Cognitive Neuroscience Commons^™

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 …

Birds, Bats And Minds. Tales Of A Revolutionary Scientist: Donald R. Griffin. Volume One, Carolyn A. Ristau

eBooks

In this three-volume biography, we revisit the life and accomplishments of the revolutionary scientist, Donald R. Griffin. He encountered a lifetime of initial hostile resistance to his ideas and studies; now they are largely accepted. He and a colleague discovered the phenomenon of echolocation used by bats to navigate and capture insects, proposed that birds navigate guided by such cues as the sun and stars, and suggested that animals are likely aware, thinking and feeling beings. Forty interviews with his colleagues and friends help us understand the young emerging scientist and the mature researcher. We learn about his and others’ …

Birds, Bats And Minds. Tales Of A Revolutionary Scientist: Donald R. Griffin. Volume Two, Carolyn A. Ristau

eBooks

In this three-volume biography, we revisit the life and accomplishments of the revolutionary scientist, Donald R. Griffin. He encountered a lifetime of initial hostile resistance to his ideas and studies; now they are largely accepted. He and a colleague discovered the phenomenon of echolocation used by bats to navigate and capture insects, proposed that birds navigate guided by such cues as the sun and stars, and suggested that animals are likely aware, thinking and feeling beings. Forty interviews with his colleagues and friends help us understand the young emerging scientist and the mature researcher. We learn about his and others’ …

Neurochemical Signaling Of Reward-Based Learning In Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine Neurons, Kyla F. Wholley

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons signal and participate in reward-related learning. Specifically, dopamine is postulated to encode reward-related environmental stimuli to compute reward prediction errors (RPEs). It is through the computation and maintenance of RPEs that learning occurs. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms that underlie how dopamine neurons compute RPEs and facilitate reward-related learning. The present study utilized fiber photometry in conjunction with a Pavlovian reward-based task to identify how GABA inputs to VTA dopamine neurons contribute to the computation of RPEs and reward-based behavior. Activity of GABA inputs to VTA dopamine neurons increased for reward-predicting …

The Relationship Between Cognitive Impairment In Psychiatric Patients And Readmission Rate To An Inpatient Facility, Cherilyn Isis Schuff

Theses and Dissertations

The primary intention of this study was to further understand the impact of assessing cognitive impairment in psychiatric patients, as a mediating factor on readmission rates. Mild cognitive dysfunction impacts a patient’s functional outcomes (Bowie & Harvey, 2006; Davis et al., 2012; Marcantonio, et al., 2001). Little information exists to guide best practices in the treatment of adults with cognitive impairment who are hospitalized for acute conditions (Davis et al., 2012). A cognitive impairment may impact patient prognosis and ability to function outside of a setting focused on stabilization. Neuropsychological testing is a valuable tool in predicting a patient’s cognitive …

The Standing Of Anger: Insights From The Debate(S) On Constructed Emotion, Andrew Holzer

CMC Senior Theses

In her book, Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice, Martha Nussbaum argues that anger is inherently flawed because it fundamentally contains the desire for payback. To support her argument, she posits specific metaphysical claims about the nature of emotions like anger. This thesis is an extended critique of her metaphysical foundation from the perspective of empirical research in the neuroscience of emotion. The first reason to dispute this picture is descriptive; this view of anger is based on an outdated version of cognitive appraisal theory, which sees emotions as triggered directly by static moments of cognitive appraisal. The second …

The Biobehavioral Effects Of Embryonic Exposure To Neural Inflammation And Oxidative Stress In Zebrafish, Dalton J. Anderson

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this research is to improve understanding of the neurodevelopmental effects of embryonic exposure to elevated inflammation and oxidative stress induced by the antipyretic drug acetaminophen (APAP). Our study was the first to examine the interactive effects of APAP and inflammation in zebrafish embryos and how the treatments affect brain development and larval behavior. Experimental groups of zebrafish larvae were exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce inflammation, APAP, or LPS + APAP and larval behavior was analyzed using Ethovision automated behavioral tracking software. We also measured changes in whole-brain Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 Beta (GSK3B) and GSK3B phosphorylation, …

What Are We Most Curious About? Understanding The Relationship Between Curiosity And Marginal Knowledge, Alexis Lee

