Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Exercise-Induced Adult Neruogenesis And The Seizure Threshold: The Role Of Cox-2, Gina Kim

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Neurogenesis, the generation of new neurons, is most prevalent when the brain is being formed during pre-natal development. However, this process continues in select areas in the brain during adult life as well. One such area in the brain is the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus, an area known to be associated with learning and memory. In this region, neurogenesis is believed to contribute to neuroplasticity as well as improving its functions in learning and memory. Interestingly, this synthesis of neurons is increased by physical activity—predominantly running—and by seizures originating in the limbic system. The increased excitatory neuronal activity …

Examining The Relationship Between Neurocognitive Performance And Functional Fitness Levels Among Older Adults, Kristen J. Holmes

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this thesis was to examine the relationship between neurocognitive performance and functional fitness levels among older adults. This is important because the geriatric population is the fastest growing demographic in the United States (USDHHS, CDC & Prevention, 2012). By 2030, the older adult population is expected to double. With the cumulative health effects associated with aging and pathological disease, adults typically experience a normal decline in cognitive function termed age-associated memory impairment (AAMI) (Kramer, Colcombe, McAuley, Scalf, & Erickson, 2005; O’Brien, 1999). It is believed to be a non-progressive disorder. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), on the other …

Functional Capacity In Schizophrenia: Relationship Among Effort, Reinforcement Learning And Self-Beliefs, Sally J. Vogel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit a wide range of complex neurocognitive, psychiatric and behavioral impairments. Recent research suggests that this complex array of symptoms can be at least partially accounted for by dysfunction in more basic mechanisms, such as the ability to learn from positive and negative reinforcement, or the ability to exert adequate effort when completing simple tasks. Evidence also suggests that deficits in these basic mechanisms may contribute to more complex symptoms, such as functional impairment. Also, the relationship between neurocognitive deficits and functional impairment has been found to be mediated by defeatist performance beliefs. However, studies have not …

A Descriptive Study Of The Use Of Neurofeedback In Counseling, Khwlah Jamil Al-Ansari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines neuro-counseling in the mental health field and the concept of neurofeedback training (NFB) as an intervention in the counseling profession. Numbers of studies have indicated that NFB may be effective in the field of counseling. The purpose of this survey study is to explore the use of neurofeedback in the field of counseling.

Additionally, the study used a quantitative descriptive survey research method and descriptive statistics. The survey was sent to members of the American Counseling Association (ACA), and 93 professionals participated. The majority of the sample was licensed professional counselors, professionals with a degree in counseling, …

Pathological Effects Of Repeated Concussive Tbi In Mouse Models: Periventricular Damage And Ventriculomegaly, Richard H. Wolferz Jr.

Honors Scholar Theses

Repeated concussive traumatic brain injury (rcTBI) is the most prominent form of head injury affecting the brain, with an estimated 1.7 million Americans affected each year (Kuhn 2012). Neurologists have been concerned about the danger of repeated head impacts since the 1920’s, but researchers have only begun to understand the long-term effects of rcTBI (McKee 2009). Although symptoms can be as mild as dizziness, current research suggests that multiple concussions can lead to a progressive degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) (Luo 2008, McKee 2009, Kane 2013). Research on the brain is just beginning to scratch the …

Oscillatory Activity In The Subthalamic Nucleus And Motor Cortex In A Pharmacological Model Of Parkinsonian Tremor, Aileen F. Haque

Honors Scholar Theses

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a motor disorder with symptoms including resting tremor, akinesia, bradykinesia, and rigidity. A major neuropathological feature of PD is degeneration of nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) neurons. The resulting DA depletions lead to the production of severe motor deficits. Pharmacological agents that reduce DA transmission can also induce these motor abnormalities. In addition to the involvement of DA, drugs acting on acetylcholine, namely cholinomimetics, can induce or exacerbate Parkinsonian symptoms. In humans, one of the main motor symptoms associated with PD is resting tremor, occurring at a frequency of 3-7 Hz. This can be modeled in rodents using …

Multimodal Frontostriatal Connectivity Underlies Individual Differences In Self-Esteem, Robert S. Chavez, Todd F. Heatherton

