (Gilbert et al., 2000).

Purpose of the pilot study is to assess the effects of caffeine intake and optimism levels on alpha wave activity in heavy caffeine users.

Polarity-Dependent Misperception Of Subjective Visual Vertical During And After Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (Tdcs), Taiza E. G. Santos-Pontelli, Brunna P. Rimoli, Diandra B. Favoretto, Suleimy C. Mazin, Dennis Q. Truong, Joao P. Leite, Octavio M. Pontes-Neto, Suzanne R. Babyar, Michael Reding, Marom Bikson, Dylan J. Edwards

Publications and Research

Pathologic tilt of subjective visual vertical (SVV) frequently has adverse functional consequences for patients with stroke and vestibular disorders. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the supramarginal gyrus can produce a transitory tilt on SVV in healthy subjects. However, the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on SVV has never been systematically studied. We investigated whether bilateral tDCS over the temporal- parietal region could result in both online and offline SVV misperception in healthy subjects. In a randomized, sham-controlled, single-blind crossover pilot study, thirteen healthy subjects performed tests of SVV before, during and after the tDCS applied over the …

The Line Drawn On Pain Still Holds, Bjorn H. Merker

Animal Sentience

The many substantive criticisms raised against Key by me and by many of the other commentators will not disappear by ignoring or waving them aside with meta-discourse about anthropomorphism, just-so stories, or celestial teapots. The conceptual edifice Key inhabits and defends with such gusto may look like an impregnable fortress from the inside – and Key behaves as if it were. From the outside, however, it looks more like a ramshackle structure gaping with holes and pieced together from imperfectly understood neuroscience and often faulty literature citations.

Slavery, Welfare And The Sixth Extinction, Stephen R. Clark

Animal Sentience

Ng’s laudable concern for animal welfare would be welcome to any sensible slave-owner wishing to preserve his investment. What welfarism – for slave-owners and animal husbandmen – fails to call into question is whether we have the right to breed, hold captive and kill animals at all: If it matters, as the widely recognized slogan of ‘Five Freedoms’ suggests, that animals have the chance to live a ‘normal’ life, then more matters than keeping them ‘happy’ in subjection. Their lives – and also the lives of wild things – also deserve respect.

Wild Animal Suffering And Vegan Outreach, Eze Paez

Animal Sentience

Ng’s strategic proposal seems to downplay the potential benefits of advocacy for wild animals and omit what may be the most effective strategy to reduce the harms farmed animals suffer: vegan outreach.

C. Elegans Demonstrates Distinct Behaviors Within A Fixed And Uniform Electric Field, Steven D. Chrisman, Christopher B. Waite, Alison G. Scoville, Lucinda Carnell

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

C. elegans will orient and travel in a straight uninterrupted path directly towards the negative pole of a DC electric field. We have sought to understand the strategy worms use to navigate to the negative pole in a uniform electric field that is fixed in both direction and magnitude. We examined this behavior by quantifying three aspects of electrotaxis behavior in response to different applied field strengths: the mean approach trajectory angles of the animals’ tracks, turning behavior (pirouettes) and average population speeds. We determined that C. elegans align directly to the negative pole of an electric field at sub-preferred …

The Pribram – Bohm Hypothesis, Shelli R. Joye

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

A holoflux theory of consciousness as modulated energy is hypothesized and shown to support both local and non-local properties. This thesis emerges from an integral evaluation of evidence drawn from: (1) the holonomic mind/brain theories of Karl Pribram, (2) the ontological interpretation of quantum theory by David Bohm. Applying an integral methodology to superimpose and correlate seemingly disparate concepts from among these sources and others, a composite-theory emerges, a “holoflux” theory of consciousness, after the term favored by Karl Pribram to describe David Bohm’s “holomovement” between an explicate order andan implicate order. This Pribram–Bohm composite holoflux theory is shown to …

Presence And The Paradox Of Love, Joanne Burtch

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Spiritual experiences often seem unrelated to the intellectual orientation of science. However, some discussion of the laboratory study of spiritual practice does attempt to include the mystery and the human experience in its dialogue. An exploration of the paradox of love demonstrates how it might be possible to find a relationship between the scientific understanding of spirituality and the profundity of spiritual experience.

Eugene Taylor: An Appreciation, Simon Senzon

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

By sharing Professor Taylor’s impact on me with you in this way, I hope to offer a glimpse of the depth he pointed us to. Rather than just tell you his stories and his theories, I am sharing layers of my own experience both in similar synchronicities from my own personal mythology and also the meaning I make for myself as I go deeper in understanding what he was really teaching. If you can see that I am sharing something beyond the words themselves, then you know what he meant by soteriological writing. The words are used to help you …

Beyond Perennialist And Participatory Spiritualities: Transformation And Culture, Joanne Burtch

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

A comparison of perennialism, participatory spirituality, and Gebser’s structures of consciousness demonstrates how deeper inquiry is required to understand how perennialism and participatory spirituality would address the relationship between individuals and culture with regard to how transformation happens. By reviewing how each of these philosophies approach context, the interpersonal, transformation, cultural relativity, pluralism, and multiplicity, the article identifies ambiguities that offer perennialism and participatory spirituality scholars the opportunity to explore their suppositions about spirituality more deeply.

