The brain renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a known regulator of cardiovascular function. The present studies investigated the cardiovascular effects of the pharmacological interruption of this system in hypertensive inbred ...

This dissertation is focused on understanding the cellular mechanisms underlying thalamocortical network activities. Specifically, I am interested in how inhibitory neurons of the thalamus process information received from ...

During infancy and childhood, almost every person will impacted by infection. Neonates, due to their immature immune system, are especially vulnerable to respiratory infection and are more prone to hospitalization. ...

An antibody that recognizes the astrocyte specific protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), was used to examine the effect of monocular visual deprivation on astrocytes in the visual cortex of young and adult rats. ...

Antidepressant (AD) administration to developing rats produces behavioral alterations in adulthood. The similarity between these behavioral alterations and symptoms of depressive disorder suggested that juvenile antidepressant ...

In humans, the brain continues to develop over the course of adolescence. One implication is that drugs of abuse are likely to impact adolescents differently than adults. Rodent literature has added credibility to this ...

Organisms require a great deal of behavioral plasticity to accomplish the tasks associated with reproduction. In addition to day-to-day activities, breeding animals must establish a territory, find a mate, find a place to ...

In response to environmental cues, neural circuits are maintained and rewired by growth cone dynamics, which are regulated by cytoskeleton reorganization and focal adhesion dynamics. Src and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) are ...

In layer II/III of the visual cortex, synaptic transmission at the level of the field evoked response, which included a population spike (PS), a field excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP) and slow components, was ...

Animal growth depends on nutritional intake during development. In many animals, nutritional status is uncoupled from moderation of adult stature after adult size is achieved. However, some long-lived animals continue to ...