CMC Senior Theses

There are several competing theories about the relationship between curiosity and metacognitive judgment, or one’s assessment of their own knowledge. Novelty theories say that curiosity is highest for wholly unknown information; complexity theories say that curiosity is highest for moderately unknown information; and the Region of Proximal Learning (RPL) theory says that curiosity is highest for almost-known information. The present study aimed to address how curiosity differs within marginal knowledge (MK), memory content that is available but not accessible, across two experiments. In both experiments, participants responded to 100 short-answer general knowledge questions, selecting a phenomenological category to represent their …

Sex Differences In Stress Reactivity, Brain Morphology, And Oxytocin In The Hypothalamus Of The Gray Short-Tailed Opossum (Monodelphis Domestica), Esperanza I. Zacarias, Daniela Rodriguez, Alexandra Chalons, Sasawan Heingraj, Nicole Altamirano, Joseph Rafac, John L. Vandeberg, Mario Gil

Research Colloquium

Understanding the effects of stress on behavior and cognition is important due to its impact on mental health and wellbeing (Schneiderman et al. 2005). Translational animal research can contribute to the development of new treatments that can improve therapeutic outcomes and our understanding of the neurobiology of stress. In the present study, we complement behavioral stress reactivity with immunohistochemical localization of oxytocin in the hypothalamus, a neuropeptide that regulates stress (Neumann & Slattery, 2016). Oxytocin has potential therapeutic use for mental health disorders (Neumann & Slattery, 2016), and the effects of oxytocin seem to be sexually dimorphic (Love, 2018). Using …

Understanding The Resources, Barriers, Facilitators And Interests About Aging And Dementia Research Of Community Members From The Rio Grande Valley, Karla Daniela Lopez Lorenzo, Rosa V. Pirela Mavarez, Gabriela Osuna, Kendra Stine, Nathalie Chacon, Noe Garza, Gladys E. Maestre

Research Symposium

Background: One of ten people aged 65 develops Alzheimer’s Disease and it is one of the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) is mostly constituted by Hispanic/Latinos (93%), a population that has a 1.5X increased risk of AD onset. Nevertheless, there are not enough resources to support people living with dementia and their care partners. This study will leverage research efforts deployed by the RGV Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research to understand the social representations about the resources, barriers, facilitators, and interests of the RGV community about dementia and Alzheimer’s …

Automatic Analysis Of The Frequency, Vigor, And Complexity Of Spontaneous Locomotion Bouts Of Mice With Loss And Gain Of Function Of The G Protein-Coupled Receptor Smoothened In Cholinergic Neurons, Aleksandra Feshchenko

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Locomotion, a fundamental behavior, is classically assessed using simple metrics of velocity and total distance moved in an open field. This behavior however offers rich data about the organization and breadth of actions an animal can take while only facing limitations due to the bio-mechanical constraints of the organism. Importantly, these actions are not biased towards a particular task-solution space imposed by many behavioral paradigms. Here, to analyze motor complexity in freely ambulating mice, we developed a method for the automatic and unbiased identification of locomotor bouts which we call Bout Finder (BF). This analysis utilizes Open Feld data to …

Brainwaves, Memory, And Reward, Rebecca Mccune

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

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

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

Animal Sentience

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

Active Encoding Of Space Through Time, Michele Rucci, Jonathan D. Victor

MODVIS Workshop

No abstract provided.

Sleep Duration Is Associated With Caudate Volume And Executive Function, Nicole Jones

Honors Theses

The ineligible role of the caudate nucleus in sleep has been implicated throughout multiple scientific studies. Previous literature has shown that greater caudate volume is associated with longer habitual sleep duration in older adults- ranging from 55 years of age and up. However, the association between sleep duration and caudate volume remains unknown in the younger population. In this study, we examined the caudate volume in youth to older adults (10 to 85 years old) with a greater sample size (N=464) to increase statistical power. The volumetric size of the caudate nucleus showed significantly positive association with habitual sleep duration, …

Local Field Potentials In The Male Rat Nucleus Accumbens During Effort-Based Behavior, Celine Aliko, John Salamone, Alev Ecevitoglu

Honors Scholar Theses

Major depression is a devastating disorder that consists of multiple symptoms such as low mood and motivational dysfunction. It has been shown that motivational dysfunction can be studied in animal models by using effort-based choice paradigms, which vary in their response requirements. It has been reported that dopamine depletion in the nucleus accumbens decreases ratio-scheduled lever-pressing in a manner related to the size of the ratio requirement. One dopamine depleting agent is tetrabenazine (TBZ), which has been shown to decrease lever-pressing and induce low-effort bias. The current study aims to investigate behavioral and electrophysiological changes that occur with animals performing …

