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.
Holmes, Ashley (2011). Effects of orexin A in the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nBM) on olfactory discrimination acquisition and reversal. (Mentor: A. Bailey)
Abstract
The orexins or hypocretins are a family of neuropeptides found in a variety of different brain structures. The orexins produce excitatory effects and can be split into two types, orexin A (OxA) and orexin B (OxB). The orexins originate in the lateral hypothalamus but project to various other areas of the brain. Orexin interactions with the basal forebrain cholinergic system (BFCS) in particular are hypothesized to be related to arousal and attention and the BFCS is seen to be responsible for normal attentional functioning. Previous research shows that OxA plays an important role in the BFCS attention system. Therefore, we looked at the effects of OxA in an olfactory discrimination acquisition and reversal task. Results supported the hypothesis that orexin A infusions in the nBM did significantly increase attention on olfactory discrimination acquisition and reversal. Therefore, in general, rats who received OxA infusions did have an increase in attention when compared to rats given aCSF infusions.
