In Vivo and Ex Vivo Dissection of Midbrain Neuron Activity During Exercise

2023 Seed Grant
Rebekah C. Evans, Ph.D.
Georgetown University

Dementia Society of America Seed Grant

Exercise is important for the health of the body and the mind. Exercise promotes learning and reduces symptoms of brain-related diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. However, it is not known how exercise changes the brain to enhance function. Previous studies have found changes in the brain after weeks of exercise, but currently we don’t understand how those changes take place during exercise. Dr. Evan’s lab are using cutting-edge neuroscience tools in mice to examine the brain cells that are active during exercise and compare them to the brain cells that are not active during exercise. This is an important first step in understanding how exercise protects the brain in disease conditions and maximizes its function in healthy conditions.

Other Grants

William J. Giardino, Ph.D. Stanford University
Deciphering the Neuropeptide Circuitry of Emotional Arousal in Narcolepsy
This research project aims to investigate the neural mechanisms of a specific type of brain cell called neuropeptide neurons within a region of the brain’s amygdala network called the bed…
Howard Gritton, Ph.D., University of Illinois
Attention Mechanisms Contributing to Auditory Spatial Processing.
Our world is composed of a rich mixture of sounds. We often process sounds including speech in the presence of many other competing auditory stimuli (e.g., voices in a crowded…
Nora Kory, Ph.D., Harvard University
Elucidating the Fates and Functions of Lactate in the Brain
The human brain requires significant energy to function. Despite accounting for only 2% of our body weight, the brain consumes a substantial 20% of the body’s energy, relying on a…
Hojoon Lee, Ph.D., Northwestern University
Deciphering the Neural Circuitry of Nausea
How does the body tell the brain that something is just not right? Nausea is an unpleasant sensation that has likely evolved as a general defense mechanism to signal and…