Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Hindbrain Serotonin Neurons Activate 5-Ht1a Receptors In The Nucleus Tractus Solitarius (Nts) To Modulate Sympathetic And Ventilatory Recovery Following Hypotensive Hemorrhage, Ling-Hsuan Kung

Dissertations

Trauma is the leading cause of death of young people in the United States. Most such deaths result either from the initial blood loss or from secondary reperfusion injury following resuscitation.

Currently, the standard treatments for hypovolemic shock include volume resuscitation and using of vasoconstrictors to raise pressure. However, these treatments can exacerbate reperfusion injury, and require technical care when apply to patients. Therefore, novel therapies that can safely restore perfusion pressure are needed.

Our lab has found that 5-HT1A-receptor agonist, 8-OH-DPAT, increases perfusion pressure and improves acid-base balance in hypovolemic rats by stimulation of sympathetic-mediated increases in venous tone. …

Mechanisms Of Ipsapirone-Mediated Neuroprotection Of Ethanol-Treated Fetal Rhombencephalic Neurons: Role Of Endogenous Antioxidants, Jongho Lee

Dissertations

Prenatal exposure to ethanol can cause serious damage to the developing central nervous system. Both in vivo and in vitro studies demonstrate the vulnerability of the developing serotonergic system to the damaging effects of ethanol. However, treatment with a serotonin-1A (5-HT1A) agonist prevents the ethanol-associated apoptosis in developing 5-HT neurons. One mechanism by which 5-HT1A agonists exert their neuroprotective effects appears to involve activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3'kinase (PI-3K) pro-survival pathway and activation of NF-κB dependent anti-apoptotic genes. Additional NF-κB dependent genes might also be involved with the neuroprotective effects of ipsapirone.

There is also considerable evidence that ethanol augments …

Robust Dynamic Balance Of Ap-1 Transcription Factors In A Neuronal Gene Regulatory Network., Gregory M Miller, Babatunde A Ogunnaike, James S Schwaber, Rajanikanth Vadigepalli

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The octapeptide Angiotensin II is a key hormone that acts via its receptor AT1R in the brainstem to modulate the blood pressure control circuits and thus plays a central role in the cardiac and respiratory homeostasis. This modulation occurs via activation of a complex network of signaling proteins and transcription factors, leading to changes in levels of key genes and proteins. AT1R initiated activity in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), which regulates blood pressure, has been the subject of extensive molecular analysis. But the adaptive network interactions in the NTS response to AT1R, plausibly related to the development of …

Metastability And Plasticity In A Conceptual Model Of Neurons, Bo Deng

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

For a new class of neuron models we demonstrate here that typical membrane action potentials and spike-bursts are only transient states but appear to be asymptotically stable; and yet such metastable states are plastic — being able to dynamically change from one action potential to another with different pulse frequencies and from one spike-burst to another with different spike-per-burst numbers. The pulse and spike-burst frequencies change with individual ions’ pump currents while their corresponding metastable-plastic states maintain the same transmembrane voltage and current profiles in range. It is also demonstrated that the plasticity requires two one-way ion pumps operating in …

Scientific Understandings Of Postpartum Illness: Improving Health Law And Policy?, Stacey A. Tovino

Faculty Articles

In its broadest sense, this Article examines the relationship between science and the law in the context of postpartum illness. From classical antiquity to the present day, physicians and scientists have investigated the causes, correlates, and consequences of the depressions and psychoses that develop in some women following their transition to motherhood. The scientific investigation of postpartum illness has been characterized by an open-ended search for knowledge with the recognition that scientific findings published one day are subject to revision the next. Legislators and judges also have sought to understand postpartum illness as necessary to make laws that affect and …

Phase-Linking And The Perceived Motion During Off-Vertical Axis Rotation, Jan Holly, Scott Wood, Gin Mccollum

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Human off-vertical axis rotation (OVAR) in the dark typically produces perceived motion about a cone, the amplitude of which changes as a function of frequency. This perception is commonly attributed to the fact that both the OVAR and the conical motion have a gravity vector that rotates about the subject. Little-known, however, is that this rotating-gravity explanation for perceived conical motion is inconsistent with basic observations about self-motion perception: (a) that the perceived vertical moves toward alignment with the gravito-inertial acceleration (GIA) and (b) that perceived translation arises from perceived linear acceleration, as derived from the portion of the GIA …

Role Of Kappa-Opioid Receptors In The Effects Of Salvinorin A And Ketamine On Attention Behavior In Rats, Christina L. Nemeth, Tracie A. Paine, Joseph E. Rittiner, Cécile Béguin, F. Ivy Carroll, Bryan L. Roth, Bruce M. Cohen, William A. Carlezon Jr.

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: Disruptions in perception and cognition are characteristic of psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia. Studies of pharmacological agents that alter perception and cognition in humans might provide a better understanding of the brain substrates of these complex processes. One way to study these states in rodents is with tests that require attention and visual perception for correct performance. Methods: We examined the effects of two drugs that cause disruptions in perception and cognition in humans—the kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) agonist salvinorin A (salvA; 0.125–4.0 mg/kg) and the non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine (0.63–20 mg/kg)—on behavior in rats using the 5-choice serial …

Forced-Exercise Alleviates Neuropathic Pain In Experimental Diabetes: Effects On Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels, Sahadev A. Shankarappa

Dissertations

Exercise is now established as an integral adjunct to the management of diabetes. Diabetic polyneuropathy, a painful complication of diabetes, remains untreatable, emphasizing a critical need for improved therapeutic strategies. Recent evidence suggests that exercise may facilitate recovery of peripheral nerve function in diabetes. However, the mechanism by which exercise protects against diabetes-induced nerve dysfunction is unknown. In this dissertation we hypothesized that forced-exercise protects against experimental DPN by preventing glucose-associated alterations of voltage-gated calcium currents (VGCC) in small diameter dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. Using behavioral, nerve-electrophysiology and patch-clamp methodology we examined the functional consequences of forced-exercise (treadmill, 5.4 …