Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Colocalization Of Odc And Amyloid Plaques In Patients With Alzheimer’S Disease And Down Syndrome, Julia S. Gielczynski

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Polyamines, and their rate-limiting enzyme ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), are crucial for many functions in the central nervous system but levels decrease with age. In neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), polyamine levels begin to increase again. Yet, there are still many unanswered questions surrounding polyamine’s possible role in AD, especially in those with Down Syndrome (DS), who also have an extra copy of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and tend to get AD far earlier than the general population. We aim to investigate if there is colocalization between amyloid plaques and Ornithine Decarboxylase (ODC) in patients with AD and AD/DS, …

Multimodal Investigations For The Identification Of Surgically Relevant Brain Areas, Kevin Tyner

Theses & Dissertations

Epilepsy is a neurological disease leading to recurrent and unpredictable seizures. Patients can be diagnosed as focal onset, where the seizure focus resides in one hemisphere; generalized onset, where seizure foci reside in both hemispheres; or unknown onset. Anti-seizure medications are the first line of treatment, and those whose seizures cannot be controlled with medication are diagnosed with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). For patients diagnosed with focal onset epilepsy to achieve seizure freedom, surgical resection of the epileptogenic zone (EZ), the region of the brain that is both necessary and sufficient for initiating seizures, is required. The EZ is a theoretical …

Isolation Of Aged Mouse Primary Microglia As A Model System For Alzheimer’S Disease Research, Michael Landis

Biology Honors Papers

Microglia and their role as the immune cells of the central nervous system are an emerging area of interest within Alzheimer’s research, particularly as they have shown in a benevolent and malevolent cellular context. Models of Alzheimer’s disease are very light in studying microglia, so in this study a model of microglia isolated from aged mice is established in order to study the phagocytic activity and protein expression of microglia in response to Amyloid Beta. The cells were isolated from aged mice and cultured before being used to confirm cellular identity, as well as to measure phagocytic activity. This study …

Home-Based Virtual Culinary Nutrition Education Sessions For Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients: Quantitative Experimental Pilot Study, Ciara N. Reistad, Mauricio Lobo

Department of Nutrition Student Projects

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) impairs voluntary muscular activity and often results in malnutrition. The need for specialized dietary therapy for ALS-related illnesses is highlighted by recent research, but it also draws attention to the lack of targeted care and ongoing nutritional status monitoring. Technological developments like telehealth and chatbots hold potential for ALS patients’ nutritional monitoring. The pilot study examined the feasibility and impact of home-based virtual culinary nutrition education sessions on nutritional knowledge, dietary intake of energy (CHO), protein (PRO) and FAT, body mass index (BMI), and functional status assessed by ALSFRS-R scores in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis …

”To Be Or Not To Be – It’S Good”: Actor And Student Experiences In A Drama Club For People With Aphasia, Jade K. Hannan

Senior Theses

Individuals with aphasia, a disorder caused by damage to the brain’s language network, confront a variety of social and emotional struggles. While leaving their cognition largely intact, aphasia tremendously impacts a person’s ability to communicate confidently, fracturing their social network and contributing to feelings of loneliness and frustration. To address this persistent need in the chronic aphasia population, the Play on Words drama club at the University of South Carolina provides a forum for people with aphasia (PWA) to engage in dramatic exercises focused on non-verbal communication of emotions, ideas, and stories, culminating the production of an original devised play. …

Hand Tremor Stabilizer, Krishna Sai Bathini, Ryan Herrmann, Madeleine A. Beaupre

Biomedical Engineering

The Hand Tremor Stabilizer project represents a significant advancement in assistive device technology, aimed at improving the lives of individuals affected by hand tremors due to conditions such as essential tremor or Parkinson's disease. Throughout the design process, our team engaged in a comprehensive approach that included rapid prototyping, iterative testing, and direct feedback collection from potential users. This process was instrumental in refining the device to meet specific user needs effectively.

