Transcript Thesis Proposal Draft Presentation

+ TEAM RITALIN
Mentor:
Matt Roesch
SL:
Nadira Ramnarain
Team Members:
Research in Testing ADHD's
Link to Impulsivity in
Neuroscience
Brian Barnett
Valerie Cohen
Taylor Hearn
Emily Jones
Reshma Kariyil
Alice Kunin
Sen Kwak
Jessica Lee
Brooke Lubinski
Gautam Rao
Ashley Zhan
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Importance of Our Project

Limited research on the neurobiology of Attention Hyperactive
Deficit Disorder (ADHD)

Significant increase in number of ADHD stimulants prescribed in
recent years (Jensen et al., 1999)
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No valid animal model of ADHD developed yet

Women who smoke during pregnancy are three times as likely
to have children diagnosed with ADHD (Linnet et al., 2005)

Fetal nicotine rat model to further study ADHD

Research valuable to scientists, psychiatrists, patients, and
relatives of patients
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Literature Review: Impulsivity
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
Impulsivity

Clinical characteristic of ADHD

The ability to stop an ongoing or habitual movement
Stop-Signal Task

Performance is worse in humans with ADHD and in animal models
of ADHD
(Bari et al., 2011)
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Literature Review: Neurophysiology
(Bari et al., 2011)

Dorsal Prelimbic Cortex (dPL)


Previously associated with controlling impulsive behavior
Single-Neuron Recordings
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Establish correlation between neural firing and behavior observed
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Literature Review: Application to
Human Patients
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Fetal Nicotine Rats
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Animal model of ADHD
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Correlation between smoking during pregnancy and increased
diagnosis of children with ADHD
Adderall
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Reverses effects of ADHD in patients and rat models
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Increases amount of available dopamine & noradrenaline in dPL
and reduces impulsivity
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Research Questions & Hypotheses
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Research Questions
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Is this neural firing in the dPL disrupted and impulsivity increased
in fetal nicotine rats?
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Will administration of Adderall improve dPL firing and task
performance in fetal nicotine rats?
Hypotheses

Fetal nicotine rats will exhibit reduced neural firing in the dPL and
increased impulsivity as compared to control rats.
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Adderall administration will increase dPL activity and improve task
performance in rats as compared to fetal nicotine rats without drug
administration.
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Methodology: Variables
Variables
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
Test Groups
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Control: Long-Evans rats
+ saline

Experimental 1: Fetal
Nicotine rats + saline
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Experimental 2: Fetal
Nicotine rats + Adderall
Independent Variables

Drug administration
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Stop-signal timing
Dependent Variables
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Neural recording
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Task performance
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Rat behavior
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Methodology: Procedure
General Overview:
Pilot Study
Fetal Nicotine
Study
Train fetal
nicotine rats
Experimental
group 1
Long-Evans
Study
Histology
Data Analysis
Control group
Verify electrode
locations
ANOVA,
Matlab, t-tests,
chi-squared
Experimental
group 2
Experimental/Control Group Overview:
obtain rats
task
training
implant
electrode
drug
administration &
neural recordings
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Timeline
Spring
2012
Summer
2012
Fall 2012
Spring
2013
Fall 2013
Spring
2014
IACUC
approval
Fetal
Nicotine
Pilot Study
Exp.
Group 1
Control
Group
Data
analysis
Complete
Thesis
paper
Apply for
grants
Obtain
Adderall
Exp.
Group 2
Histology
Studies
Write
Thesis
paper
Senior
Thesis
Conference
Build
electrodes
Junior
Colloquia
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Anticipated Results & Scientific
Impact

Physiological & neurotransmitter pathway disruption in inhibiting
impulsivity

Repaired with Adderall
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Nicotine exposure as cause of ADHD
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Fetal nicotine rats as valid model of ADHD
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Applicable to humans
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References
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Bari, A., Mar, A.C., Theobald, D.E., Elands, S.A., Oganya, K.C., Eagle,
D.M. & Robbins, T.W. (2011) Prefrontal and monoaminergic
contributions to stop-signal task performance in rats. Journal of
Neuroscience, 31, 9254-9263.

Jensen, P.S., Kettle, L., Roper, M.T., Sloan, M.T., Dulcan, M.K.,
Hoven, C., Bird, H.R., Bauermiester, J.J., & Payne, J.D. (1999). Are
stimulants overprescribed? treatment of ADHD in four U.S.
communities. Journal of the American Academy of Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry, 38, 794-804.

Linnet, K., Wisborg, K., Obel, C., Secher, N.J., Thomsen, P.H., Agerbo,
E., & Henriksen, T.B. (2005) Smoking during pregnancy and the risk
for hyperkinetic disorder in offspring. Pediatrics, 116(2), 462-467.
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Questions?