THE DORSAL COLUMN The results of Dr. Whitehead’s study demonstrated that this specific breed of genetically modified rats exhibit impaired behavioural flexibility - these rats could not switch their strategy well. This has a clear similarity to the cognitive impairments of AD patients. Just as cognitive impairments in AD patients generalize to many daily tasks, the deficits shown by these rats were generalized to other measures of behavioural flexibility. Finally, Dr. Whitehead’s group sought to investigate the underpinnings of behavioural flexibility impairments and decided that brain inflammation was a good candidate because it has been shown to occur in the brain of AD patients. Just as a grazed knee becomes hot, red, and swollen, so does the brain when it is injured. This physiological response is called inflammation and it is mediated by immune cells. In the brain, microglia are the immune cells which are activated when certain regions are inflamed. To draw a connection between the two phenomena, behavioural inflexibility and brain inflammation, Dr. Whitehead’s group sought after evidence of inflammation in the brain of their genetically modified rats to see if there was a correlation with behavioural flexibility. Dr. Whitehead’s group uncovered high levels of brain inflammation in these rats, quantified as level of activated microglia, that could significantly predict how impaired each rat’s behavioural flexibility was in the lever pressing task. There are many reasons why one might want to stick to the classics and continue to play old games like Monopoly and Clue. But, if there is any way to help
VOLUME 1 // ISSUE 1 prevent AD patients from being unable to learn new rules to games and generally help prevent decline in cognitive abilities such as behavioural flexibility, then discovering the molecular underpinnings of AD is crucial. These findings from Dr. Whitehead’s lab demonstrate that brain inflammation occurs in a model of early stage AD and correlates well with impaired behavioural flexibility, which means that inflammation could be part of what triggers AD initially and warrants further investigation if preventative measures that reduce brain inflammation are to be discovered.
PET PROJECT TO HIGHLIGHT THE TRACE OF DEATH IN LIFE BY SIMON BENOIT
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here is a little known fact that the average adult loses about 10 billion cells per day through a process called apoptosis or “cell death”, which is where cells undergo a form of programmed death. Normally, this highly predictable and controlled process is necessary to maintain normal functioning of the human body. For example, during human development in the womb, the fingers of our hand are formed after programmed death of the cells in between them. However, abnormal
SOCIETY OF NEUROSCIENCE GRADUATE STUDENTS
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