Key customer requirements that guided the design of the Hand Tremor Stabilizer included ease of use, portability, washability, accuracy of motion control, comfortable grip, breathability, a natural feel …

Can Mirna Be The Missing Link Between Parkinson’S Disease And Pesticides?, Fatma Gobba

Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative condition that leads to significant morbidity and a decline in the quality of life. It develops as a consequence of the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Nevertheless, the development of PD is influenced by environmental factors, and the intricate nature of these relationships is further complicated by a multitude of factors, including the genetic backgrounds that are specific to populations and variations in environmental exposures, such as pesticides. Pesticides, consisting of a diverse family of chemicals commonly used in both agricultural and household settings to protect crops against …

Impairment Of The Glial Phagolysosomal System Drives Prion-Like Propagation Of Huntington’S Disease, Graham Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The ability of glia to tightly regulate neuronal health and homeostasis in the CNS is conserved across species. Yet, despite the ability to degrade protein aggregates, glia are vulnerable to the accumulation of neurotoxic amyloid aggregates during neurodegenerative disease progress, and even exacerbate their spread. A developing narrative highlights glia as a double-edged sword in neurodegenerative diseases: initially capable of dynamically responding to amyloid aggregate-ladened dying neurons but also capable of inducing chronic inflammation and creating seeding-competent amyloid oligomers. Thus, uncovering the mechanisms that allow glia to control aggregate deposition while preventing the neurotoxic effects and seed generation is vital …

A Neuroscience-Based Curriculum For Addiction Prevention For Fourth-Grade Students, Paola Andrea Benitez

Social Work Theses

Substance use is one of the main problems affecting adolescents and young adults. While the consumption of alcohol has decreased, the consumption of marijuana has increased rampantly due to youth's positive perception after being legalized in 24 states with no clear message of the many adverse effects this drug causes. Different approaches to prevention have been used throughout the years: scare-led tactics, socio-emotional learning skills, and neuroscience-based curriculums. Since substance use results from the conjunction of different biopsychosocial factors that lead to this relapsing brain disease, the solution should integrate different preventive solutions as well. Public policy, schools, social workers, …

Limb Speed Perception Accuracy In Neurodegenerative Disease, Brandmeir Lynn Cheryl

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Movement is a fundamental human activity, enabling us to engage with our surroundings. Consequently, a well-operating neuromuscular system is essential for maintaining quality of life. Motion is not only integral for the basic function of daily living, but also plays a significant role in enhancing our physical, mental, and emotional health. The importance of this system becomes abundantly clear when it is compromised, such as with neurodegenerative disease.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), followed by Parkinson’s disease (PD) are the two most common neurodegenerative diseases that profoundly affect millions of individuals worldwide (Lamptey et al., 2022). Characterized by distinct but sometimes overlapping …

Exploring Drivers Of Sex-Based Disparities In Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis, Stephanie K. Buxhoeveden

Theses and Dissertations

Females are three times more susceptible to relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) and males typically have more severe disease, but the molecular underpinnings of these sex-based disease disparities are unknown and represent a critical knowledge gap.Subject Population: Blood samples from a demographically homogenous group of treatment naïve males and females with relapsing-MS and healthy controls. Research Design: Cross-sectional combinatorial omics pilot study. Instruments: Whole transcriptomic analysis with messenger RNA (mRNA) expression profiling using next generation sequencing (RNA-seq) and micro-RNA (miRNA) expression using NanoString technology. Aim 1) Identify and compare the actively expressed mRNAs in the transcriptome of males and …

Exploring The Experience Of Sexuality And Gender During The Healthcare Transition Of The Youth With Cerebral Palsy, Umma Salma

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Transition from the pediatric to adult health care system is an important phase of healthcare for youth with cerebral palsy (CP). Sexuality and gender are two very important components of health that are mostly ignored in the healthcare transition process. It is possible that health care providers only see a client’s disability, and therefore, key aspects of sexuality and gender diversity may be ignored, or deemed irrelevant as a result of their disability status. Therefore, the purpose of our study is to explore how gender and sexuality may influence the experience of health care transition for youth with cerebral …

