Biological Psychology Commons^™

The Neurobehavioral Consequences Of Gestational And Chronic Atrazine Exposure In Male And Female Sprague Dawley Rats, Jennifer L. Walters

Dissertations

The adverse health risks of exposure to the herbicide, atrazine, in humans are not fully understood. Although numerous studies have demonstrated atrazine to be an endocrine disrupter, the neurobehavioral consequences of atrazine exposure have not been thoroughly examined. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of environmentally-relevant levels

of gestational followed by continued chronic atrazine exposure on motor function, learning and memory, anxiety, and striatal dopamine content in rodents. Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were treated by gavage with 100 µg/kg atrazine (ATZ low), 10 me/kg atrazine (ATZ high), or vehicle on

gestational day l through postnatal day …

Evaluation Of Novel Κappa Opioid Agonists Alone And In Combination With D-Amphetamine On Locomotor Activity In Sprague-Dawley Rats Evaluation Of Novel Κappa Opioid Agonists Alone And In Combination With D-Amphetamine On Locomotor Activity In Sprague-Dawley Rats, Mary Melissa Peet

Dissertations

Stimulant abuse is a widespread problem that often leads to detrimental health and social consequences. Currently, there are no FDA-approved pharmacotherapies available as a treatment option for stimulant abuse or the prevention of relapse. Drugs targeting kappa opioid receptors (KOR) are under investigation as a potential pharmacotherapy. KOR agonists have been shown to modulate dopamine levels within brain reward pathways, thereby producing anti-addictive effects. Traditional KOR agonists unfortunately tend to produce untoward side effects, including sedation, limiting their therapeutic utility. Structurally different from traditional KOR agonists, salvinorin A (salvA) may produce less sedating effects while still exerting anti-addictive properties. SalvA …

On Reporting The Onset Of The Intention To Move, Uri Maoz, Liad Mudrik, Ram Rivlin, Ian Ross, Adam Mamelak, Gideon Yaffe

Psychology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"In 1965, Hans Kornhuber and Luder Deecke made a discovery that greatly influenced the study of voluntary action. Using electroencephalography (EEG), they showed that when aligning some tens of trials to movement onset and averaging, a slowly decreasing electrical potential emerges over central regions of the brain. It starts 1 second ( s) or so before the onset of the voluntary action1 and continues until shortly after the action begins. They termed this the Bereitschaftspotential, or readiness potential (RP; Kornhuber & Deecke, 1965).2 This became the first well-established neural marker of voluntary action. In that, the RP allowed for more …

Faculty Recital, Nathan Tanouye, Albina Asryan

Faculty Recitals

No abstract provided.

Differential Effects Of Intermittent Versus Continuous Haloperidol Treatment Throughout Adolescence On Haloperidol Sensitization And Social Behavior In Adulthood, Jun Gao, Ming Li

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Animal work on the behavioral effects of antipsychotic treatment suggests that different dosing regimens could affect drug sensitivity differently, with an intermittent treatment regimen tending to cause a sensitization effect, while a continuous treatment causing a tolerance. In this study, we explored how haloperidol (HAL) sensitization induced throughout adolescence and tested in adulthood was differentially impacted by these two dosing regimens in the conditioned avoidance response (CAR) test.We also examined howthese two dosing regiments affected social interaction and social memory in adulthood. Male adolescent Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with HAL via either osmotic minipump(HAL-0.25 CONT; 0.25mgkg⁻¹ day⁻¹, …

The Impact Of An Omega-3 Enriched Diet On Hyperactivity And Biochemistry In An Animal Model For Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Nadine M. Hammoud

Open Access Theses

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most diagnosed behavioral disorder in children. It affects around 5% of children worldwide and 11% of children in the United States, with rates increasing. Pharmaceutical treatments, such as amphetamines and methylphenidates, are not effective for everyone and are known to have unwanted side effects. While the etiology of the disorder is not yet fully understood, there are clear genetic and environmental components. Nutritional insufficiencies have recently become a popular environmental risk factor under investigation. Essential fatty acids (EFA), omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in particular, are needed for proper brain development and function. Our lab …

Multidimensional Approach To Comparative Avian Visual Systems, Bret Alan Moore

Open Access Dissertations

Since the birth of visual ecology, comparative studies on how birds see their world have been limited to a small number of species and tended to focus on a single visual trait. This approach has constrained our ability to understand the diversity and evolution of the avian visual system. The goal of this dissertation was to characterize multiple visual dimensions on bird groups that are highly speciouse (e.g., Passeriformes), and test some hypotheses and predictions, using modern comparative tools, on the relationship between different visual traits and their association with visual information sampling behaviors. First, I developed a novel method …

