Yulia Bereshpolova and Maxim Volgusev, Psychological Sciences

Title of Project: Intracellular analysis of thalamic input to visual cortex in awake brain

Visual perception is dramatically influenced by changing level of alertness. While being awake and fully alert is optimal for vision, we still can detect and perceive visual stimuli while drifting to drowsiness and even light sleep states. The goal of our study is to understand how synaptic connections between the thalamus and cortical neurons which are responsible for mediating visual perception are changed during transition from the alert to drowsiness and light sleep and how these changes affect vision.

Xiaojing Wang, Neuroscience, UConn Health

Title of Project: Identifying the Cellular Composition of the Inferior Colliculus

The inferior colliculus (IC) is a major hub in the central auditory system and is implicated in tinnitus and speech processing difficulties. While different cell types in the IC have been identified, an un-biased approach that encompasses all cell types at once is still missing.

This project aims to establish a dataset of the cell types present in the IC of adult mice with normal hearing and after noise-induced hearing loss via single-nucleus RNA sequencing.

Brian Kelley, Neurosurgery, UConn Health

Title of Project: Neuronal Responses to Diffuse Axonal Injury

Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is a major component of traumatic brain injury-related morbidity. Despite better understanding of DAI mechanisms, there have been minimal improvements in clinical outcomes. Recent basic science experiments show that neurons undergoing DAI within a region close to the cell body do not die. This unanticipated finding prompted the current study’s aim to determine the cellular mechanisms responsible for this observation. We anticipate our results will provide insights into this survival process.

Brittany Lee, Psychological Sciences

Title of Project: Investigating reading disability and comprehension using eye movements

Expository texts are informational texts that are particularly difficult for children to read and comprehend. They place greater cognitive demands on the reader compared to stories, making them especially challenging for children with reading disability. We will measure children's eye movements while they read different kinds of texts to better understand what makes expository comprehension so difficult for children with and without reading disability. With this knowledge, we hope to tailor reading instruction and intervention.

Mallory Perry-Eaddy, Nursing

Title of Project: Pediatric Recovery after sepSIS Treatment and the Microbiome (PERSIST-Microbiome)

Critically ill children who survive the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit are at increased risk of new cognitive dysfunction after they leave the hospital. While specific mechanisms have been considered, the underlying biological reasons are largely unknown. PERSIST-Microbiome aims to explore the potential role of the gut microbiome in critically ill children, especially those with inflammatory conditions such as sepsis and pneumonia, and their recovery after critical illness as it pertains to cognitive outcomes (i.e. gut-brain axis).

Gregory Sartor, Pharmaceutical Sciences

Title of Project: RNA-targeted Therapeutics for Substance Use Disorder

For several years, noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been implicated in drug use and relapse, yet ncRNA-targeted therapeutics have not advanced to clinical studies. The lack of translational progress is largely due to the poor physicochemical properties of established RNA interference approaches. Recent innovations have revealed that small molecules can selectively target ncRNAs and produce physiological effects in vivo. Here, we will test and develop novel, ncRNA-targeted small molecules for the treatment of substance use disorder.

Erika Skoe, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Title of Project: COVID-19 and Central Nervous System Dysfunction

COVID-19 is a global health crisis impacting the health of millions. While some recover fully, others develop a poorly understood post-viral syndrome characterized by “brain fog.” These symptoms have raised concerns that the virus, or its sequelae, may cause enduring neurocognitive symptoms from central nervous system (CNS) damage. In collaboration with Dartmouth Medical School, this study uses central auditory testing methods to study CNs function in control and patients with Post-Acute COVID Syndrome (PACS).

Ephraim Trakhtenberg, Neuroscience, UConn Health

Title of Project: Novel mechanisms inhibiting axonal regeneration after optic nerve injury

Dr. Trakhtenberg was awarded a seed grant that will fund an exploratory research project aimed at testing a novel hypothesis regarding the molecular mechanisms which inhibit regeneration of injured axons. Axons are the connections through which neurons in the brain communicate with each other over long distances. If these axons are disrupted by trauma or stroke, they will not regenerate spontaneously. In this project we will study the mechanisms which prevent injured axons from regenerating