Sex Differences In Mood And Anxiety-Related Outcomes In Response To Adolescent Nicotine Exposure, Tsun Hay Jason Ng

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Nicotine dependence is causally linked to increased risk of mood/anxiety disorders in later life. Females are reported to experience a higher prevalence of anxiety/depressive disorders and challenges in smoking cessation therapies, suggesting a potential sex-specific response to nicotine exposure and mood/anxiety disorder risk. However, pre-clinical evidence of sex-specific responses to adolescent nicotine exposure is unclear. Thus, to determine any sex differences in anxiety/depressive-related outcomes, adolescent male and female Sprague Dawley rats received nicotine (0.4 mg/kg; 3x daily) or saline injections for 10 consecutive days, followed by behavioural testing, in-vivo electrophysiology and Western Blot analyses. Our results revealed that adolescent nicotine …

Causal Inference Methods For Estimation Of Survival And General Health Status Measures Of Alzheimer’S Disease Patients, Ehsan Yaghmaei

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

Identifying optimal treatment options with respect to survival of Alzheimer's disease patients is crucially important and previously uninvestigated research question. Our objective was to estimate the causal effects of the most prevalent classes of Alzheimer’s disease drugs, Donepezil and Memantine, and their combined use on Survival and General Health Status Measures of Alzheimer's disease patients for the first five years after initial diagnosis. We carried out a thorough causal inference study using doubly robust estimators, nonparametric bootstrap confidence intervals, Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons and analyzing one of the largest high-quality medical databases containing millions of de-identified electronic health records …

The Combined Effects Of Physical Exercise And Cognitive Training On Gait Speed And Primary Motor Cortex Metabolism In Individuals With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A 1h-Mrs Analysis, Jack Thomas Emsey Elkas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional stage before dementia. Altered gait in MCI has been associated with progression to dementia. Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, a relationship between primary motor cortex (M1) neurochemistry and dual task gait speed has been reported in MCI. Interventional research suggests exercise, cognitive training, and vitamin D supplementation may benefit MCI, yet the combined effect of these treatments on gait speed and M1 metabolism is unknown. Participants with MCI (N=75) were assigned to one of five intervention arms and dual task cost on gait speed and M1 metabolism was assessed before and five months after …

Incorporating Poi As A Therapeutic Modality For Preschool Aged Children In The Care Clinic, Danielle Zirkle

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Complement System In Multiple Sclerosis: Its Role In Disease Course And Potential As A Therapeutic Target, Michael R. Linzey

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a clinically heterogeneous neurological condition characterized by neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Relapsing-remitting MS, defined by inflammatory attacks, is the most common initial form of MS and there are currently 23 FDA-approved treatments for these patients. These therapies work primarily by reducing inflammation in the CNS; they do not work well in progressive disease. Therefore, an unmet medical need exists for effective therapeutic options to treat progressive MS (PMS).

In MS, intrathecal immunoglobulins synthesis (IIgS) correlates with disease progression. My goals for this dissertation were to establish the pathological role of IIgS and identify new potential therapeutic …

Bridging Empathy, Qianwen Lu

Masters Theses

As a jeweler, ally, and sympathetic witness to the traumatic stories of survivors, my work aims to support the process of reconstruction and reintegration for victims and the greater community. To move beyond isolation, resentment, and debilitating helplessness requires care and support. I want my jewelry to act as catalysts in the healing process by straddling both sides of the trauma-induced situation, to create greater awareness and empathy. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence shows that women are more likely to become victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or other forms of physical and psychological abuse in unhealthy emotional relationships. These …

Investigating The Mammillary Bodies As An Early Target Of Alzheimer's Disease, Cole Martinson

