Biochemical Principles 12.2011 Final Project Sign Up

Because the ample supply of papers dealing with PNS and neurotransmitters sparked in us an interest, we would like to do our final project on the effect of PNS on different NT systems. This would involve looking at the Hill papers for its effect on endocannabinoids, the Karst paper for its effect on glutamate, etc. This would be interesting not only from a scientific perspective, but would also be a great way to organize information for the general public on the effect that PNS can have on both mental and physical health.

Update: Luke and I started researching what we originally proposed and instead took an interest in research about the effect of different types of exercise on psychiatric illness/movement disorders/overall mental health

Neural plasticity has been proposed as a molecular and cellular basis of critical behaviors including learning and adaptation. In our final project, we will explore the impact of positive and toxic stress on neural plasticity and learning. We will attempt to elucidate under what conditions stress results in enhanced neural plasticity and cell survival and conversely the biochemical mechanisms that are recruited after toxic or chronic stress exposure that lead to impaired plasticity and even neurotoxicity. Finally, our project will discuss the relevance of these findings in the context potential consequences of a stressful environment on normal childhood development of cognitive skills.

After discussion of our project we have decided to expand the scope of our final project to include neuroprotection, neurotoxicity, and plasticity. We then proceeded to divide the project into roughly three parts, all of which would share enough overlap but would allow us directed and thorough research.

 Josef: Neural Plasticity & Stress

Under which conditions does stress result in impaired neuronal plasticity and under which does it result in enhancements? What is the role of the glucocorticoid receptor in synapses and synaptic events such as long-term potentiation? What biochemical mechanisms might be recruited by stress that lead to such divergent outcomes for synaptic plasticity?

 James: Neuroprotection/Neurotoxicity & Stress How does chronic stress lead to cell death in sensitive areas of the brain such as the hippocampus? How would this differ to account for the reduced neurotoxicity and at times neuroprotective effect observed under acute or positive stress conditions? How would interactions between the mitochondria and stress-induced glucocorticoid activation explain improved cell survival or exacerbated toxicity?

 Eduardo: Stress and Consequences on Behavior Why does stress translate in certain scenarios into enhanced cognitive performance and learning? What is the nature and impact of the damage or abnormal neuronal function in certain regions of the brain after chronic stress? What is the significance of stress in neural childhood development, and later in adulthood on cognitive functions? Does stress exacerbate cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease patients?

 At this point our questions are not set in stone, and we might add or drop specific questions depending on how well we can integrate our information and keep the theme of our project cohesive.

I would like to explore how exposure to stress during the prenatal period and during early childhood changes physiological and behavioral responses to stress at the biochemical level. Research has shown that adult diseases can be “biologically embedded in the brain” during sensitive period of development (Hertzman 2000). In addition, I would also like to comment on our current policies for treating children in early childhood. I have explored the website for the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University and was really fascinated by some of their clinical recommendations. Particularly I would like to focus on possible programs that could be implemented that would help intervene and prevent adverse childhood experiences in at-risk populations.  

I am very interested in the connection between early life and in-utero stress and obesity (and its related diseases- insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol etc.). I would  love to explore this topic in detail, hopefully drawing connections to the possibility that maternal starvation can lead to obesity in a child or adult who was starved as a fetus. I will study the sources from Kaufman about early life stress leading to metabolic syndrome as well as other articles I have read about the connection between stress and obesity. My goal is to investigate the effects of genetics and environment on the development of obesity. Namely, I wonder which contributes more to obesity- stress leading to unhealthy lifestyle and eating habits or a biological change in the way in which a starved or stressed fetus or baby metabolizes food. This is clearly an enourmous question that I would not be able to answer fully in this project, but I hope to gain a more clear understanding ahout the connections between genetics and the environment in which we eat. 

Throughout this course, my interest in the therapeutic potential of meditation, mindfulness, and yoga practices for stress reduction has grown. In my final project, I will review some of the key biochemical and neuroscientific literature on the pathways through which mindfulness practice modulates neurochemical and HPA axis function. Then, drawing on a large body of literature on the therapeutic benefits of mindfulness practice (spearheaded by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn), and in consultation with a Springfield, MA-based Occupational Therapist who has implemented a yoga program for her adult clients with developmental disabilities, I will create a brochure presenting the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for stress-reduction and health.