Dartmouth Scholarship

A heightened sense of self-esteem is associated with a reduced risk for several types of affective and psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety and eating disorders. However, little is known about how brain systems integrate self-referential processing and positive evaluation to give rise to these feelings. To address this, we combined diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test how frontostriatal connectivity reflects long-term trait and short-term state aspects of self-esteem. Using DTI, we found individual variability in white matter structural integrity between the medial prefrontal cortex and the ventral striatum was related to trait measures of …

Inverse Changes In Ghrelin And A2a Receptor Gene Expression Levels In The Hippocampus Of Heart Failure Canines Following Spinal Cord Stimulation, Benjamin E. Jewett

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Myocardial infarction (MI), often referred to as a heart attack, is a serious health issue in the United States. There is a well-documented link between MI and major depressive disorder (MDD), with a high incidence of MDD occurring after an MI. Overlapping pathologies have been observed within the hippocampus of the brain in animal models of MI and depression. These observations suggest that pathobiological cross-talk between the heart and brain could have a role in the etiology of MDD that occurs after an MI. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has previously been shown to have both cardioprotective and neuroprotective effects post-MI, …

Move, Interact, And Connect Personally Barter Theatre’S Project Real Gets Implicit In Order To Learn, Megan E. Atkinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Body movement, hands-on activity, embodiment, social interaction, emotions, and self-reflection allow teaching artists of Barter’s Theatre’s Project REAL to conduct a lesson with an implicit learning experience as the focus. Barter Theatre’s Project REAL exists as a theatre for education program that collaborates with regular classroom teachers on delivering the curriculum through specific theatre exercises in order to connect the material personally to the students’ lives. Theatre tools provide a human experience that enhances learning for the student by use of kinesthetic movement, social learning, emotions and interpersonal skills. To understand the effects of Barter Theatre’s Project REAL, the director …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Different Doses Of Gabab Receptor Ligands On Spatial Learning And Memory And Memory Flexibility, Chelcie Heaney

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The principal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, gamma amino-butyric acid (GABA), mediates several types of learning and memory. Of the two main receptor subtypes for GABA, the in vivo role of GABAB receptor in learning and memory is less well characterized and the current data often conflict. Based on the current literature, it is unclear, for instance, whether enhancing GABAergic activity via the GABAB receptor could be beneficial for or detrimental to learning and memory. Hippocampally-dependent learning and memory tasks are of particular interest due to their clinical relevance to patients with schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s disease, who exhibit impaired performance …

Presence-At-Hand, Eric Lyle Schultz

Graduate School of Art Theses

Abstract

The writing that follows is intended to provide a theoretical framework for the motives behind my practice. The primary concerns addressed are the reception, transmission, and physical shape of knowledge. I will discuss a human condition that exists as a byproduct of both the legacy of representation as well as the innate biology of the brain. I will argue that as a society we are governed by the residue of an extreme logic, and that this condition places severe margins on our potential for creative solutions. I will propose that our ability to create meaning is stifled by the …

Effects Of 17Β-Estradiol On Learning And Memory And Strategy Use During A Hole Board Spatial Navigation Task In Aged Male Rats, Megan Berthiaume

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Treatment with 17β- estradiol has been shown to ameliorate age related deficits in spatial learning and memory as well as to promote the use of an allocentric strategy during spatial navigation. While the majority of research using 17β- estradiol has been done using females rodents, there have been studies showing an improvement in spatial learning and memory and promoted use of allocentric strategies in spatial navigation in males as well. In males testosterone (T) is metabolized into estradiol by aromatase. As circulating levels of T decline with aging there is less available T to be metabolized into estradiol. The current …

Death Associated Protein Kinase (Dapk) -Mediated Neurodegenerative Mechanisms In Nematode Excitotoxicity, John S. Del Rosario, Katherine Genevieve Feldmann, Towfiq Ahmed, Uzair Amjad, Bakkeung Ko, Junhyung An, Tauhid Mahmud, Maha Salama, Shirley Mei, Daniel Asemota, Itzhak Mano

Publications and Research

Background: Excitotoxicity (the toxic overstimulation of neurons by the excitatory transmitter Glutamate) is a central process in widespread neurodegenerative conditions such as brain ischemia and chronic neurological diseases. Many mechanisms have been suggested to mediate excitotoxicity, but their significance across diverse excitotoxic scenarios remains unclear. Death Associated Protein Kinase (DAPK), a critical molecular switch that controls a range of key signaling and cell death pathways, has been suggested to have an important role in excitotoxicity. However, the molecular mechanism by which DAPK exerts its effect is controversial. A few distinct mechanisms have been suggested by single (sometimes contradicting) studies, and …