Effects Of Acute And Repeated Alcohol Exposure On Expression Of Synaptic-Associated Genes In The Male And Female Mouse Mpfc, Dhruba Podder

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a serious chronic brain disease; in 2021 there were ~29.5 million people in the U.S. diagnosed with AUD. Individuals with AUD often show cognitive impairment such as risky decision-making, difficulties with impulse control, and working memory deficits. This impairment is associated with structural and functional changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), an extensively interconnected region of the frontal lobe involved in executive control of goal-directed behaviors. Chronic alcohol exposure in rodents has been seen to cause deficits in performance in behavioral tasks which assess mPFC function such as working memory and behavioral flexibility. It is …

Effects Of Diet On Lcn2 Expression And Onset Of Neuroinflammation In An Alzheimer’S Disease Mice Model, Abdirahman A. Hayir

Neuroscience Honors Projects

This project covers the findings regarding the impact of diet on lipocalin 2 (LCN2) and the effects it has on neuroinflammation Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). LCN2 is a protein that is critical to the functionality of mitochondria and inflammatory responses. Evidence has shown that mitochondrial dysfunction is a potential central event in driving AD pathogenesis and contributing to formation of pathological hallmarks such as chronic inflammation. Furthermore, studies have shown that LCN2 can be deficient under metabolic conditions such as high-fat-diet (HFD). This study investigates if HFD induces LCN2 deficiency and increased neuroinflammation in an AD mice model.

Polyrhythmic Pathways: Using Bimanual Coordination Research To Develop A New Framework For Practice, Performance, And Pedagogy, Christian Swafford

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This study reviews and compares percussion literature pertaining to polyrhythms and scientific literature pertaining to bimanual coordination. There exists a gap in the pedagogical approach to polyrhythms, and there is much disagreement between common instructional methods, especially when considered against the findings of several bimanual coordination studies. The purpose of this study is to reveal insight to the percussion community that the learning of polyrhythms is facilitated by the brain in novel ways, and the uniqueness of this learning process requires a rethinking of the current pedagogical approach. Percussion articles, method books, popular literature, and music scores are surveyed alongside …

The Influence Of Aging And Cognitive Load On Neural Oscillations: An Analysis Of Resting-State And Task-Related Alpha Waves, Heather Shipley

CMC Senior Theses

Neurodegenerative disease associated with aging can have devastating effects on cognitive function, but of interest is how healthy aging affects cognitive and neural function. One measure of neural function associated with aging and cognitive decline is alpha-band oscillations (8-13 Hz) in electroencephalography data (EEG). Alpha-band oscillations are thought to play a role in complex cognitive function and network coordination through inhibitory processes indexed via alpha suppression. We examined whether the aperiodic component of neural activity, a marker of neural noise, influences findings of age-related differences in alpha-band oscillatory activity. In this study, we examined how aging and increased cognitive load …

Cue Reactivity In Electronic Cigarette Users With Sign-Tracking Or Goal-Tracking Behaviors, Polina Krom

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Polina Krom

Cue reactivity is an important predictor of addiction course and relapse. However, cue reactivity is only observed after an addiction develops. As such, it is unclear to what degree cue reactivity represents a state stemming from the addiction process versus a trait-like propensity towards developing cue-reward associations. Work in animal models has pointed to important individual differences in trait-like inclination to attribute incentive salience to reward-predictive cues that is associated with addiction-relevant behavioral and neurobiological features. These individual differences manifest as sign-tracking (ST) and goal-tracking (GT) behaviors during Pavlovian conditioning. Little research has attempted to translate ST and …

Neural Systems Underlying Rdoc Social Constructs: An Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-Analysis, Rosario Pintos Lobo, Katherine L. Bottenhorn, Michael C. Riedel, Afra I. Toma, Megan M. Hare, Donisha D. Smith, Alexandra C. Moor, Isis K. Cowan, Javier A. Valdes, Jessica E. Bartley, Taylor Salo, Emily R. Boeving, Brianna Pankey, Matthew T. Sutherland, Erica D. Musser, Angela R. Laird

Psychology Faculty Publications

Neuroscientists have sought to identify the underlying neural systems supporting social processing that allow interaction and communication, forming social relationships, and navigating the social world. Through the use of NIMH’s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, we evaluated consensus among studies that examined brain activity during social tasks to elucidate regions comprising the “social brain”. We examined convergence across tasks corresponding to the four RDoC social constructs, including Affiliation and Attachment, Social Communication, Perception and Understanding of Self, and Perception and Understanding of Others. We performed a series of coordinate-based meta-analyses using the activation likelihood estimate (ALE) method. Meta-analysis was performed …

Analyzing Hippocampus Based Behavior In Model Mice, Tiria Carr

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

Model organism must discern between familiar and novel stimuli after delay. Hippocampal dependent processes involved in spatial pattern recognition. Latency in trial responses and reward collection is measured, as well as trial accuracy.

