Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Sleep-Disordered Breathing Affects Auditory Processing In 5–7 Year-Old Children: Evidence From Brain Recordings, Alexandra P.F. Key, Dennis L. Molfese, Louise O’Brien, David Gozal

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Poor sleep in children is associated with lower neurocognitive functioning and increased maladaptive behaviors. The current study examined the impact of snoring (the most common manifestation of sleep-disordered breathing) on cognitive and brain functioning in a sample of 35 asymptomatic children ages 5–7 years identified in the community as having habitual snoring (SDB). All participants completed polysomnographic, neurocognitive (NEPSY) and psychophysiological (ERPs to speech sounds) assessments. The results indicated that sub-clinical levels of SDB may not necessarily lead to reduced performance on standardized behavioral measures of attention and memory. However, brain indices of speech perception and discrimination (N1/P2) are sensitive …

P2x Antagonists Inhibit Styryl Dye Entry Into Hair Cells, M. A. Crumling, M. Tong, K. L. Aschenbach, L. Liu

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

The styryl pyridinium dyes, FM1-43 and AM1-43, are fluorescent molecules that can permeate the mechanotransduction channels of hair cells, the sensory receptors of the inner ear. When these dyes are applied to hair cells, they enter the cytoplasm rapidly, resulting in a readily detectable intracellular fluorescence that is often used as a molecular indication of mechanotransduction channel activity. However, such dyes can also permeate the ATP receptor, P2X2. Therefore, we explored the contribution of P2X receptors to the loading of hair cells with AM1-43. The chick inner ear was found to express P2X receptors and to release ATP, similar to …

P2x Antagonists Inhibit Styryl Dye Entry Into Hair Cells, M. A. Crumling, M. Tong, K. L. Aschenbach, L. Liu

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

The styryl pyridinium dyes, FM1-43 and AM1-43, are fluorescent molecules that can permeate the mechanotransduction channels of hair cells, the sensory receptors of the inner ear. When these dyes are applied to hair cells, they enter the cytoplasm rapidly, resulting in a readily detectable intracellular fluorescence that is often used as a molecular indication of mechanotransduction channel activity. However, such dyes can also permeate the ATP receptor, P2X2. Therefore, we explored the contribution of P2X receptors to the loading of hair cells with AM1-43. The chick inner ear was found to express P2X receptors and to release ATP, similar to …

Developmental Emergence Of Power-Law Wake Behavior Depends Upon The Functional Integrity Of The Locus Coeruleus, Andrew J. Gall, Badal Joshi, Janet Best, Virginia R. Florang, Jonathan A. Doorn, Mark S. Blumberg

Faculty Publications

STUDY OBJECTIVES:

Daily amounts of sleep and wakefulness are accumulated in discrete bouts that exhibit distinct statistical properties. In adult mammals, sleep bout durations follow an exponential distribution whereas wake bout durations follow a power-law distribution. In infant Norway rats, however, wake bouts initially follow an exponential distribution and only transition to a power-law distribution beginning around postnatal day 15 (P15). Here we test the hypothesis that the locus coeruleus (LC), one of several wake-active nuclei in the brainstem, contributes to this developmental transition.

DESIGN:

At P7, rats were injected subcutaneously with saline or DSP-4, a neurotoxin that targets noradrenergic …

Effects Of Estrogen On Muscle Damage In Response To An Acute Resistance Exercise Protocol, Megan R. Wolf

Honors Scholar Theses

Creatine Kinase (CK) is used as a measure of exercise-induced muscle membrane damage. During acute eccentric (muscle lengthening) exercise, muscle sarcolemma, sarcoplasmic reticulum, and Z-lines are damaged, thus causing muscle proteins and enzymes to leak into the interstitial fluid.

Strenuous eccentric exercise produces an elevation of oxygen free radicals, which further increases muscle damage. Muscle soreness and fatigue can be attributed to this membrane damage. Estradiol, however, may preserve membrane stability post-exercise (Brancaccio, Maffulli, & Limongelli, 2007; Carter, Dobridge, & Hackney, 2001; Tiidus, 2001). Because estradiol has a similar structure to Vitamin E, which is known to have antioxidant properties, …

Intrinsic Ph-Sensitivity Of Cells In The Retrotrapezoid Nucleus: Possible Role Of Glia In Respiratory Drive, Nicole Edwards

Honors Scholar Theses

An increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) and protons (H+) are the primary signals for breathing. Cells that sense changes in CO2/H+ levels and increase breathing accordingly are located in a region of the caudal medulla oblongata called the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN). Specifically, select RTN neurons are intrinsically pH sensitive and send excitatory projections to the respiratory rhythm generator to drive breathing. Glial cells in the RTN are thought to contribute to this respiratory drive, possibly by releasing ATP in response to increases in CO2/H+ levels.