Essential Oils From Apple Mint (Mentha Suaveolens) And Passionflower Fruit (Passiflora Incarnata): Studies On Cognition, Coordination, And Chemical Components., Evelyn F. Patrick *, Jessie Bowers *, Shannon Read *, Brett R. Lackey, Christine Murphy, Sandra L. Gray

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Plant essential oils (EO) are used as perfumes, lotions and air fresheners because of their pleasant aromas, but EO also have the ability to elicit changes in mood and behavior. These activities are influenced by the mode of administration and by multiple signaling pathways. The EO aromas from organically grown apple mint (Mentha suaveolens) and passionflower fruit (Passiflora incarnata) were assessed for their effects on cognition and coordination. Participants completed two tasks designed to test working memory and bimanual task efficiency in rooms infused with apple mint, passionflower fruit or control EO. Bimanual coordination was assessed using the Intercept2 program …

Multidisciplinary Intensive Rehabilitation Treatment Improves Sleep Quality In Parkinson's Disease, Giuseppe Frazzitta, Roberto Maestri, Davide Ferrazzoli, Giulio Riboldazzi, Rossana Bera, Cecilia Fontanesi, Roger P. Rossi, Gianni Pezzoli, Maria Felice Ghilardi

Publications and Research

Background Sleep disturbances are among the most common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), greatly interfering with daily activities and diminishing life quality. Pharmacological treatments have not been satisfactory because of side effects and interactions with anti-parkinsonian drugs. While studies have shown that regular exercise improves sleep quality in normal aging, there is no definitive evidence in PD.

Methods In a retrospective study, we determined whether an intense physical and multidisciplinary exercise program improves sleep quality in a large group of patients with PD.

We analyzed the scores of PD Sleep Scale (PDSS), which was administered twice, 28 days apart, …

Anatomy Academy: The Impact On Nursing Students, Gaye L. Ray, Jane H. Lasseter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

1. 1. Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met and description of the results/findings of the project.

We studied the impact on student nurse mentors who volunteered to teach an anatomy based childhood obesity prevention program in area elementary schools. Student nurse mentors’ self-perceived communication, teaching and collaboration skills were measured at pre-and post-participation in the AA program. From the quantitative data collected, descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using SPSS versions 21 (IBM Corp, 2012). Data were reviewed for outliers and data entry errors using descriptive statistics, histograms, and box plots. None were identified. Means …

The Perception Of Symmetry In Depth: Effect Of Symmetry Plane Orientation, Bart Farell

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering - All Scholarship

The visual system is sensitive to symmetries in the frontoparallel plane, and bilateral symmetry about a vertical axis has a particular salience. However, these symmetries represent only a subset of the symmetries realizable in three-dimensional space. The retinal image symmetries formed when viewing natural objects are typically the projections of three-dimensional objects—animals, for example—that have a symmetry in depth. To characterize human sensitivity to depth symmetry, experiments measured observers’ ability to discriminate stereo displays that were symmetrically distributed in depth and those that were asymmetrically distributed. Disparity values were distributed about one of four planes passing through the z-axis and …

Drink Like A Lawyer: The Neuroscience Of Substance Use And Its Impact On Cognitive Wellness, Debra S. Austin

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Lawyers suffer from higher levels of anxiety and depression than the rest of the population, but most do not enter law school with these mental health issues. Disciplinary actions against attorneys involve substance abuse 50 to 75 percent of the time. However, neuroscience research has shown that both the brain and the genes enjoy the power of plasticity, which means that personal choices and environments shape the development of lawyers throughout their lives. Legal educators need a better understanding of what aspects or characteristics of legal education contribute to the decline in mental health of law students, lawyers, and judges, …

Electrophysiological Changes Of N100 Latency And Amplitude In Healthy Participants Performing The Jitter Orientated Visual Integration Task: A Multi-Block Design Study, Fariya Naz

University Scholar Projects

The present study investigated the differences in processing during visual integration in healthy adults. The visual N100 indexes early visual discrimination and in this case, was hypothesized to show differences in both latency and amplitude depending on the level of difficulty which corresponds to orientational jitter in a visual integration task. Four blocks with pseudo-random levels of jitter were presented to participants in the Jitter Oriented Visual Integration (JOVI) task. Results looking at the Oz channel showed significant reduction in amplitude in the visual N100 during the more difficult levels condition of the task. The multi-block design, originally expected to …

