Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

The Expression And Cellular Localization Of Cc-Chemokine Receptor 5 (Ccr5) After Traumatic Brain Injury, Vuvi H. Nguyen

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Traumatic brain injury results from a primary insult and secondary events that together result in tissue injury. This primary injury occurs at the moment of impact and damage can include scalp laceration, skull fraction, cerebral contusions and lacerations as well as intracranial hemorrhage. Following the initial insult, a delayed response occurs and is characterized by hypoxia, ischemia, cerebral edema, and infection. During secondary brain injury, a series of neuroinflammatory events are triggered that can produce additional damage but may also help to protect nervous tissue from invading pathogens and help to repair the damaged tissue. Brain microglia and astrocytes become …

Protein-Protein Interactions That Regulate Neurotransmitter Release From Retinal Ribbon Synapses, (Leigh) Beth T. Latham

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Protein-Protein Interactions That Regulate Neurotransmitter Release from Retinal Ribbon Synapses Photoreceptors and bipolar cells in the retina form specialized chemical synapses called ribbon synapses. This type of synapse differs physiologically from “conventional” chemical synapses. While “conventional” synapses exocytose neurotransmitter-filled vesicles in an all-or-none fashion in response to an action potential, a retinal ribbon synapse can release neurotransmitter tonically (sustained) in response to graded changes in membrane potential or phasically (transient) in response to a large change in membrane potential.

Synaptic vesicle exocytosis is a tightly controlled process involving many protein-protein interactions. Therefore, it is likely that the dissimilarity in the …

Damage-Induced Inflammation And Nociceptive Hypersensitivity In Drosophila Larvae, Daniel T. Babcock

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Mounting an effective response to tissue damage requires a concerted effort from a number of systems, including both the immune and nervous systems. Immune-responsive blood cells fight infection and clear debris from damaged tissues, and specialized pain receptors become hypersensitive to promote behavior that protects the damaged area while it heals. To uncover the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these processes, we have developed a genetically tractable invertebrate model of damage-induced inflammation and pain hypersensitivity using Drosophila larvae.

To study wound-induced inflammation, we generated transgenic larvae with fluorescent epidermal cells and blood cells (hemocytes). Using live imaging, we monitored the …

Developing Chitosan-Based Biomaterials For Brain Repair And Neuroprosthetics, Zheng Cao

Masters Theses

Chitosan is widely investigated for biomedical applications due to its excellent properties, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, bioadhesivity, antibacterial, etc. In the field of neural engineering, it has been extensively studied in forms of film and hydrogel, and has been used as scaffolds for nerve regeneration in the peripheral nervous system and spinal cord. One of the main issues in neural engineering is the incapability of neuron to attach on biomaterials. The present study, from a new aspect, aims to take advantage of the bio-adhesive property of chitosan to develop chitosan-based materials for neural engineering, specifically in the fields of brain …

Signaling Mechanisms That Control Gap Junctional Coupling Between Retinal Neurons, Wade Kothmann

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Gap junctions between neurons form the structural substrate for electrical synapses. Connexin 36 (Cx36, and its non-mammalian ortholog connexin 35) is the major neuronal gap junction protein in the central nervous system (CNS), and contributes to several important neuronal functions including neuronal synchronization, signal averaging, network oscillations, and motor learning. Connexin 36 is strongly expressed in the retina, where it is an obligatory component of the high-sensitivity rod photoreceptor pathway. A fundamental requirement of the retina is to adapt to broadly varying inputs in order to maintain a dynamic range of signaling output. Modulation of the strength of electrical coupling …

Role Of Dopamine Of Nucleus Accumbens In Behavioral Sensitization To Methylphenidate, Sheshali J. Wanchoo

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Behavioral sensitization is defined as the subsequent augmentation of the locomotor response to a drug following repeated administrations of the drug. It is believed to occur due to alterations in the motive circuit in the brain by stressors, central nervous system stimulants, and similar stimuli. The motive circuit (or mesocorticolimbic system) consists of several interconnected nuclei that determine the behavioral response to significant biological stimuli. A final target of the mesocorticolimbic system is the nucleus accumbens (NAc), which is a key structure linking motivation and action. In particular, the dopaminergic innervations of the Nac are considered to be essential in …

Eye Movement Measures Of Cognitive Control In Children With Tourette Syndrome, Cameron B. Jeter

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Tourette Syndrome begins in childhood and is characterized by uncontrollable repetitive actions like neck craning or hopping and noises such as sniffing or chirping. Worst in early adolescence, these tics wax and wane in severity and occur in bouts unpredictably, often drawing unwanted attention from bystanders. Making matters worse, over half of children with Tourette Syndrome also suffer from comorbid, or concurrent, disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). These disorders introduce anxious thoughts, impulsivity, inattention, and mood variability that further disrupt children with Tourette Syndrome from focusing and performing well at school and home. …