Intergeniculate Leaflet Lesions Result In Differential Activation Of Brain Regions Following The Presentation Of Photic Stimuli In Nile Grass Rats, Andrew J. Gall, Lily Yan, Laura Smale, Antonio A. Nunez

Faculty Publications

The intergeniculate leaflet (IGL) plays an important role in the entrainment of circadian rhythms and the mediation of acute behavioral responses to light (i.e., masking). Recently, we reported that IGL lesions in diurnal grass rats result in a reversal in masking responses to light as compared to controls. Here, we used Fos as a marker of neural activation to examine the mechanisms by which the IGL may influence this masking effect of light in grass rats. Specifically, we examined the patterns of Fos activation in retinorecipient areas and in brain regions that receive IGL inputs following 1-h light pulses given …

Bursts And Heavy Tails In Temporal And Sequential Dynamics Of Foraging Decisions, Kanghoon Jung, Hyeran Jang, Jerald D. D. Kralik, Jaeseung Jeong

Dartmouth Scholarship

A fundamental understanding of behavior requires predicting when and what an individual will choose. However, the actual temporal and sequential dynamics of successive choices made among multiple alternatives remain unclear. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that there is a general bursting property in both the timing and sequential patterns of foraging decisions. We conducted a foraging experiment in which rats chose among four different foods over a continuous two-week time period. Regarding when choices were made, we found bursts of rapidly occurring actions, separated by time-varying inactive periods, partially based on a circadian rhythm. Regarding what was …

Interactions With Horses Is Associated With Higher Mindfulness And Heart Rate Variability And Lower Electrodermal Response In College Students, Sarah Mary Wach

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

A wealth of research has revealed psychological and physiological benefits of interactions with animals. As yet, research is limited to smaller animals such as dogs and cats and has not examined the benefits of human-horse interactions. The present study examined the effects of video-simulated human-horse interactions compared with simulated interactions with a car and a person on state mindfulness and physiological arousal. The relationship between trait mindfulness and horse experience was also examined. Undergraduate students with (n = 16) and without experience with horses (n = 26) were recruited with the exclusion criteria of a fear of horses. …

Implicit Theories Of Intelligence And Learning A Novel Mathematics Task, Nathan Oehme Rudig

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The social-cognitive model of motivation states that students adopt a theory of the nature of intelligence that guides their goals in academia and their responses to academic setbacks. Students who believe intelligence is an unchanging entity within them are more likely to adopt goals to display high ability, hide low ability, and respond helplessly to failed schoolwork. Conversely, a student who believes intelligence is a measure of effort and persistence will be motivated to gather knowledge and acquire new skills. The current study investigated the role theories of intelligence play in the field of mathematics understanding. In two experiments, participants …

The Effect Of Acute Lps-Induced Immune Activation And Brain Insulin Signaling Disruption In A Diabetic Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Andrew Scott Murtishaw

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder marked by progressive cognitive impairments and pathological hallmarks that include amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and neuronal loss. Several well-known mutations exist that lead to early-onset familial AD (fAD). However, these cases only account for a small percentage of total AD cases. The vast majority of AD cases are sporadic in origin (sAD) and are less clearly influenced by a single mutation but rather some combination of genetic and environmental risk.

The etiology of sAD remains unclear but numerous risk factors have been identified that increase the chance of developing AD. Among these risk …

Interaction Among Gustation, Olfaction, And Vision In Flavor Identification, Michael J. Lauth

Symposium

Even though the senses of taste, smell, and sight are distinct, there is a significant overlap among them in our perceptions of objects that helps us understand and differentiate the world. Everyone has experienced, when his or her nose gets congested, that his or her sense of taste changes as well. Many individuals do not equally understand the top-down processing with taste when someone sees objects they are about to eat. In the replicated study by our principle investigator, a random convenience sample of young adults (n=162) were recruited and tested to determine if they could taste four Jelly Belly …

The Development Of Sleep-Wake Rhythms And The Search For Elemental Circuits In The Infant Brain, Mark S. Blumberg, Andrew J. Gall, William D. Todd

