Tag: Stony Brook University

2021-22, Brain

Conditioned Taste Aversion Depends on Long-Term Depression of Neuronal Signaling

Vignesh Subramanian ’24 Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is a learned association, made by humans as well as other animals, between the taste of food consumed and a subsequent period of illness assumed to be caused by said consumption. This period of illness is paired with an aversive stimulus, such as gastrointestinal malaise, and produces visceral distress that encourages the animal to avoid the food in … Continue reading Conditioned Taste Aversion Depends on Long-Term Depression of Neuronal Signaling

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Neuroscience, well-being

Neural Mechanism May Explain Variability of Social Ability in Autism

Vignesh Subramanian ’24 Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder involving significant challenges with communication, behavior, and social skills. The range of conditions encompassed by the term is most often characterized by limited but intense interests, repetitive patterns of behavior, difficulty maintaining or regulating interactions with other people, and difficulty synchronizing facial expressions or motor movements with speech. It has long been believed that … Continue reading Neural Mechanism May Explain Variability of Social Ability in Autism

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Health

Inhibition of Sterylglucosidase May Lead to Improved Class of Antifungal Agents

Robyn Rutgers ’24 Upon entering the lungs, the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans (CN) disseminates through the bloodstream and can cause life-threatening meningitis in immunocompromised patients. Currently, there are a number of major drawbacks in current antifungal agents such as high toxicity, limited availability, and a narrow spectrum of activity. Therefore, the development of new pharmacological agents is critical in combating fungal pathogens such as CN. … Continue reading Inhibition of Sterylglucosidase May Lead to Improved Class of Antifungal Agents

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General Neuroscience

Compartmental function and modulation of the striatum

Sabah Bari ‘24 The striatum is one of the main input areas of the basal ganglia, a neuronal circuit necessary for voluntary movement control. It is a critical component of motor control, action selection and reward systems within the brain. Almost all elements of the brain’s reward circuit are modulated during social behavior. The striatum has two main efferent pathways. There are 2 main efferent … Continue reading Compartmental function and modulation of the striatum

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2015-16, Physics

Asteroids May Have Fostered Life on Mars

By Julia Newman Fig 1: Analysis of Mars’ surface shows a history of bombardment.   Ever since the official announcement of water on Mars just last September, the search for habitable conditions on the planet has been more intense than ever. Studies from earlier this week suggest that while Earth’s surface is affected mostly by erosion and plate tectonics, Mars has been subjected to billions of … Continue reading Asteroids May Have Fostered Life on Mars

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2015-16, Biology

Baboon Case Study Furthers Transplant Research

By Julia Newman ’19 Eight thousand people in the United States die each year while waiting for a viable heart transplant, but recent baboon studies suggest that scientists may one day be able to drastically decrease this statistic. Finding enough human organ donors can be extremely difficult, which has led researchers to investigate cross-species transplants within the last few decades. However, given that many donated … Continue reading Baboon Case Study Furthers Transplant Research

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2015-16, Biology

Algae May Be The Key To Curing Cancer

By Julia Newman ’19 Newly discovered properties of blue-green algae may make it a better treatment for brain tumors than any method or drug used in the past. Although this type of algae, also known as cyanobacteria, can be traced back over two billion years, the effect of the coibamide A found within cyanobacteria has only been discovered now. Most cancer cells undergo a process … Continue reading Algae May Be The Key To Curing Cancer

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2015-16, Medicine and Physiology

Antibiotics Do Not Affect Gene Swapping In Bacteria

By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ’19 Antibiotics are becoming increasingly ineffective as bacteria rapidly develop resistance to them. Scientists once believed that antibiotics promote conjugation, a process in which the DNA of bacteria can be swapped for more helpful genes in order to develop a resistance. In a study led by Dr. Lingchong You of Duke University, researchers were able to determine that antibiotics actually do not increase … Continue reading Antibiotics Do Not Affect Gene Swapping In Bacteria

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2015-16, Environment

Filtering Power Plant Exhaust with a CO2 Fastlane

By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ’19   With the increasing amount of carbon dioxide gas contributing to global climate change, scientists are struggling to find strategies to reduce it. The usage of hybrid polymer-MOF membranes is being explored as a possible strategy because of their energy and cost efficiency in comparison to previous methods of gas separation. However, these membranes need to be improved in their carbon dioxide … Continue reading Filtering Power Plant Exhaust with a CO2 Fastlane

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2015-16, Biology

Hormone Producing Microbes Protects from Plant Pathogens

By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ’19 Using microbes is one of the more unique ways of protecting plants from abiotic and biotic stresses of the environment. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen discovered a novel method for bacteria to produce a plant hormone called cytokinin that can biocontrol plants. Cytokinin is responsible for a wide range of functions including cell division, nutrient mobilization, and seed germination. There are … Continue reading Hormone Producing Microbes Protects from Plant Pathogens

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2015-16, Physics

Factors affecting disaster preparedness in tsunami-prone areas

By Shannon Bohman ’19 Following the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes, Dr. Witvorapong and his colleagues surveyed 557 households in tsunami-prone areas of Phang Nga, Thailand. They focused on the relationship between social participation and disaster risk reduction actions, such as stockpiling supplies, making family emergency plans, and promoting risk reduction actions via community involvement. To analyze the data, the scientists employed a multivariate probit model. … Continue reading Factors affecting disaster preparedness in tsunami-prone areas

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2015-16, Biology

Parental phenotype may affect offspring phenotype

By Shannon Bohman ’19 An individual’s genotype, composed of the maternal and paternal’s genomes, is expressed physically as a phenotype.  A team of Netherland geneticists found that the phenotype of an offspring depends partly on the environmental factors experienced by his or her parents. One species in which such transgenerational effects are evident is Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant species whose small genome and short generation … Continue reading Parental phenotype may affect offspring phenotype

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