Research Symposium

BIO

I am a sophomore at Florida State University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences with minors in Chemistry and Interdisciplinary Science. I'm originally from Orlando, Florida, and I have always been curious about how biological systems function at the cellular and molecular levels. I am particularly interested in genome engineering technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 and how these tools are transforming biomedical research. In the future, I hope to pursue graduate school and build a career in healthcare or biomedical science, with interests in anesthesiology, medical laboratory science, or pathology.

Investigating the Impact of Chronic Sleep Deprivation on Hippocampal Subregion Gene Expression in Young Male Mice

Abstract

Sleep deprivation is a widespread public health concern affecting multiple demographics around the world. Previous studies have shown deficits in cognitive function and memory consolidation following sleep deprivation, and these changes occur alongside gene expression alterations. More recent studies have shown these alterations occur differentially between hippocampal subregions. ​
In this study, we use fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to investigate region-specific changes in RNA within the hippocampus in response to chronic sleep deprivation in young male mice. These subregions were then examined with imaging analysis tools (FIJI) to quantitatively measure spatial RNA expression. This work aims to explore that chronic sleep deprivation has major implications on molecular mechanisms that relate to memory storage and synaptic functions.​

Keywords: Sleep Deprivation, Gene Expression, Neuroscience, RNA