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.
Graydon, Megan (2009). Examining anxiety and depression in a rat model of Alzheimer’s disease. (Mentor: A. Bailey)
Abstract
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the cognitive functioning of humans (Hollingwoth et al., 2006). Damage to the nBM via human AD or an experimental lesion may alter processing in the amygdala leading to changes in emotion and mood. AD has also been shown to affect mood, such as anxiety and depression in humans (Delano- Wood et al., 2007). The nBM is known to send cholinergic projections to the amygdala (Mesulam et al., 1983), which has been previously shown to be involved in aspects of emotional learning and fear responding (LeDoux, 2000). The researchers hypothesized that quisqualic acid lesions will disrupt the cholinergic pathways from the nBM to the amygdala, which will cause an increase in time spent immobile in the forced swim test, decrease in preference for sucrose in the sucrose preference test and decrease in entries and time spent in the open arms in the elevated plus maze. 192- IgG saporin nBM lesions were hypothesized to effect projections to the cortex and will have fewer changes seen in depression and anxiety- like behaviors of the rats. The researchers found that there was so significant difference in anxiety and depressive-like behaviors seen in rats with nBM lesions and sham control rats. The data however suggests a trend that may support the current hypotheses if repeated.