The Expression And Cellular Localization Of Cc-Chemokine Receptor 5 (Ccr5) After Traumatic Brain Injury, Vuvi H. Nguyen

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Traumatic brain injury results from a primary insult and secondary events that together result in tissue injury. This primary injury occurs at the moment of impact and damage can include scalp laceration, skull fraction, cerebral contusions and lacerations as well as intracranial hemorrhage. Following the initial insult, a delayed response occurs and is characterized by hypoxia, ischemia, cerebral edema, and infection. During secondary brain injury, a series of neuroinflammatory events are triggered that can produce additional damage but may also help to protect nervous tissue from invading pathogens and help to repair the damaged tissue. Brain microglia and astrocytes become …

Developmental Changes In The Structure And Composition Of The Postsynaptic Density, Matthew T. Swulius

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

The development of the brain and its underlying circuitry is dependent on the formation of trillions of chemical synapses, which are highly specialized contacts that regulate the flow of information from one neuron to the next. It is through these synaptic connections that neurons wire together into networks capable of performing specific tasks, and activity-dependent changes in their structural and physiological state is one way that the brain is thought to adapt and store information. At the ultrastructural level, developmental and activity-dependent changes in the size and shape of dendritic spines have been well documented, and it is widely believed …

Targeting Fatty Acid-Activated Pathways In The Somatosensory System, Tian Yu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Given the dramatic rise in obesity and the diseases linked with it, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the mechanisms that underlie the body's ability to recognize fat. The chemoreception of dietary fat in the oral cavity has largely been attributed to activation of the somatosensory system that relays the textural properties of fat. However, the ability of fatty acids, which are believed to represent the proximate stimulus for fat taste, to activate trigeminal ganglionic neurons has remained unexplored. In general, my research has provided the first evidence of fatty acids activating the somatosensory system by increasing the intracellular …

Genes Involved In Mushroom Body Development And Behavior In Drosophila, Christine Nicole Serway

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mushroom bodies (MBs) are the site of multi modal sensory integration critical for associative conditioning in Drosophila. They have been central to research on the structure function relationship in the brain for over one hundred years due to their unique shape and readily accessible physiology. This dissertation incorporates three different approaches to further elucidate the genetic and molecular nature of this structure function relationship.

First, the suite of genetic and molecular tools available in Drosophila melanogaster, facilitated the molecular mapping of a 25-year old MB structural mutant called mushroom body miniature B (mbmB) to the gene Pendulin [Pen, also known …

A Longitudinal Study Of Neurocognitive Deficits And Functional Outcome In Bipolar Disorder, Brian D. Leany

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bipolar disorder is an affective disorder that, in addition to being characterized by depressive and expansive mood symptoms, often presents with neuropsychological deficits. Bipolar disorder not only impairs an individual’s cognitive abilities, but these cognitive impairments may also impact day-to-day activities causing functional impairment. In other psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, it has been shown that the neuropsychological deficits are predictive of poor, long term treatment outcome and functioning. However, while bipolar disorder affects nearly 1 - 2% of the U.S. population (Keck, McElroy, & Arnold, 2001), little is known about the extent that neurocognitive deficits may play in the …

Social Interactions Determine Postural Network Sensitivity To 5-Ht, Daniel Cattaert, Jean-Paul Delbecque, Donald H. Edwards, Fadi A. Issa

Neuroscience Institute Faculty Publications

The excitability of the leg postural circuit and its response to serotonin (5-HT) were studied in vitro in thoracic nervous system preparations of dominant and subordinate male crayfishes. We demonstrate that the level of spontaneous tonic activity of depressor and levator motoneurons (MNs) (which control downward and upward movements of the leg, respectively) and the amplitude of their resistance reflex are larger in dominants than in subordinates. Moreover, we show that serotonergic neuromodulation of the postural circuit also depends on social status. Depressor and levator MN tonic firing rates and resistance reflex amplitudes were significantly modified in the presence of …

Neuronbank: A Tool For Cataloging Neuronal Circuitry, Paul S. Katz, Robert Calin-Jageman, Akshaye Dhawan, Chad Frederick, Shuman Guo, Rasanjalee Dissanayaka, Naveen Hiremath, Wenjun Ma, Xiuyn Shen, Hsui C. Wang, Hong Yang, Sushil Prasad, Rajshekhar Sunderraman, Ying Zhu

