Mentor/s:
Demetrio Sierra-Mercado, PhD
Project Title:
Role of gut microbiota on avoidance behaviors in male rats
Project Description:
Oral antibiotics are essential for treating infections but can significantly alter gut microbiota, potentially affecting behavior and brain function. We are currently focusing on investigating the impact of antibiotic-induced microbiota disruptions on avoidance and anxiety-like behaviors in rodents. Animals receiving an antibiotic mixture (ampicillin, streptomycin, and clindamycin) have exhibit increased avoidance and anxiety-related behaviors, along with heightened neural activity in the nucleus accumbens and basolateral amygdala. Our findings suggest a link between gut microbiota alterations and mental health, highlighting the potential behavioral consequences of antibiotic use.
Mentor/s:
Cristina Rodríguez, PhD
Project Title:
Characterization of multiphoton microscopy for in vivo mouse brain imaging
Project Description:
Multiphoton microscopy is a powerful technique for in vivo brain imaging due to its ability to achieve deeper tissue penetration with minimal phototoxicity. In my summer experience I characterized and compared the efficacy of two-photon (2PM) and three-photon (3PM) microscopy for in vivo imaging of a mouse brain. I fluorescently labeled the blood vessels in mice, acquired stack images of the cortex of a live mouse up to 700 micrometers in depth, and characterized the imaging quality for 2PM and 3PM. In order to do this, I took into consideration factors such as spatial resolution, imaging depth and signal to background ratios in line intensity profiles. Our findings indicated that while both 2PM and 3PM provide high-resolution images, 3PM demonstrated enhanced clarity and deeper detail. This is a pivotal characteristic that could potentially facilitate the study of subcortical structures such as the hippocampus and study fundamental phenomena such as memory processing and learning.