Research Symposium

BIO

My name is Kelsey Coss, I'm from Tampa, Florida, and I am a sophomore in undergrad here at Florida State University. I'm majoring in psychology and have enjoyed spending my time exploring the fields of research within psych. This year I have focused my interests towards behavioral neuroscience research and social psychology, and I'm hoping to continue to pursue these in the future.

Spatial Navigation in Rodent Models of Alzheimer’s Disease During Reference Frame Transformation

Abstract

The overall objective of our research is to use animal models to understand how we get oriented in space so we can navigate our environment, and how some disorders such as Alzheimer´s disease interfere with this ability. This ability requires interfacing between our interactions with the world (which are fixed to our bodies; i.e., egocentric) and the way our brain maps out space which is map-like or world centered in nature (i.e., allocentric). To understand the brain dynamics that underlie this ability, we obtained electrophysiological recordings using two approaches, tetrodes and silicon probes. We set out to monitor neural activity in rats as they complete a series of spatial orientation tasks, designed to disentangle the brain dynamics underlying navigation using body-centered (egocentric) strategies, world centered (allocentric) strategies, or a strategy that requires transformation between allocentric and egocentric. This research will lay the groundwork for understanding if these same brain systems and abilities are dysfunctional in Alzheimer’s disease.

Keywords: Spatial Navigation; Alzheimer's Disease; Rats