Seminars & Events
Monday, February 11, 2013: Dr. Daphne Soares (University of Maryland College Park) will speak on "The Sensory World of Cavefishes" at 4:45 pm in Goodpaster Hall 195.
Monday, March 4, 2013: Dr. Joe Cheer (University of Maryland Baltimore) will speak on "Endogenous Cannabinoids and the Pursuit of Reward" at 4:45 pm in Goodpaster Hall 195.
Friday, April 12, 2013: Dr. Jill McGaughy (University of New Hampshire) will speak on "The Role of Cortical Norepinephrine in the Ontogeny of Executive Function" at 3:00 pm in Schaefer Hall 106.
Alumni Highlight
Dr. Erin Johnson '02 recently received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and was inducted as an alumni member of Nu Rho Psi.
SMP Spotlight
Ron Saul, "Chronic activation of the substantia nigra nociceptin/orphanin receptor induces motor deficits similar to Parkinson's disease," 2008. Saul, the 2008 winner of the Neuroscience Award, infused a drug into the substantia nigra of rats and measured the resulting motor behaviors, mood disturbances, and cognitive abilities.
Brack, Cody (2011). Short- and long-term effects of gentamicin on auditory thresholds in the goldfish (Carassius auratus). (Mentor: J. Ramcharitar)
Abstract
Fishes have become a popular model organism for the studying of the vertebrate auditory system. They possess inner ears similar to mammals and other vertebrates in many regards. The goldfish (Carassius auratus) is one such organism whose auditory system has been widely studied (Smith, 2006; Ramcharitar & Brack, 2010; Xiao et. Al, 2008). The goldfish was utilized in this study to investigate the damage and functional recovery of hearing due to the ototoxic drug, gentamicin. Audio evoked potentials were used to measure auditory thresholds of goldfish 7, 14, and 21 days after initial gentamicin treatment. Also, brainstem responses to a lateral line dipole stimulus were recorded using a similar technique. Significant upward shifts in auditory thresholds were observed 7 days after initial gentamicin treatment in all frequencies tested (200-800 Hz). Day 14 showed recovery on the upper and lower end of the test range. Day 21 auditory thresholds were indistinguishable from saline controls. This indicates the functional recovery of hearing with sufficient recovery time. Lateral line experiments displayed a trend of decreasing response amplitude with increasing frequency of stimulus. Amplitude of responses were much smaller above 200 Hz. Therefore, shifts in auditory threshold were most likely not affected by the lateral line system.
