AGE- AND SEX-DEPENDENT ALTERATIONS IN PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY NEURONAL CALCIUM NETWORK DYNAMICS DURING LOCOMOTION ...

• Main Author: Case, Sami
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Kentucky Libraries 2023
• Subjects: FOS Medical and health sciences; sami
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.13023/etd.2023.160; https://uknowledge.uky.edu/pharmacol_etds/46/

Over the past 30 years, the calcium (Ca2+) hypothesis of brain aging has provided clear evidence that hippocampal neuronal Ca2+ dysregulation is a key biomarker of aging. Indeed, age-dependent Ca2+-mediated changes in intrinsic excitability, synaptic plasticity, and activity have helped identify some of the mechanisms engaged in memory and cognitive decline. However, much of this work has been done at the single-cell level, mostly in slice preparations, and in restricted structures of the brain. Recently, our lab identified age- and Ca2+-related neuronal network dysregulation in the cortex of the anesthetized animal. Still, investigations in the awake animal are needed to test the generalizability of the Ca2+ hypothesis of brain aging and dementia. Here, we used in vigilo two-photon (2P) imaging in ambulating mice, to image GCaMP8f in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), during ambulation and at rest. In order to investigate aging- and sex- related changes in the neuronal Ca2+ network, a continuous wavelet ... : 2023 Sami Case ...