Probing The Boundaries Of Human Agency, Sook Mun Wong

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

In this dissertation, I aim to advance our understanding of human agency and how it is computed. First, I probe the limits of what behavior we can and cannot produce agentically. Secondly, I explore microdosing with psychedelic drugs as a method of perturbing and studying changes to the sense of agency. Thirdly, I use transcranial magnetic stimulation to induce body movements and investigate how the sense of agency is affected. Finally, I summarise my findings and synthesize insights to further our understanding human agency.

Belonging Amidst Bias: Embracing Difference On The Path To Common Humanity, Alyssia Sheikh

Mindfulness Studies Theses

The mindfulness community prioritizes self-awareness and common humanity, but is often entrapped by the idea that oneness is equivalent to sameness. This inclination for objectivity is rooted in the same neural propensities that facilitate bias; the brain is a subjective organ, however, and so neurologically speaking, bias is inevitable. This paper asks: Is striving for sameness separating us from interconnectedness? A human experience is a subjective, diverse, and variable one. The path to shared humanity and social justice co-occurs with increasing cultural humility through mindful awareness and acknowledging our subjective nature. Exploring our neurological tendency to make assumptions, we …

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

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

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

Analysis Of The Distributed Representation Of Operant Memory In Aplysia, Renan Murillo Costa

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Operant conditioning, a ubiquitous form of learning in which animals learn from the consequences of behavior, engages a high-dimensional neuronal population space spanning multiple brain regions. A complete characterization of an operant memory remains elusive. Some sites of plasticity participating in the engram underlying an example of operant memory in Aplysia have been previously uncovered. Three studies are described here that sought to draw closer to a thorough characterization of this memory. The first study used a computational model to examine the ways in which sites of plasticity (individually and in combination) contribute to memory expression. Each site of plasticity …

The Effects Of Floral Attributes And Conspecifics On Bumble Bee Forager Memory, Lucas Lauter, Tiffany Dinh

Undergraduate Research Symposium

What do bees remember about flowers? These memories are important for both bees and flowers. The bees have better foraging success and gain more nectar and pollen from flowers when they remember the most rewarding flower types. More memorable flowers will be visited more frequently, resulting in more successful pollination for the plant. At the same time, bees can also learn about flowers from other bees and may remember this information differently. We are training and testing three floral cues and a single social cue to see how the different types of cues affect their learning and memory of rewarding …

Withdrawal From Voluntary Oral Methamphetamine Reveals Female Specific Susceptibilities To Behavioral Deficits And Neurochemical Perpetuators Of Neurotoxicity And Drug Seeking Behavior, Nicoletta K. Memos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

MA is a potent, highly addictive psychomotor stimulant known to produce neurotoxic effects on the brain leading to neurological impairments^1-6 characterized by neurodegeneration of dopaminergic fibers, cell bodies and pathways, as well as brain regions such as the hippocampus, frontal cortex, and midbrain^1,5.

In MA addiction, women are more vulnerable to the behavioral and cognitive effects of MA compared to men. Adult human literature reveals gender differences in usage patterns and women demonstrate increased vulnerability to the neurotoxic effects and health effects of MA use. Women begin drug use at an earlier age, escalate drug use quicker, …

The Significance Of Sonic Branding To Strategically Stimulate Consumer Behavior: Content Analysis Of Four Interviews From Jeanna Isham’S “Sound In Marketing” Podcast, Ina Beilina

Student Theses and Dissertations

Purpose:
Sonic branding is not just about composing jingles like McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It.” Sonic branding is an industry that strategically designs a cohesive auditory component of a brand’s corporate identity. This paper examines the psychological impact of music and sound on consumer behavior reviewing studies from the past 40 years and investigates the significance of stimulating auditory perception by infusing sound in consumer experience in the modern 2020s.

Design/methodology/approach:
Qualitative content analysis of audio media was used to test two hypotheses. Four archival oral interview recordings from Jeanna Isham’s podcast “Sound in Marketing” featuring the sonic branding experts …