| Affiliations: | |
| Project Leader: | Bradley Jones jones1127@tamu.edu Molecular & Cell Biology |
| Faculty Mentor: | Jun Wang, Ph.D. |
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Meeting Times:
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Summer 2016 (complete) |
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Team Size:
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3 (Team Full) |
| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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Students may have the opportunity to join the lab at the end of the project if they perform well and wish to do so. Also, this project is part of a large research project which involves many different projects. Members of this team will be able to sit in on lab meetings involving multiple projects in this field. |
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Team Needs:
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Looking for individuals interested in gaining experience in the neuroscience research field with strong work ethics. The project lends itself to people studying biochemistry, psychology, or any field in biology. Besides a basic understanding of the brain, having the ability to efficiently handle delicate tissues is something that would be greatly useful. No need for animal handling training since all tissues will be handle in vitro. |
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Description:
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The research of our lab focuses on identifying the neurobiological basis of neuropsychiatric disorders, more specifically, alcohol addiction. We investigate the cellular and circuit alterations that occur in areas of the brain in response to excessive, pathological alcohol consumption. In this project, the brain anatomy and pathology of rat brains post alcohol addiction will be studied to gain a better understanding of how addiction alters neuronal synapse and function. The brains which will be tested, have been perfused and fixed from known alcohol addicted rats. Slicing and plating of the brain tissue will be performed; along with several techniques (immunostaining, etc) for histology. The rat brains being studied have been tested using optogenetic techniques. The rats have had intracranial infusions of viruses and intracranial cannula implantation surgeries throughout their lives. Anatomical location of virus infusions and cannula implantation will be verified. |