Faculty Publications

Despite the predominance of sleep in early infancy, developmental science has yet to play a major role in shaping concepts and theories about sleep and its associated ultradian and circadian rhythms. Here we argue that developmental analyses help us to elucidate the relative contributions of the brainstem and forebrain to sleep-wake control and to dissect the neural components of sleep-wake rhythms. Developmental analysis also makes it clear that sleep-wake processes in infants are the foundation for those of adults. For example, the infant brainstem alone contains a fundamental sleep-wake circuit that is sufficient to produce transitions among wakefulness, quiet sleep, …

Neuromodulation Therapy Mitigates Heart Failure Induced Hippocampal Damage, Timothy P. Diperi

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Nearly half of the people diagnosed with heart failure (HF) die within 5 years of diagnosis. Brain abnormalities secondary to CVD have been observed in many discrete regions, including the hippocampus. Nearly 25% of patients with CVD also have major depressive disorder (MDD), and hippocampal dysfunction is a characteristic of both diseases. In this study, the hippocampus and an area of the hippocampal formation, the dentate gyrus (DG), were studied in a canine model of HF. Using this canine HF model previously, we have determined that myocardial …

Attenuating The Attentional Blink And Its Consequences: Support For The Wyble-Bowman-Nieuwenstien Model, Samantha Riane Debes

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

When participants are asked to detect two targets (T1 and T2) in a stream of rapidly presented visual stimuli, T2 accuracy decreases when it follows T1 by 200 ms to 500 ms, a phenomenon known as the attentional blink (AB). Researchers have been attempting to attenuate the AB through experimental manipulations in order to understand temporal processing in the visual domain. Studies that have successfully attenuated the blink have often (but not always) done so using a concurrent task. One current model of visual temporal attention, the Wyble-Bowman-Nieuwenstien model (2009) suggests that a byproduct of the attenuation of the attentional …

The Effect Of Early Life Stress On Methamphetamine Damage In The Striatum, Emily Hensleigh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Methamphetamine (METH) abuse impacts the global economy through costs associated with drug enforcement, emergency room visits, and treatment. Hyperthermia is a leading cause of METH induced emergency room visits and may lead to neural damage. Previous research has demonstrated early life stress, such as childhood abuse, increases the likelihood of developing a substance abuse disorder. However, the effects of early life stress on neuronal damage induced by chronic METH administration are unknown. We aimed to elucidate the effects of early life stress on METH induced dopamine damage in the striatum. Animals were separated three hours per day during the first …

Evolutionary Pressures On Primate Intertemporal Choice, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

From finding food to choosing mates, animals must make intertemporal choices that involve fitness benefits available at different times. Species vary dramatically in their willingness to wait for delayed rewards. Why does this variation across species exist? An adaptive approach to intertemporal choice suggests that time preferences should reflect the temporal problems faced in a species' environment. Here, I use phylogenetic regression to test whether allometric factors (relating to body size), relative brain size, and social group size predict how long 13 primate species will wait in laboratory intertemporal choice tasks. Controlling for phylogeny, a composite allometric factor that includes …

An Animal Model Of The Motivational Symptoms Of Depression: Testing The Antidepressant Desipramine On An Effort-Related Choice Task, Samantha L. Collins

Honors Scholar Theses

Patients with depression, schizophrenia, and other related disorders often show effort-related motivational symptoms such as anergia, psychomotor slowing, lassitude, and fatigue. Several studies have indicated that dopamine (DA) within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is involved in the regulation of effort-related behavior. Interference with NAc DA alters response allocation in effort related choice procedures, biasing animals towards the alterative that can be obtained with minimal effort. Previous studies have shown that administration of the vesicular monoamine transporter-2 (VMAT-2) inhibitor tetrabenazine (TBZ) shifts behavior in rats responding on the FR5/chow choice procedure causing a decrease in lever pressing and a compensatory increase …

Role Of The Ventral Tegmental Area And Ventral Tegmental Area Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors In The Incentive Amplifying Effect Of Nicotine, Ashley B. Sheppard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nicotine has multiple behavioral effects as a result of its action in the central nervous system. Nicotine strengthens the behaviors that lead to nicotine administration (primary reinforcement), and this effect of nicotine depends on mesotelencephalic systems of the brain that are critical to goal directed behavior, reward, and reinforcement. Nicotine also serves as a ‘reinforcement enhancer’ – drug administration enhances behaviors that lead to other drug and nondrug reinforcers. Although the reinforcement enhancing effects of nicotine may promote tobacco use in the face of associated negative health outcomes, the neuroanatomical systems that mediate this effect of nicotine have never been …