Physiology Commons^™

Functional Characterization Of The Arginine Vasotocin 4 Receptor (Vt4r) In Sensory Circumventricular Organs Of The Chicken Gallus Gallus, Nguiessan Alphonse Aman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Past studies have shown that the avian vasotocin 4 receptor (VT4R), homologous to the mammalian arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (V1aR/AVPR1A) is involved in immobilization stress. It was not known, however, whether the receptor is also associated with osmotic stress, and if so, what brain regions may be involved. Four treatment groups of chicks were used for the study. One group was subjected to 1h immobilization stress and two groups were administered intraperitoneal injection of 3 M NaCl or 0.15 M NaCl. One additional group served as controls. After 1 h, blood samples were taken for the determination of plasma levels …

Boundary Contour Based Surface Representation., Yong Su

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We receive most information about our surrounding space and objects through the eyes. To reconstruct the 3D space and objects in the visual system from the 2D retinal images, surface representation must be a critical intermediate stage in the visual processing stream. It is hypothesized in the dissertation that the visual system represents textured surface by a border-to-interior strategy: boundary contours would be encoded first and then border-ownership assignments would be resolved. This process would solve the related problems such as figure-ground segregation, surface depth relationship, occlusion, transparency, etc. As a result, the boundary contours of the surfaces would be …

A Movement Tool Kit For The Divergent And Convergent Cps Guidelines: Instruction Cards And Activity Floor Mats, Adela Vangelisti

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

A Movement Tool Kit for the Divergent and Convergent CPS Guidelines:

Instruction Cards and Activity Floor Mats

Movement is as natural to humans as breathing is, and, yet, passivity starts early in schools. We are taught to sit still and in silence for long periods of time. By the time we reach adulthood and enter the workforce, we have almost forgotten our sense of embodiment. This lack of movement is counter-productive, not only to learning but to the development of creativity as well. For this project, I designed a tool to recapture the joy and playfulness of movement. Furthermore, the …

Motor Cortex Electrical Stimulation Augments Sprouting Of The Corticospinal Tract And Promotes Recovery Of Motor Function, Jason B. Carmel, John H. Martin

Publications and Research

The corticospinal system—with its direct spinal pathway, the corticospinal tract (CST) – is the primary system for controlling voluntary movement. Our approach to CST repair after injury in mature animals was informed by our finding that activity drives establishment of connections with spinal cord circuits during postnatal development. After incomplete injury in maturity, spared CST circuits sprout, and partially restore lost function. Our approach harnesses activity to augment this injury-dependent CST sprouting and to promote function. Lesion of the medullary pyramid unilaterally eliminates all CST axons from one hemisphere and allows examination of CST sprouting from the unaffected hemisphere. We …

The Camkkβ Inhibitor Sto-609 Causes Artefacts In Ca2+ Imaging And Selectively Inhibits Bkca In Mouse Carotid Body Type I Cells, Jennifer G. Jurcsisn

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It has previously been reported that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) may be critical for hypoxic chemotransduction in carotid body type I cells (Wyatt et al, 2007). This study sought to determine the importance of the regulatory upstream kinase of AMPK, CamKKβ, in the acute response to hypoxia in isolated mouse type I cells.

Initial studies indicated several previously unreported artefacts associated with using the CamKKβ inhibitor STO-609 and calcium imaging techniques. Strong STO-609 autofluorescence meant that Fura-2 could not be used and X-Rhod-1 imaging revealed that STO-609 quenched fluorescence even in the absence of intracellular Ca2+. The whole-cell configuration of …

Effects Of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation On Expression Of Immediate Early Genes (Ieg's), Jessica Wagner

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Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been utilized in human studies to modulate a multitude of psychological, cognitive, and psychiatric disorders. There have been positive behavioral results in human subjects but our knowledge of biological processes occurring during stimulation to elicit behavioral outcomes is limited. Our study utilizes a rodent tDCS (R-tDCS) model in which Sprague Dawley rats receive tDCS in order to examine whether tDCS affects neuronal activation. We examined two immediate early genes (IEG's), cFos and zif268, in order to discern if tDCS affects neuronal activation. Our findings indicate that tDCS does affect neuronal activation by means of …

Investigating Anatomical And Molecular Aspects Of Proprioceptive Sensory Neuron Diversity Using A Transgenic Mouse Model, Martha Jean Sonner

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Muscle spindles (MS) and Golgi tendon organs (GTOs) are encapsulated, stretch-activated sensory receptors housed within skeletal muscles, yet their functional contributions to proprioceptive monitoring of limb movements are quite different. For example, MS are responsible for detecting stretch of muscle fibers, and GTOs provide feedback regarding muscle tension during contraction. Peripheral axons extending from proprioceptive sensory neurons (PSNs) in the dorsal root ganglia supply MS and GTOs. MS are innervated by Group Ia and II sensory fiber endings, while GTOs are innervated by a single Group Ib sensory fiber. The developmental processes guiding axons from PSNs to their targets and …