However, pH sensitivity of RTN glial cells has yet to be determined.

Therefore, the goal …

Head And Neck Embryology: An Overview Of Development, Growth And Defect In The Human Fetus, Allison Baylis

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this research is to explore the growth and formation of the head and neck from embryological development through puberty in order to understand how this knowledge is necessary for the development of dental and medical treatments and procedures. This is a necessary aspect of the medical and dental school curriculum at the University of Connecticut Health Center Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine that needs to be incorporated into the current study of embryology for first-year students. Working with Dr. Christine Niekrash, D.M.D, this paper will cover the embryology and growth of the head, face and oral …

The Role Of Epha4 In Glial Scar Formation Following Injury, Krysti Todd

Honors Scholar Theses

Although many areas of the brain lose their regenerative capacity with age, stem cell niches have been identified in both the subventricular zone (SVZ) along the lateral walls of the lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus (Gage, 2000; Alvarez-Buylla et al., 2001; Alvarez-Buylla and Lim, 2004). The SVZ niche utilizes many mechanisms to determine the migration patterns of neuroblasts along the RMS into the olfactory bulb, one being Eph/ephrin signaling (Conover et al., 2000; Holmberg et al., 2005). EphA4-mediated signaling is necessary for axon guidance during development, and its continued expression in the SVZ niche …

Salivary Cortisol, Psychological Stress And Depressive Symptoms Among Patients Undergoing Colon Cancer Screenings, Allyson Reid

Honors Scholar Theses

As the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, colon cancer has a high cure rate if detected early by a colonoscopy (U.S.

Cancer Statistics Working Group, 2007). However, more than 41 million at-risk Americans are not properly receiving colonoscopy screenings according to the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control. This study provides insight into the physiological and psychological benefits of the colonoscopy procedure over and above cancer detection and prevention. Thirty-six patients receiving colonoscopic screening at the University of Connecticut Health Center participated in this study. A questionnaire battery that assessed perceived stress, depressive symptoms, …

Differentiation Of Human Embryonic Stem Cell (Hesc) Derived Pyramidal Neurons, Eagan Jacqueline

Honors Scholar Theses

The mammalian cerebral neocortex is a complex six-layered structure containing multiple types of neurons. Pyramidal neurons of the neocortex are formed during development in an inside-out manner, by which deep layer (DL) neurons are generated first, and upper layer (UL) neurons are generated last. Neurons within the six-layered neocortex express unique markers for their position, showing whether they are subplate, deep layer, upper layer, or Cajal-Retzius neurons. The sequential generation of cortical layers, which exists in vivo, has been partially recapitulated in vitro by differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (Gaspard et al., 2008) and human embryonic stem cells (hESC) …

Striatal Neuroinflammation Promotes Parkinsonism In Rats, Dong-Young Choi, Mei Liu, Randy L. Hunter, Wayne A. Cass, Jignesh D. Pandya, Patrick G. Sullivan, Eun-Joo Shin, Hyoung-Chun Kim, Don M. Gash, Guoying Bing

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with unknown cause, but it has been suggested that neuroinflammation may play a role in pathogenesis of the disease. Neuroinflammatory component in process of PD neurodegeneration was proposed by postmortem, epidemiological and animal model studies. However, it remains unclear how neuroinflammatory factors contribute to dopaminergic neuronal death in PD.

FINDINGS: In this study, we analyzed the relationship among inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-derived NO, mitochondrial dysfunction and dopaminergic neurodegeneration to examine the possibility that microglial neuroinflammation may induce dopaminergic neuronal loss in the substantia nigra. Unilateral injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) …

Same-Sex Social Behavior In Meadow Voles: Multiple And Rapid Formation Of Attachments, Annaliese K. Beery, David M. Routman, Irving Zucker

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

Adult meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) are solitary in the spring–summer reproductive season, but during winter months, females and males are socially tolerant and aggregate in groups. This behavioral difference is triggered by day length: female meadow voles housed in short, winterlike day lengths form same-sex partner preferences, whereas those housed in long, summer-like day lengths are less social. The present study demonstrates that same-sex social attachments in short day lengths are not exclusive; females formed concurrent attachments with more than one individual, and with non-kin as well as siblings. Partner preferences between females were established within one day of cohousing …