Effects Of Moderate-Level Sound Exposure On Behavioral Thresholds In Chinchillas, Maria Sandra Carbajal De Nava

Open Access Theses

Normal audiometric thresholds following noise exposure have generally been considered as an indication of a recovered cochlea and intact peripheral auditory system, yet recent animal work has challenged this classic assumption. Moderately noise-exposed animals have been shown to have permanent loss of synapses on inner hair cells (IHCs) and permanent damage to auditory nerve fibers (ANFs), specifically the low-spontaneous rate fibers (low-SR), despite normal electrophysiological thresholds. Loss of cochlear synapses, known as cochlear synaptopathy, disrupts auditory-nerve signaling, which may result in perceptual speech deficits in noise despite normal audiometric thresholds. Perceptual deficit studies in humans have shown evidence consistent with …

Optimizing The Neural Response To Electrical Stimulation And Exploring New Applications Of Neurostimulation, Kurt Yuqin Qing

Open Access Dissertations

Electrical stimulation has been successful in treating patients who suffer from neurologic and neuropsychiatric disorders that are resistant to standard treatments. For deep brain stimulation (DBS), its official approved use has been limited to mainly motor disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. Alcohol use disorder, and addictive disorders in general, is a prevalent condition that is difficult to treat long-term. To determine whether DBS can reduce alcohol drinking in animals, voluntary alcohol consumption of alcohol-preferring rats before, during, and after stimulation of the nucleus accumbens shell were compared. Intake levels in the low stimulus intensity group (n=3, 100&mgr;A …

The Pathological Role Of Acrolein In Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis And Multiple Sclerosis, Melissa A. Tully

Open Access Dissertations

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating neuropathy that affects nearly 2.5 million people worldwide. Despite substantial efforts, few treatments are currently available largely due to limited knowledge of pathogenic mechanisms underlying the disease. The immune-inflammatory nature of the pathology has prompted investigation of the role of oxidative stress in disease development and progression; however targeting reactive oxygen species for neutralization has had marginal success therapeutically, suggesting that an alternate oxidative stress-related target would prove beneficial. Recently, our lab has implicated acrolein, a highly reactive aldehyde that is both a byproduct and catalyst of lipid peroxidation, as a potential therapeutic …

Elucidation Of Pharmacologically Manipulated Responding In The Delay Discounting Task In High Alcohol Preferring Mice, Meredith Halcomb

Open Access Dissertations

Impulsive behavior is the hallmark of many psychopathologies. Uncovering the neurobiological mechanisms driving impulsivity is paramount in the development of through the delay discounting (DD) task in both human and animal models. The present study is an examination of the predictive validity of the two primary types of DD procedures in animals, the Adjusting Amounts (AA) and within session Increasing Delays (ID) tasks. Methods:Subjects were administered either1.25 mg/kg d-amphetamine (AMP), 1.5 g/kg ethanol (EtOH) or saline and tested in either the AA or ID method for 15 days to evaluate drug effects on impulsive behavior. Results: Stimulant administration resulted …

Exploring The Unknown: Electrophysiological And Behavioural Measures Of Visuospatial Learning, Brendan Quinlivan, John Butler, Abdur R. Ridwan, Ines Beiser, Laura Williams, Eavan Mcgovern, Sean O'Riordan, Michael Hutchinson, Richard B. Reilly

Articles

Visuospatial memory describes our ability to temporarily store and manipulate visual and spatial information, and is employed for a wide variety of complex cognitive tasks. Here, a visuospatial learning task requiring fine motor control is employed to investigate visuospatial learning in a group of typically developing adults. Electrophysiological and behavioural data are collected during a target location task under two experimental conditions: Target Learning and Target Cued. Movement times (MTs) are employed as a behavioural metric of performance, while dynamic P3b amplitudes and power in the alpha band (approximately 10 Hz) are explored as electrophysiological metrics during visuospatial learning. Results …

Cerebrovascular Reactivity Alterations Due To Subconcussive Repetitive Head Trauma In Asymptomatic High School Football Players, Chetas Joshi