I would like to explore the correlation between "prolonged institutional rearing" and abnormal brain and limbi development. In particular, adoption has been found to lead to larger amygdala volume and weaker emotion regulation, with the former perhaps affecting the latter. Previously institutionalized (PI) children are also more prone to difficulty with peer interactions, adult relationships and anxiety disorders all of which may be triggered by heightened emotional reactivity, similar to the Orchid Children. I would like to pursue the biochemical and social consequences of adoption culminating in the impact of the biological pathways on emotions in social situations. It may also be pertinent to research similarities between adopted and immigrant children.

In the course of the semester, we have explored the mechanisms through which stress can initiate, mediate, and exacerbate illness in people of all ages and backgrounds (Coplan 2007; Kaufman 2010). During last week's guest lecture, however, we raised the question of whether these effects are seen disproportionately in certain populations as a result of a disparity in education, environment, or socio-economic status. 

For our final project, we would like to take initiative in answering and solving questions such as these. Much of the Pioneer Valley is made up of economically depressed communities, though some have patches of wealth. With the help of doctors, hospitals, and inhabitants in the area we will form a plan for identifying, minimizing, and treating stress-related illness in the community. This will by no means be a small undertaking, but we expect that a focus on public education is warranted, and will build a foundation for further work to be done in the future.

Obesity is a serious problem in US where 19.8% of the total population living in US is considered overweight. In class we talked about how stress during pregnancy could lead to many forms of adult disease including type 2 diabetes and obesity. Expanding on this class discussion, I would like to investigate the effect of different kinds of stress on obesity. I would like to understand and find a connection between the underlying molecular mechanisms and environmental/social effect that are causing drastic increase in the number of obese population in US.

I would like to focus on the impact of early and/or prenatal stress on the development of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease. Because mitochondrial function is affected by stress,  shown in the McEwen paper, and is involved in the progression of neurodegenerative disorders, there may be a link between stress and onset of AD outside of pure genetic influence. I will primarily be using these two papers (http://www.nel.edu/pdf_w/23_3/NEL230302R02_Esch_rw.pdf and http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v443/n7113/full/nature05292.html?free=2) to comprehend the mechanism by which this process occurs over a longer time course. 

For the final project, I’d like to learn more about the way social stressors affect physiology. Particularly, I want to consider low socioeconomic status and racism because they are institutionalized problems that affect a huge portion of the population. I will consider their effect on the stress response in adults, and I will consider their role in prenatal health. Beyond understanding the way social stress manifests itself in mothers, I want to learn about the mechanism by which this is stress is transmitted to a fetus and how that might affect the child. Given that prenatal care is less available to low income populations and low birth weight is correlated with minority status, it seems that addressing chronic stress will be very important for improving birth outcomes among these populations. I will rely upon public health literature, but I will use basic science research to understand the mechanisms by which stress is transferred from mother to child.

There is a vast amount of literature on the effects of stress on learning. I'd like to use Joels, et al. 2006 paper on how learning under stress works as a starting point, and compare its results with studies of other foci like work stress rehabilitory studies to work toward either a brochure or paper with cited advice for understanding how learning changes under stress and  developing good policies to prevent, recognize, and accomadate altered learning processes due to chronic stress.

We plan to look at how memory is affected by stress. Specifically, we want to explore how maternal health and stress can affect different types of memory. We are also interested in the implications of this research on learning and school performance. We even want to consider biological sex in our research. We plan to use the following papers and we will look into their references: http://www.pnas.org/content/101/3/853.full and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21123565. In class, we have focused on how stress in childhood affects adults and how stress is related to adult diseases. We are hoping our research will shed some light on how children affected through learning impairment.

My interest lies, as stated in the title, in the link between adult diseases and early childhood/fetal exposures. For my project I want to narrow the topic down a little more with the use of the Barker paper, conveniently titled 'The fetal and infant origins of adult disease', provided in the references. I'm planning to use the paper as a foundation and using some it's citations as well as other resources to explore the notion in relation to the development of cardiovascular disease later in life.  

In the space above or below, enter your name, and briefly describe your topic for the final project of the course. Choose something that we've covered that you'd like to explore in greater depth, and tell us what aspect or question about that topic you plan to plunge into. Please post by 5 pm on Monday, November 21, 2011.