The Role Of Connexin-36 Gap Junctions In Alcohol Intoxication And Reward, Kathryn Diane Bradley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis project was to examine the function of connexin-36 (Cx36) gap junctions (GJs) in producing alcohol's intoxicating and rewarding effects. GABA neurons are thought to inhibit dopamine (DA) neurotransmission in the mesocorticolimbic system, which originates in the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) and projects to limbic structures such as the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). The mesolimbic DA system is believed to be the neural substrate of alcohol intoxication and addiction (Tepper, Paladini, & Celada, 1998). Alcohol suppresses the firing rate of GABA neurons in the VTA (Gallegos, Criado, Lee, Henriksen, & Steffensen, 1999) and presumably disinhibits DA …

Frequency And Spatial Characteristics Of Highfrequency Neuromagnetic Signals In Childhood Epilepsy, Jing Xiang, Yang Liu, Yingying Wang, Elijah G. Kirtman, Cincinnati Children’S Hospital Medical Center Kotecha, Yangmei Chen, Xiaolin Huo, Hisako Fujiwara, Nat Hemasilpin, Ki Lee, Francesco T. Mangano, James Leach, Blaise Jones, Ton Degrauw, Douglas Rose

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Purpose. Invasive intracranial recordings have suggested that high-frequency oscillation is involved in epileptogenesis and is highly localized to epileptogenic zones. The aim of the present study is to characterize the frequency and spatial patterns of high-frequency brain signals in childhood epilepsy using a non-invasive technology. Methods. Thirty children with clinically diagnosed epilepsy were studied using a whole head magnetoencephalography (MEG) system. MEG data were digitized at 4 000 Hz. The frequency and spatial characteristics of high-frequency neuromagnetic signals were analyzed using continuous wavelet transform and beamformer. Threedimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was obtained for each patient to localize magnetic sources. …

Microsaccade Rate Varies With Subjective Visibility During Motion-Induced Blindness, Po-Jang Hsieh, Peter U. Tse

Dartmouth Scholarship

Motion-induced blindness (MIB) occurs when a dot embedded in a motion field subjectively vanishes. Here we report the first psychophysical data concerning effects of microsaccade/eyeblink rate upon perceptual switches during MIB. We find that the rate of microsaccades/eyeblink rises before and after perceptual transitions from not seeing to seeing the dot, and decreases before perceptual transitions from seeing it to not seeing it. In addition, event-related fMRI data reveal that, when a dot subjectively reappears during MIB, the blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal increases in V1v and V2v and decreases in contralateral hMT+. These BOLD signal changes observed upon perceptual …

Revisiting The Mind- Body Paradox: Can Brain Functioning Explain Moral Reasoning?, Brianna Mahan

Honors Projects in Science and Technology

With this paper, I attempt to explore possible neural correlates of morality. We define morality as the one part, structure, or process of the brain that could be linked to an innate ability to understand and determine right versus wrong. An understanding of right of right and wrong can provide us with a sense of guilt and empathy for an action or another person. Right and wrong will be defined through a primarily Judeo-Christian perspective, as it was the principle respondent among our questionnaire. There is a possibility for differences among other religions. For that reason, we expect the neural …

Effects Of Hze Irradiation On Chemical Neurotransmission In Rodent Hippocampus, Mayumi Machida

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Space radiation represents a significant risk to the CNS (central nervous system) during space missions. Most harmful are the HZE (high mass, highly charged (Z), high energy) particles, e.g. ⁵⁶Fe, which possess high ionizing ability, dense energy deposition pattern, and high penetrance.

Accumulating evidence suggests that radiation has significant impact on cognitive functions. In ground-base experiments, HZE radiation induces pronounced deficits in hippocampus dependent learning and memory in rodents. However, the mechanisms underlying these impairments are mostly unknown.

Exposure to HZE radiation elevates the level of oxidation, resulting in cell loss, tissue damage and functional deficits through direct ionization …

Fruitless, Doublesex And The Genetics Of Social Behavior In Drosophila Melanogaster, Kathleen King Siwicki, E. A. Kravitz

Biology Faculty Works

Two genes coding for transcription factors, fruitless and doublesex, have been suggested to play important roles in the regulation of sexually dimorphic patterns of social behavior in Drosophila melanogaster. The generalization that fruitless specified the development of the nervous system and doublesex specified non-neural tissues culminated with claims that fruitless was both necessary and sufficient to establish sex-specific patterns of behavior. Several recent articles refute this notion, however, demonstrating that at a minimum, both fruitless and doublesex are involved in establishing sexually dimorphic features of neural circuitry and behavior in fruit flies.