Mathematics and Computer Science Faculty Publications

The basic unit of any nervous system is the neuron. Therefore, understanding the operation of nervous systems ultimately requires an inventory of their constituent neurons and synaptic connectivity, which form neural circuits. The presence of uniquely identifiable neurons or classes of neurons in many invertebrates has facilitated the construction of cellular-level connectivity diagrams that can be generalized across individuals within a species. Homologous neurons can also be recognized across species. Here we describe NeuronBank.org, a web-based tool that we are developing for cataloging, searching, and analyzing neuronal circuitry within and across species. Information from a single species is represented in …

Functional Substrates Of Social Odor Processing Within The Corticomedial Amygdala: Implications For Reproductive Behavior In Male Syrian Hamsters, Pamela Mary Maras

Neuroscience Institute Dissertations

Adaptive reproductive behavior requires the ability to recognize and approach possible mating partners in the environment. Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) provide a useful animal model by which to study the neural processing of sexual signals, as mate recognition in this species relies almost exclusively on the perception of social odors. In the laboratory, male hamsters prefer to investigate female odors compared to male odors, and this opposite-sex odor preference provides a sensitive measure of the underlying neural processing of sexual stimuli. In addition to chemosensory cues, reproductive behavior in hamsters also requires sufficient levels of circulating gonadal steroid hormones, which …

12-Month-Olds’ Discrimination Of Monkey Faces: Evidence For Perceptual Narrowing?, Jacob C. Jones, Scott Stevens, Melissa Wright, Amanda Phillippi

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

It is well known from birth that faces are salient, preferred over other stimuli, and are readily discriminated. It has also been shown that over the course of development infants’ proclivity for face discrimination is influenced by their social environment. Pascalis, deHann, andNelson (2002), for example, demonstrate that 6-month-olds are able to discriminate various monkey faces as well as human faces whereas 9-month-olds can only discriminate different human faces. Importantly, however, if 6-month-olds receive 1-2 minutes per day of familiarization with photographs of monkey faces three months later the now 9-month-olds can still discriminate unfamiliar and familiar monkey faces. Like …

Decreasing Temperature Below Tt Or Increasing Cholesterol Enhance Vesibcle-Bilayer Membrane Fusion, David E. Lee, Reed A. Doxey, Kevin J. Tuttle, Dixon J. Woodbury

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Lipid composition plays an important role in fusion of vesicles to membranes, an essential process for exocytosis. Lipid head group, tail structure, and sterol content all impact the complex phase behavior of membranes. To determine the effect of lipids on fusion, we utilized the nystatin/ergesterol (nys/erg) fusion assay and stimulated fusion with a salt (osmotic) gradient. With this assay, vesicles containing nys and erg fuse with a planar membrane producing characteristic spike increases in membrane conductance.Using PE/PC (7:3) membranes, we varied cholesterol from 0-40 mol% and observed significant increases in fusion rates. In one series of experiments, membranes were formed …

Group Ii Metabolic Glutamate Receptors In The Basal Amygdala Regulate Sleep And Fear-Induced Alterations In Sleep, Enheng Dong

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Glutamate is a major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and it has been recognized as playing an essential role in activating and maintaining arousal. Group II metabotropic glutamate (mGlu II) receptors are expressed in the amygdala, a brain structure important in the regulation of stress and anxiety as well as in the regulation of sleep and arousal. Our lab has found that the central nucleus of the amygdala (CNA) is involved in the emotional modulation of sleep. The basal amygdala (BA), which has direct connections with the CNA, is involved in conditioned fear and fear extinction. However, the potential role …

The Effects Of Handedness And Bilateral Saccadic Eye Movements On False Alarms In Recognition Memory, Lisa Weinberg

Psychology Honors Projects

Handedness can be used as a marker for interhemispheric interaction, which can produce memory benefits. Bilateral saccadic eye movements can be used to manipulate levels of interhemispheric interaction. This study measured the effects of handedness and bilateral saccadic eye movement on memory using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm. This study predicted a memory advantage for left-handers and mixed-handers without eye movements and an advantage for right-handers with the eye movements. The results do not support these predictions but do suggest that handedness is a factor in episodic memory performance. The analyses for this study were run using A’ to compare false alarm …

Cellular Immunity In Mouse Models Of Viral Encephalitis, Christina Dawn Steel

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Evidence is presented herein that intranasal application of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) caused acute infection of the murine central nervous system (CNS) with associated morbidity and significant mortality in mice. However, VSV encephalitis was not invariably fatal, suggesting that the CNS contained a professional antigen-presenting cell (APC) capable of inducing or propagating a protective antiviral immune response. To examine this possibility, we administered VSV via the intranasal route and then characterized the cellular elements that infiltrate the brain as well as the activation status of resident microglia, cells widely believed to represent the major APC population in the CNS. To …