Open Access Theses

Chronic neurological damage as a result of chronic repetitive head trauma is a major concern for football athletes today. Repetitive concussions have been linked to many neurological disorders. Recently, it has been reported that repetitive subconcussive events can contribute to long-term neurodegeneration. For these reasons, it is important to understand the effect repetitive subconcussive head trauma has on brain health in young athletes. Past research has demonstrated that cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), an important mediator of cerebrovascular regulation, is impaired following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). This impairment increases susceptibility to secondary injury following mTBI. In this study, Breath-Hold (BH) task …

Molecular Sites And Mechanisms Of Action Of Alcohol On The Nmda Receptor Glun2b Subunit, Yulin Zhao

Dissertations (1934 -)

Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are behavioral disorders involving altered synaptic transmission in the brain. The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, a subtype of glutamate-gated ion channel, has been shown to be one of the most important target sites of alcohol in the central nervous system. The NMDA receptor is formed between two obligatory GluN1 subunits and two GluN2 subunits (2A-2D). Previous studies have been mainly focused on the GluN2A subunit-containing NMDA receptor to study the molecular sites and mechanisms of alcohol action on the NMDA receptors. However, a major role for the GluN2B subunits in the action of alcohol has been pointed …

Multichannel Characterization Of Brain Activity In Neurological Impairments, Yalda Shahriari

Biomedical Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide suffer from various neurological and psychiatric disorders. A better understanding of the underlying neurophysiology and mechanisms for these disorders can lead to improved diagnostic techniques and treatments. The objective of this dissertation is to create a novel characterization of multichannel EEG activity for selected neurological and psychiatric disorders based on available datasets. Specifically, this work provides spatial, spectral, and temporal characterizations of brain activity differences between patients/animal models and healthy controls, with focus on modern techniques that quantify cortical connectivity, which is widely believed to be abnormal in such disorders. Exploring the functional brain …

Development Of A Practical Visual-Evoked Potential-Based Brain-Computer Interface, Nicholas R. Waytowich

Biomedical Engineering Theses & Dissertations

There are many different neuromuscular disorders that disrupt the normal communication pathways between the brain and the rest of the body. These diseases often leave patients in a `locked-in" state, rendering them unable to communicate with their environment despite having cognitively normal brain function. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are augmentative communication devices that establish a direct link between the brain and a computer. Visual evoked potential (VEP)- based BCIs, which are dependent upon the use of salient visual stimuli, are amongst the fastest BCIs available and provide the highest communication rates compared to other BCI modalities. However. the majority of research …

Glycine And Gabaa Receptors Mediate Tonic And Phasic Inhibitory Processes That Contribute To Prepulse Inhibition In The Goldfish Startle Network, Paul C.P. Curtin, Thomas Preuss

Publications and Research

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) is understood as a sensorimotor gating process that attenuates sensory flow to the startle pathway during early stages (20--1000 ms) of information processing. Here, we applied in vivo electrophysiology and pharmacology to determine if PPI is mediated by glycine receptors (GlyRs) and/or GABAA receptors (GABAARs) in the goldfish auditory startle circuit. Specifically, we used selective antagonists to dissect the contributions of target receptors on sound-evoked postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) recorded in the neurons that initiate startle, the Mauthner-cells (M-cell). We found that strychnine, a GlyR antagonist, disrupted a fast-activated (5 ms) and rapidly (<50 >ms) decaying (feed-forward) inhibitory …

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation In Psychiatric Disorders, Gabriel Tortella, Roberta Casati, Luana V M Aparicio, Antonio Mantovani, Natasha Senço, Giordano D'Urso, Jerome Brunelin, Fabiana Guarienti, Priscila Mara Lorencini Selingardi, Débora Muszkat, Bernardo De Sampaio Pereira Junior, Leandro Valiengo, Adriano H. Moffa, Marcel Simis, Lucas Borrione, Andre R. Brunoni

Publications and Research

The interest in non-invasive brain stimulation techniques is increasing in recent years. Among these techniques, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been the subject of great interest among researchers because of its easiness to use, low cost, benign profile of side effects and encouraging results of research in the field. This interest has generated several studies and randomized clinical trials, particularly in psychiatry. In this review, we provide a summary of the development of the technique and its mechanism of action as well as a review of the methodological aspects of randomized clinical trials in psychiatry, including studies in affective …