Seminars & Events
Monday, September 19, 2011: Dr. R. Christopher Pierce (University of Pennsylvania) will speak on "Epigenetic Inheritance of a Cocaine Resistance Phenotype" at 4:45 pm in Goodpaster 195.
Friday, November 4, 2011: Dr. Paul Shepard (University of Maryland Baltimore) will speak at 3:00 pm in Schaefer Hall 106.
Friday, November 11, 2011: Dr. Mark Bouton (University of Vermont) will speak at 3:00 pm in Goodpaster Hall 195.
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.
Coster, Jenalee (2008). The Effects of Voluntary Exercise on Acquisition of an Olfactory Learning Set in Long-Evans Rats with Lesions to the Nucleus Basalis Magnocellularis. Mentor: Dr. Aileen Bailey
Abstract
The current study examines the effect of exercise on lesions to the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nBM) on acquisition of olfactory discrimination learning set (ODLS). Exercise animals were given free access to a running wheel five days following surgery. Animals did not differ on pre- to post-surgical measurements of activity level in an open field, nor did animals differ in percentage of time spent on a novel object during a novel object recognition task to assess working memory. Therefore, there were no deficits in activity or working memory among the animals that would impair acquisition of ODLS. Sedentary and exercise sham animals and SAP exercise animals performed significantly above chance on trial 2 indicating learning set acquisition. SAP sedentary animals did not perform above chance on trial 2 indicating that they were unable to acquire a learning set; however, on trials 3-5 they were able to perform significantly above chance indicating olfactory abilities were intact Furthermore on block 1, sham exercise and SAP exercise performed significantly above chance. Exercise enabled animals to form a learning set more quickly compared to sedentary animals. In conclusion, SAP lesions to the nBM impaired acquisition of ODLS, but those deficits can be overcome with voluntary exercise. Histology still needs to be completed to ensure lesion placement and acetylcholinesterase levels in the nBM and cortex. Although, more animals need to be added and the results replicated, there is a strong trend that shows exercise is important to counteract cognitive deficits caused by lesions to the nBM.