Thoughts On Consciousness And The Original Photons, Henryk Skolimowski

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

No abstract provided.

Reembodying, Human Consciousness In The Earth, John Briggs

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

For the last 20,000 years or so the dominant mode of human consciousness has been one that divides reality into subjects and objects, and focuses on human desires and needs. This anthropocentric mode of consciousness has invented religions, built civilizations, amassed knowledge, and developed technology and science. It has also disembodied us from the Earth and led to the Anthropocene Era. Still with us is another mode of human consciousness that arguably once existed in a balance with the anthropocentric mode during our long hunter-gatherer, Paleolithic sojourn. This holistic, integrative mode of consciousness experiences the Earth as a mother, and …

Sarath, Edward W. (2013). Improvisation, Creativity, And Consciousness: Jazz As Integral Template For Music, Education, And Society. Albany, Ny: State University Of New York., Lynne Roff

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

No abstract provided.

On The Significance Of Psychodynamic Discourse For The Field Of Consciousness Studies, Robin S. Brown

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Despite the obvious confluence of concerns between psychodynamic psychology and the emerging field of consciousness studies, the extent to which psychodynamic thinking has factored into the consciousness literature has been limited. With widespread interest in “the unconscious” having significantly diminished, the present paper asks what might be implied in the shift towards the notion of “consciousness”—what about this cross-disciplinary designation has come to attract attention not only within the academic world, but also in the popular press? That the term does indeed invite contributions from a variety of disciplines makes the field both a meeting space, and a battleground. It …

Premises Of A Natural Science Of Consciousness, Ervin Laszlo

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

According to the mainstream of modern science, there cannot be a natural science of consciousness because consciousness does not actually exist in nature. It is a product or by-product of the workings of the brain. There is a natural science of brain and the nervous system, for these are bona fide elements of the world, but there cannot be a natural science of a phenomenon of which the very existence is in question. In the prevalent view con2sciousness is something that happens when neurons fire in the brain. This is said to be confirmed by experience. There is no consciousness …

Consciousness Studies – An Overview, Allan Combs

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

This essay is a survey of the field of consciousness studies, its history, scope, and a little about its future. It’s principal focus is on Western thinking about consciousness beginning in classical times and continuing down to the present. It highlights and briefly describes major streams of thought including ideas from ancient Greece, German Idealism, British Empiricism, 20^th century European phenomenology, and important contemporary areas of research and scholarship. These include American pragmatism, developmental psychology, transpersonalism, analytic philosophy, computationalism, neural networks, and physics. The essay also briefly explores possible future trends in the study of consciousness.

Animal Suffering And Human Bias, Stijn Bruers

Animal Sentience

Ng proposes concrete ways to decrease animal suffering on the basis of commonsense economic logic and research in welfare biology. But to reduce animal suffering effectively in livestock farming, animal experimentation or the natural environment we have to become more aware of our pervasive and spontaneous but unreliable intuitive moral judgments. These can generate biases that prevent us from decreasing animal suffering effectively.

Auditory Spatial Coding Flexibly Recruits Anterior, But Not Posterior, Visuotopic Parietal Cortex, Samantha W. Michalka, Maya L. Rosen, Lingqiang Kong, Barbara G. Shinn-Cunningham, David C. Somers

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

Audition and vision both convey spatial information about the environment, but much less is known about mechanisms of auditory spatial cognition than visual spatial cognition. Human cortex contains >20 visuospatial map representations but no reported auditory spatial maps. The intraparietal sulcus (IPS) contains several of these visuospatial maps, which support visuospatial attention and short-term memory (STM). Neuroimaging studies also demonstrate that parietal cortex is activated during auditory spatial attention and working memory tasks, but prior work has not demonstrated that auditory activation occurs within visual spatial maps in parietal cortex. Here, we report both cognitive and anatomical distinctions in the …

Glyphosate Induces Neurotoxicity In Zebrafish, Nicole M. Roy, Bruno Carneiro, Jeremy Ochs

Biology Faculty Publications

Glyphosate based herbicides (GBH) like Roundup^® are used extensively in agriculture as well as in urban and rural settings as a broad spectrum herbicide. Its mechanism of action was thought to be specific only to plants and thus considered safe and non-toxic. However, mounting evidence suggests that GBHs may not be as safe as once thought as initial studies in frogs suggest that GBHs may be teratogenic. Here we utilize the zebrafish vertebrate model system to study early effects of glyphosate exposure using technical grade glyphosate and the Roundup^® Classic formulation. We find morphological abnormalities including cephalic and …

Explicit Time Deficit In Schizophrenia: Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Indicate It Is Primary And Not Domain Specific, V Ciullo, G Spalletta, C Caltagirone, Re Jorge, F Piras

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Although timing deficits are a robust finding in schizophrenia (SZ), the notion of a genuine time perception disorder in SZ is still being debated because distortions in timing might depend on neuropsychological deficits that are characteristics of the illness. Here we used meta-analytic methods to summarize the evidence of timing deficits in SZ and moderator analyses to determine whether defective timing in SZ arises from nontemporal sources or from defective time perception. PubMed Services, PsycNET, and Scopus were searched through March 2015, and all references in articles were investigated to find other relevant studies. Studies were selected if they included …