Analysis Of Electroencephalogram Signals For The Identification Of Mental Tasks, My Thy Thi Tran

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals can be used for implicit communication such as to control robots or medical equipment by brain activity or to detect an individual's intentions of committing premeditated crimes. An EEG based brain-computer interface allows paralyzed patients to express their thoughts. However, biological and technical artifacts heavily interfered with EEG signals due to blinking of the eyes, muscle activities and line noise. Sometimes the noise interference due to signal artifacts becomes more prominent than the information content. This thesis investigates novel feature extraction methodologies in EEG signals to represent different thought processes and employs neural network-based pattern classification techniques …

To See Or Not To See: Prestimulus Α Phase Predicts Visual Awareness, Kyle E. Mathewson, Gabriele Gratton, Monica Fabiani, Diane M. Beck, Tony Ro

Publications and Research

We often fail to see something that at other times is readily detectable. Because the visual stimulus itself is unchanged, this variability in conscious awareness is likely related to changes in the brain. Here we show that the phase of EEG α rhythm measured over posterior brain regions can reliably predict both subsequent visual detection and stimulus-elicited cortical activation levels in a metacontrast masking paradigm. When a visual target presentation coincides with the trough of an α wave, cortical activation is suppressed as early as 100 ms after stimulus onset, and observers are less likely to detect the target. Thus, …

The Sleeping Brain's Influence On Verbal Memory: Boosting Resistance To Interference, Jeffrey M. Ellenbogen, Justin C. Hulbert, Ying Jiang, Robert Stickgold

Dartmouth Scholarship

Memories evolve. After learning something new, the brain initiates a complex set of post-learning processing that facilitates recall (i.e., consolidation). Evidence points to sleep as one of the determinants of that change. But whenever a behavioral study of episodic memory shows a benefit of sleep, critics assert that sleep only leads to a temporary shelter from the damaging effects of interference that would otherwise accrue during wakefulness. To evaluate the potentially active role of sleep for verbal memory, we compared memory recall after sleep, with and without interference before testing. We demonstrated that recall performance for verbal memory was greater …

In Vitro Guidance Of Retinal Axons By A Tectal Lamina-Specific Glycoprotein Nel, Yulan Jiang, Hiroya Obama, Soh-Leh Kuan, Ritsuko Nakamura, Chizu Nakamoto, Zhufeng Ouyang, Masaru Nakamoto

Biology Faculty Publications

Nel is a glycoprotein containing five chordin-like and six epidermal growth factor-like domains and is strongly expressed in the nervous system. In this study, we have examined expression patterns and in vitro functions of Nel in the chicken retinotectal system. We have found that in the developing tectum, expression of Nel is localized in specific laminae that retinal axons normally do not enter, including the border between the retinorecipient and non-retinorecipient laminae. Nel-binding activity is detected on retinal axons both in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that retinal axons express a receptor for Nel. In vitro, Nel inhibits retinal axon …

Polymorphisms Of Delta-Aminolevulinic Acid Dehydratase (Alad) And Peptide Transporter 2 (Pept2) Genes In Children With Low-Level Lead Exposure, Christina Sobin, Marisela Gutierrez, Heather Alterio

Selected Works Temporary Series

Low-level lead exposure during early childhood has long been associated with altered neurocognitive development and diminished cognitive functions. Over nine thousand U.S. industrial facilities annually emit significant amounts of lead, creating exposure risk particularly for minority children. The mechanisms by which low-level lead exerts neurotoxic effects are poorly understood. Once absorbed, the only intervention is source removal, thus primary prevention is key. Genetic biomarkers could provide an efficient means of identifying children at greatest risk. Common functional variants of genes that alter lead’s neurotoxic potential have been identified and include delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD2) and peptide transporter 2 (PEPT2*2). These …

A Psychobiological Framework Of The Substrates That Mediate Nicotine Use During Adolescence, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Alcohol Self-Administration Acutely Stimulates The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (Hpa) Axis, But Alcohol Dependence Leads To A Dampened Neuroendocrine State, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Female Rats Display Dose-Dependent Differences To The Rewarding And Aversive Effects Of Nicotine In An Age-, Hormone-, And Sex-Dependent Manner., Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Pdf Of All O'Dell Manuscripts, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Serotonin 2c Receptor Null Mutation On Physiology And Behavior Associated With Nigrostriatal Dopamine Pathway Function., Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Rodent Models Of Nicotine Reward: What Do They Tell Us About Tobacco Abuse In Humans?, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Nicotine Withdrawal Produces Fewer Decreases In Extracellular Levels Of Dopamine In The Nucleus Accumbens Of Adolescent Versus Adult Rats., Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.