Amphetamine and brain development : third trimester model : a dissertation /
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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College Station, Tex. :
Texas A&M University System Health Science Center,
2007.
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| Subjects: |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT: The use of drugs collectively known as amphetamines is rising globally. Individuals of different backgrounds and cultures are using this potent group of psychostimulants, a group that includes drugs such as methamphetamine and MDMA ("ecstasy"), with increasing regularity. Among these drug users, a subpopulation that is of particular concern is women of reproductive age, since amphetamine use by this unique group may cause great harm to the developing fetuses they carry. Research has shown that amphetamine exposure during development of the central nervous system causes modifications in behavior, neuroanatomy and molecular content. In particular, behaviors related to the function of the hippocampus appear to be affected by developmental amphetamine exposures; however, there is a considerable gap in the literature regarding the effects of developmental amphetamine on this region of the brain. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to investigate the effects of amphetamine exposure on the development of behaviors mediated by the hippocampus using a rat model system. It was hypothesized that amphetamine exposure during the brain growth spurt, the most dynamic period of brain growth. would result in deficits in behavioral tasks related to hippocampal function. Additionally, it was hypothesized that any alterations observed in behavioral development would be a function of changes in hippocampal neuroanatomy and/or molecular profiles. The findings from these studies suggest that neonatal amphetamine exposure alters behaviors such as locomotor activity and anxiety, but does not affect spatial learning or taste aversion conditioning. The neuroanatomical findings show that amphetamine exposure leads to an overall decrease in the number of cells within the hippocampus at young ages (PD 9), and alters the rate of proliferation within this brain region. However, analyses of cocaine-and-amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) in the hippocampus suggest that amphetamine exposure during the brain growth spurt does not increase expression of CART mRNA. These findings provide evidence that amphetamine exposure during the brain growth spurt alters behavioral development in rats, and that these changes may be related in part to neuroanatomical, but not molecular, changes in the hippocampus. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Medical Sciences". "Submitted to the Office of Research and Graduate Studies The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2007." Approved as to style and content by: Wei-Chung A. Chen, Douglas P. Dohrman, Gerald D. Frye, Farida Sohrabji, Paul J. Wellman, William H. Griffith. |
| Physical Description: | xi, 141 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-139). |