Systems Neuroscience Commons^™

The Role Of The Chorda Tympani Nerve In The Structural Development Of Brainstem Neurons, Louis Martin

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The brain changes substantially throughout development. In the taste system, brainstem neurons undergo dramatic structural alterations after birth. Most notably, these cells’ dendrites, branch-like projections that that receive sensory input, grow 3-4 times longer by adulthood. It is not clear whether incoming signals about taste are necessary for these structural changes to occur. We have consistently found that when the chorda tympani taste nerve (CT) is cut at an early age in rats, it does not regenerate. With this manipulation, we can permanently limit the amount of taste information that reaches the brain. To determine the role of taste input …

Review: Do The Different Sensory Areas Within The Cat Anterior Ectosylvian Sulcal Cortex Collectively Represent A Network Multisensory Hub?, M. Alex Meredith, Mark T. Wallace, H. Ruth Clemo

Anatomy and Neurobiology Publications

Current theory supports that the numerous functional areas of the cerebral cortex are organized and function as a network. Using connectional databases and computational approaches, the cerebral network has been demonstrated to exhibit a hierarchical structure composed of areas, clusters and, ultimately, hubs. Hubs are highly connected, higher-order regions that also facilitate communication between different sensory modalities. One region computationally identified network hub is the visual area of the Anterior Ectosylvian Sulcal cortex (AESc) of the cat. The Anterior Ectosylvian Visual area (AEV) is but one component of the AESc that also includes the auditory (Field of the Anterior Ectosylvian …

Can A Comprehensive Transition Plan To Barefoot Running Be The Solution To The Injury Epidemic In American Endurance Runners?, Michael A. Scarlett

CMC Senior Theses

Fossils belonging to the genus Homo, dating as far back as two million years ago, exhibit uniquely efficient features suggesting that early humans had evolved to become exceptional endurance runners. Although they did not have the cushion or stability-control features provided in our modern day running shoes, our early human ancestors experienced far less of the running-related injuries we experience today. The injury rate has been estimated as high as 90% annually for Americans training for a marathon and as high as 79% annually for all American endurance runners. There is an injury epidemic in conventionally shod populations that …

The Integration Of Extrinsic And Intrinsic Neuromodulators In The Olfactory System, Kristyn M. Lizbinski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Neuromodulation is a ubiquitous feature of neural systems, allowing flexible, context specific control over network dynamics by adjusting the biophysical and synaptic properties of neurons. Neuromodulation was first described in invertebrate motor systems and early work established a basic dichotomy for neuromodulation as having either an intrinsic origin (i.e. neurons that participate in network coding) or an extrinsic origin (i.e. neurons from independent networks). Although this dichotomy has been thoroughly considered in motor systems, it has received far less attention in sensory systems. Furthermore, nervous systems are continually subject to a dynamic cocktail of both intrinsic and extrinsic modulators. However, …

Neurofeedback With Fmri: A Critical Systematic Review, Robert T. Thibault, Amanda Macpherson, Michael Lifshitz, Raquel R. Roth, Amir Raz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Neurofeedback relying on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI-nf) heralds new prospects for self-regulating brain and behavior. Here we provide the first comprehensive review of the fMRI-nf literature and the first systematic database of fMRI-nf findings. We synthesize information from 99 fMRI-nf experiments—the bulk of currently available data. The vast majority of fMRI-nf findings suggest that self-regulation of specific brain signatures seems viable; however, replication of concomitant behavioral outcomes remains sparse. To disentangle placebo influences and establish the specific effects of neurofeedback, we highlight the need for double-blind placebo-controlled studies alongside rigorous and standardized statistical analyses. Before fMRI-nf can join the …

Possible Breakdown Of Dopamine Receptor Synergism In A Mouse Model Of Huntington's Disease, Samantha F. Kennedy

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The model of basal ganglia function proposed by Albin, Young and Penney (1989) describes two anatomically independent motor pathways, the direct and indirect. However, under normal conditions striatal dopamine (DA) is required for the expression of motor behavior, and DAergic control of the two pathways (via D1 and D2 receptors, respectively) is dependent on co-activation. We tested for a possible breakdown of D1/D2 synergism using transgenic R6/1 mice bearing the human huntingtin allele (Htt). Motor stereotypy, observed prior to the onset of HD-related symptoms, was rated on a 5-point scale following activation of: A) D1 receptors alone, B) D2 receptors …

Disruption Of Hippocampal Multisynaptic Networks By General Anesthetics., Min-Ching Kuo, L Stan Leung

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

BACKGROUND: Previous studies showed that synaptic transmission is affected by general anesthetics, but an anesthetic dose response in freely moving animals has not been done. The hippocampus provides a neural network for the evaluation of isoflurane and pentobarbital on multisynaptic transmission that is relevant to memory function.

