Research Symposium

BIO

Originally from Virginia, Maggie grew up the oldest of seven children. She knew from a young age that she wanted to pursue science and medicine. She is a freshman on the pre-nursing track and hopes to also earn a degree in psychology. After finishing her undergraduate studies at Florida State, she hopes to eventually become a nurse practitioner. In her free time, she enjoys reading, yoga, hiking, and spending time with her family.

Expression of ptau in hippocampal tissue and navigational abilities in mice

Abstract

In Alzheimer’s disease, neural tissue is damaged by the accumulation of beta amyloid and tau proteins. Often, so much of these proteins has accumulated before a diagnosis is reached that tissue has already been significantly damaged. One of the first abilities impaired in Alzheimer’s is the ability to navigate or remember spatial information. Research has found that using 40Hz stimulation in the brain has lowered beta amyloid and tau levels. In an effort to rescue this tissue and assist in memory longevity, mouse subjects were set to perform a series of navigation and spatial information tasks paired with 40Hz stimulation. Mice underwent surgeries in which neural implants were attached through which 40Hz stimulation could be delivered to specific brain regions. Following completion of the task amyloid beta and tau levels were assessed in the region where 40Hz stimulation was delivered. Surprisingly, despite rescued behaviour and brain dynamics, we found that Tau levels were not reduced by 40Hz stimulation.

Keywords: hippocampus, Alzheimer's, sleep, navigation, ptau