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Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience

Biophysical Model Of Retraction Motor Neurons And Their Modification By Operant Conditioning, Maria Rasheed May 2024

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

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

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


Role Of Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Receptor Signaling In The Suppression Of Punished Reward Seeking, Grace M. Joyner, Anna Caroline Toburen Apr 2023

Role Of Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Receptor Signaling In The Suppression Of Punished Reward Seeking, Grace M. Joyner, Anna Caroline Toburen

Senior Theses

Previous studies have shown that within the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a brain region associated with motivation and reinforcement learning, activity of neurons expressing the dopamine D2 receptor (D2R neurons) act as a “break” on risky behavior associated with negative outcomes. Moreover, when these neurons are stimulated, rats were found to become more risk averse. However, the impact of dopamine signaling through NAc D2R neurons in risk avoidance is still unclear. To further explore the role of NAc dopamine signaling in punished reward-seeking, we tested rats in a novel punished food-seeking paradigm in which subjects are trained to choose between a …


Estrogen Disruption Of Hypothalamic Neural Activity, Princess Dickson Jan 2021

Estrogen Disruption Of Hypothalamic Neural Activity, Princess Dickson

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The brain is highly dependent on the endocrine system for proper neurodevelopment, as it plays a key role in many biological processes. Bisphenol A is a chemical found in plastics that has the potential to mimic the effects of Estrogen in the body, at least weakly. People interact with plastic that contains BPA regularly, and people are at risk for exposure even before being born. The abundance of BPA, along with other exogenous estrogens, makes examining the relationship between early exposure and changes in brain activity imperative. The current study aims to establish a relationship between disrupted estrogen function and …


The 5-Ht1a-R Knockout Mouse As A Model Of Later Life Anxiety Disorders: Implications For Sex Differences, Tatyana Budylin May 2019

The 5-Ht1a-R Knockout Mouse As A Model Of Later Life Anxiety Disorders: Implications For Sex Differences, Tatyana Budylin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Anxiety affects nearly twice as many women as it affects men across all cultures and economic groups. Importantly, girls have a higher chance of inheriting anxiety disorders than boys, and many anxiety disorders appear at a very young age. However, little is known about sex differences in brain and behavioral development and how they relate to anxiety in adulthood. Serotonin 1A receptor (5-HT1A-R) mediated signaling has been implicated in depression and anxiety, however most studies that focus on the involvement of the 5-HT1A-R have been conducted in adults. Little is known about how the 5-HT1A …


An Analysis Of Neurogenesis In A Mouse Model Of Chemotherapy Related Cognitive Impairment, Maxwell A. Hennings May 2017

An Analysis Of Neurogenesis In A Mouse Model Of Chemotherapy Related Cognitive Impairment, Maxwell A. Hennings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cancer patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy often experience cognitive decline following treatment. This phenomenon, often dubbed “chemo brain” or “chemo fog” is usually temporary, but for a subset of survivors, these cognitive impairments can be long-lasting (>10 years) and negatively affect patients’ quality of life, career performance, and social fulfillment. While it is unclear what neurobiological mechanisms underlie chemotherapy related cognitive impairment, the majority of the animal literature has focused on adult neurogenesis. One process important for neurogenesis is the proliferation of new neurons within the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. It is evident that many chemotherapy agents can …


Relative Dependence Of Neural Plasticity On Age And Activity In The Bumblebee (Bombus Huntii), Geoffrey Nielsen Jan 2011

Relative Dependence Of Neural Plasticity On Age And Activity In The Bumblebee (Bombus Huntii), Geoffrey Nielsen

Summer Research

Neural Plasticity is one of the most fascinating and complex aspects of neuroscience. Due to the complexity of neural plasticity mechanisms, simple models are used to study neural plasticity. The bumblebee, Bombus huntii provides an ideal model organism with which to study neural plasticity, particularly the way it is affected by age and activity1. The Mushroom Body is the portion of the B. huntii brain that is responsible for higher order sensory integration and experience related learning so it will be the focus of this study.