METHODS: Male Long-Evans rats were implanted with multichannel and single electrodes in the hippocampus. Spontaneous local field potentials and evoked field potentials were recorded in freely behaving rats before (baseline) and after various doses of isoflurane (0.25 to 1.5%) and sodium pentobarbital (10 mg/kg intraperitoneal).

RESULTS: Monosynaptic population excitatory postsynaptic potentials at the …

Distinct Combinations Of Premotor Neuronal Activation Encode Multimodal Information And Predict Motor Output, Chris Goldsmith

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Glutamate Neurotransmission In The Ventral Tegmental Area In The Expression Of Conditioned Approach Learning, Priscila Hachimine-Merli

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Conditioned stimuli (CSs) come to function as CSs by acquiring the capacity to activate the same mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) neurons activated by primary rewards, producing conditioned activation of these neurons and their associated motivational states. This model stipulates that CSs activate mesocorticolimbic DA systems through the activation of glutamate receptors on DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). We tested the hypothesis that glutamate receptor stimulation in the VTA is necessary for the expression of conditioned approach. Rats were tested in a conditioned approach protocol that consisted of 7 consecutive conditioning sessions (light presentations and food were paired), one …

Modulation Of Spasticity By Trans-Spinal Direct Current Stimulation In Animals With Spinal Cord Injury, Wagdy Mekhael

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Central nervous system injuries usually produce motor impairments that are exacerbated by pathologically altered muscle tone. Abnormal muscle tone interferes with voluntary movement and is associated with loss of dexterity. Prior work in our laboratory demonstrated that 30-second trans-spinal direct current (DC) stimulation can temporarily modify muscle tone in anesthetized spastic mice after spinal cord injury (SCI). These experiments described DC-induced muscle tone responses to be polarity-dependent. That is, anodal stimulation (current passed from the lumbar spine to sciatic nerve) decreased muscle tone, and cathodal stimulation (current passed from the sciatic nerve to the lumbar spine) increased it. The present …

Distribution And Activation Of Catecholaminergic Neurons In The Brain Of Male Plainfin Midshipman Fish: Divergence In Behavior And Reproductive Phenotype, Zachary Ghahramani

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, provides an excellent opportunity for delimiting the influence of neurochemical content on vertebrate vocal behavior, in part because the production and recognition of social-acoustic signals is vital to their reproductive behavior. There are two distinct reproductive male morphs that follow divergent developmental trajectories with corresponding alternative reproductive tactics: type I males are the territorial/nesting morph that vocally court females during the summer breeding season while type II males do not court females, but instead sneak spawn in competition with type I males. Catecholaminergic neurons, which synthesize and release the neurotransmitters dopamine or noradrenaline, …

A Realization Of Modernity: Case Studies In Connectivity And Time, Mari Gorman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My stated goal in applying to The Graduate Center was to explore my previous research in diverse fields of study. This research, the result of a formal investigation of acting, was and still is centrally focused on the subject of relationship itself, relationships being what actors create. In pursuit of a greater understanding of the essential nature of relationship in practical terms, a self-organizing complex system that constitutes universal relationship was unexpectedly discovered. As such, this system has been shown to offer solutions to many outstanding problems in diverse areas of study. The Liberal Studies program track, Approaches to Modernity …

Co-Modulation Masking Release Begins In The Auditory Periphery, Kareem R. Hussein, Agudemu Borjigan, Mark Sayles

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Understanding speech in noisy environments can be difficult, especially for people with hearing loss. The background noise can cover up the sounds of interest. Normally, the auditory system works to alleviate this problem by tagging and then cancelling the noise. Our experiments are aimed at understanding the mechanism of this noise cancellation process. We hypothesize that non-linear signal processing in the mammalian cochlea (the most peripheral part of the auditory system) is the basis of noise cancellation. To test this hypothesis, we measured the responses of auditory-nerve fibers (ANFs) to sounds embedded in background noise with different statistical properties. ANFs …