University Honors Theses

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. With minimal treatment options and no cure, developing a deeper understanding of the pathology of the disease is crucial. For nearly four decades, the accumulation of beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques has been correlated with the disease and its progression. Previous studies mapping this accumulation show that the mammillary bodies (MB) are an early target of the disease. Glutamatergic neurons are of key interest due to their prevalence in the central nervous system, specifically the MB. To understand the effects of AD on the glutamatergic system, we used vesicular glutamate transporter 2 …

Exploring The Hinterland: The Development Of A Person-Centered Music Therapy Method For A Hospice Patient With Lewy Body Dementia, Paige Chaplin

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores the development and implementation of a music therapy method with an individual diagnosed with dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) receiving home hospice services. There is very little known about the effect of music therapy on patients diagnosed with DLB. Informed by Tom Kitwood’s Person-Centered Care (PCC) philosophy for dementia care, Yumiko Sato’s Musical Life Review (MLR) model, and Lisa Kelly and Bill Ahessy’s Reminiscence-Focused Music Therapy (RFMT) model, a clinical method was developed to explore the effects of person-centered music therapy on reminiscence, caregiver connection, and identity. I drew inspiration from music therapy concepts by Tony Wigram …

Validating A New In Vivo Model To Study Als, Izabela J. Cimachowska

Student Theses and Dissertations

Buildup of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are well known characteristics of both sporadic and hereditary amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). While both forms of the disease seem to arise from common cellular dysfunction, the genetic disease is studied to a much greater extent. Engineering novel animal models of the sporadic form of the disease is crucial for development of druggable targets to treat ALS and understand the underlying mechanisms. Interestingly, accumulation of oxidative stress by exacerbated emission of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from presynaptic mitochondria is a hallmark of both hereditary and sporadic ALS. Previous work by our laboratory showed …

A Potential Role Of Gsk-3beta In The Development Of Pain Post-Spinal Cord Injury, Emily Ernst

Undergraduate Theses

Chronic neuropathic pain is a very common consequence following spinal cord injury (SCI) and poses significant clinical challenge. Current treatments are largely ineffective and as a result, patients are often left with debilitating pain at and below the level of the spinal cord injury. After spinal injury, a cascade of events occurs within the nervous system. One important aspect of this cascade for investigation is the anatomical changes that occur post-SCI. There is evidence of maladaptive sprouting/growth in sensory nerve fibers that is thought to play a role in the development and amplification of pain signals. Sprouting of primary afferents …

Molecular And Cellular Investigations Of Prader-Willi Syndrome, Anna K. Victor

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex multigenic neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in hypotonia, developmental delay, hypogonadism, sleep dysfunction and childhood onset obesity affecting 1 in 10,000 to 30,000 individuals. PWS is an imprinting disorder that is caused by a loss of expression of maternally imprinted genes in the 15q11.2-q13 region including NDN, MAGEL2, SNRPN/SNURF, and a cluster of snoRNAs. The majority of cases are caused by inheriting a paternal allele deletion of this region (65-75%) and a smaller number are caused by chromosome 15 maternal uniparental disomy (UPD) (20-30%) or imprinting center defects (1-3%). Here, we used dental pulp stem cells …

Transferring Organelles Into Native Neurons: A Disease-Modifying Therapy For Neurodegenerative Disorders, Lohiny Balendran

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Currently, there are no disease-modifying therapies to counter the progression of neurodegenerative diseases that are associated with mitochondrial dysfunction in the early stages. In this study, we have used a novel strategy of cell fusion to transfer mitochondria from one cell to another using fusogens (syncytin 1 and syncytin 2). Syncytins are placental proteins encoded by endogenous retroviral envelope genes that promote cellular fusion. In this study, we have proposed that donor cells engineered to stably express syncytin when cocultured with recipient cells will allow fusion and facilitate the transfer of mitochondria into recipient cells. Syncytin-mediated systems revealed about 16.6-18.5% …

Benefits Of Medical Thc For Neurological Disorders In The U.S., Andrew Lester, Alexandria Gartin

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Introduction: The introduction of THC into the medical field has allowed medical professionals to offer a new treatment option to aid in their patients treatment plan by decreasing their symptoms of side effects of other medications used for their conditions.

