Gabriela A. Hernández Busot
Undergraduate Student
Faculty of Natural Sciences
Dept. of Biology
University of Puerto Rico
Río Piedras Campus
Home Research
Mentor: Demetrio Sierra-Mercado, PhD
Project: Effects of closed-head injury on avoidance memory in rats
Objectives:
Aim 1: Determine the behavioral outcomes of closed head injury during the extinction of platform-mediated avoidance.
Aim 2: Determine the pathology outcomes of closed head injury on brain circuity of platformavoidance.
Summer Research 2022
Mentor: Albert Powers, MD/PhD
Project: Brain derived neurotrophic factor as a biomarker of cognition in patients with hallucinations and clinical high risk for psychosis
Project Description: Aim 1: Determine the role of the cholinergic system after pharmacological downregulation and its effects on the rate of conditioned hallucinations. Aim 2: Correlate the rate of conditioned hallucinations with brain-derived neurotrophic factor serum levels.