Investigating The Neural Basis Of Audiovisual Speech Perception With Intracranial Recordings In Humans, Muge O. Sertel

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Speech is inherently multisensory, containing auditory information from the voice and visual information from the mouth movements of the talker. Hearing the voice is usually sufficient to understand speech, however in noisy environments or when audition is impaired due to aging or disabilities, seeing mouth movements greatly improves speech perception. Although behavioral studies have well established this perceptual benefit, it is still not clear how the brain processes visual information from mouth movements to improve speech perception. To clarify this issue, I studied the neural activity recorded from the brain surfaces of human subjects using intracranial electrodes, a technique known …

Optogenetic Interrogation Of Primary Visual Cortex And Its Impact On Neural Coding And Behavior, Ariana R. Andrei

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Understanding the mechanism by which the brain transforms simple sensory inputs into rich perceptual experiences is one of the great mysteries of systems neuroscience. Undoubtedly this involves the activity of large populations of interconnected neurons, but while the responses of individual neurons to a variety of sensory stimuli have been well-characterized, how populations of such neurons organize their activity to create our sensory perceptions is almost entirely unknown. To investigate this complex circuitry requires the ability to causally manipulate the activity of neural populations and monitor the resultant effects. Here we focus on primary visual cortex (V1), which has been …

Microarray Analysis Of Aging-Associated Immune System Alterations In The Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla Of F344 Rats, Sivasai Balivada, Chanran Ganta, Yongqing Zhang, Hitesh Pawar, Richard Ortiz, Kevin Becker, Arshad Khan, Michael Kenney

Selected Works Temporary Series

The rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) is an area of the brain stem that contains diverse neural substrates that are involved in systems critical for physiological function. There is evidence that aging affects some neural substrates within the RVLM, although age-related changes in RVLM molecular mechanisms are not well established. The goal of the present study was to characterize the transcriptomic profile of the aging RVLM and to test the hypothesis that aging is associated with altered gene expression in the RVLM, with an emphasis on immune system associated gene transcripts. RVLM tissue punches from young, middle-aged, and aged F344 rats …

Microarray Analysis Of Aging-Associated Immune System Alterations In The Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla Of F344 Rats, Balivada, Chanran Ganta, Yongqing Zhang, Hitesh Pawar, Richard Ortiz, Kevin Becker, Arshad Khan, Michael Kenney

Departmental Papers (Biology)

The rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) is an area of the brain stem that contains diverse neural substrates that are involved in systems critical for physiological function. There is evidence that aging affects some neural substrates within the RVLM, although age-related changes in RVLM molecular mechanisms are not well established. The goal of the present study was to characterize the transcriptomic profile of the aging RVLM and to test the hypothesis that aging is associated with altered gene expression in the RVLM, with an emphasis on immune system associated gene transcripts. RVLM tissue punches from young, middle-aged, and aged F344 rats …

Central And Peripheral Difference In Perceptual Bias In Ambiguous Perception Using Dichoptic Stimuli --- Implications For The Analysis-By-Synthesis Process In Visual Recognition, Li Zhaoping Prof

MODVIS Workshop

No abstract provided.

Similarity-Based Fusion Of Meg And Fmri Discerns Early Feedforward And Feedback Processing In The Ventral Stream, Yalda Mohsenzadeh Dr., Radoslaw Martin Cichy Dr., Aude Oliva Dr., Dimitrios Pantazis Dr.

MODVIS Workshop

Successful models of vision, such as DNNs and HMAX, are inspired by the human visual system, relying on a hierarchical cascade of feedforward transformations akin to the ventral stream. Despite these advances, the human visual cortex remains unique in complexity, with feedforward and feedback pathways characterized by rapid spatiotemporal dynamics as visual information is transformed into semantic content. Thus, a systematic characterization of the spatiotemporal and representational space of the ventral visual pathway can offer novel insights in the duration and sequencing of cognitive processes, suggesting computational constraints and new architectures for computer vision models.

To discern the feedforward and …

Comparing Diverse V1 Models On The Same Platform: Virtual V1sion, Cheryl Olman

MODVIS Workshop

No abstract provided.