Methodology: This study utilized a literature review. Five databases were used to collect 116 total sources. These sources were reviewed and reduced to 33 sources that were used in the written research. Of these, 16 sources were used in the results section.

Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this research was to analyze the prescription use of …

Effects Of Traumatic Brain Injury On The Intestinal Tract And Gut Microbiome, Anthony Desana

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) initiates not only complex neurovascular and glial changes within the brain but also pathophysiological responses that extend beyond the central nervous system. The peripheral response to TBI has become an intensive area of research, as these systemic perturbations can induce dysfunction in multiple organ systems. As there are no approved therapeutics for TBI, it is imperative that we investigate the peripheral response to TBI to identify targets for future intervention. Of particular interest is the gastrointestinal (GI) system. Even in the absence of polytrauma, brain-injured individuals are at increased risk of suffering from GI-related morbidity and …

Accelerated Forgetting In People With Epilepsy: Pathologic Memory Loss, Its Neural Basis, And Potential Therapies, Sarah Ashley Steimel Phd

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

While forgetting is vital to human functioning, delineating between normative and disordered forgetting can become incredibly complex. This thesis characterizes a pathologic form of forgetting in epilepsy, identifies a neural basis, and investigates the potential of stimulation as a therapeutic tool. Chapter 2 presents a behavioral characterization of the time course of Accelerated Long-Term Forgetting (ALF) in people with epilepsy (PWE). This chapter shows evidence of ALF on a shorter time scale than previous studies, with a differential impact on recall and recognition. Chapter 3 builds upon the work in Chapter 2 by extending ALF time points and investigating the …

Clinical And Biological Factors Determine Spinal Cord Injury Outcomes: Liquor To Lipids, Ethan Glaser

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) are debilitating and life altering events that can lead to permanent motor and sensory loss. SCI outcomes are impacted by both clinical factors such as blood alcohol content (BAC) at the time of injury as well as biological factors like the lipid-rich myelin debris that accumulates in the injury site. Both clinical and biological factors contribute to SCI recovery, impacting neuroinflammation, locomotor recovery, and histopathology. The purpose of the studies described here is to investigate the role of acute alcohol intoxication and intracellular lipid processing pathways on SCI outcomes in a rodent model.

An elevated BAC …

Examining A Blood Biomarker Approach To Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption, Samantha Ford

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

Blood-brain barrier disruption has been identified to associate with the pathogenesis several neurological diseases such as dementia [1, 2], multiple sclerosis[3, 4], acute or chronic cerebral ischemia[5], brain trauma[5], meningitis[5], encephalitis[5], stroke[6], and seizures[7]. Being able to effectively identify blood-brain barrier disruption is limited in methodology. The current standard is using a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) albumin to serum albumin index, which requires the use of a lumbar puncture. A novel method of identifying blood-brain barrier disruption utilizing blood biomarkers is proposed in this study. Participants in this study had previously collected blood and CSF samples, which were analyzed to compare …

Exploring The Efficacy Of Mir-33 Antagonism In Promoting Regression Of Intracranial Atherosclerosis In A Nonhuman Primate Model, Peter Hecker

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences

Atherosclerosis, characterized by lipid accumulation and arterial inflammation, is a major contributor to global morbidity and mortality. Despite significant progress in understanding atherosclerosis in extracranial arteries, the study of intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS) has been relatively neglected, despite its crucial role in stroke and vascular cognitive impairment. Challenges related to ICAS, including its location within the cranium and limited availability of suitable animal models, have hindered research progress in this area. Although nonhuman primates (NHPs) are commonly used for studying extracranial atherosclerosis, a comprehensive understanding of ICAS pathophysiology in these animals is lacking. By subjecting NHPs to a high-fat/cholesterol diet, we …