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Neuroscience majors Arda Hotz ’08 (Mountainside, NJ.), Karen Murray ’08 (Kingstowne, Va.), and Trevor Jenkins ’08 (Sleepy Hollow, NY.) are getting outstanding research opportunities this summer through Lafayette’s Alumni Research Network (LEARN).
LEARN, which is now in its sixth year, provides eight to 10 week paid internships hosted by alumni researchers who are leaders in their field. The program was established in part through a grant from the McCutcheon Foundation in 2002.
Hotz is working under the direction of Lisa Schrott ’87, assistant professor of pharmacology at Louisiana State University’s Health Science Center.
Schrott’s work focuses on prenatal exposure in rats to different psychoactive substances. Hotz is conducting two experiments that investigate the analgesic consequences of opiates on rats that have been prenatally treated with a long-acting opiate, in this case, morphine.
“This study is based on prior studies that have found that prenatal exposure to opiates, such as morphine, can potentially change the distribution and/or sensitivity of opiod receptors, which can alter reactions to painful stimuli,” Hotz explains.
The first experiment allows rats that have been prenatally exposed to morphine to choose between two environments, one where they experience painful stimuli and another where they experience neutral stimuli. Hotz is watching for differences in the rats’ tendency toward the neutral stimuli in accordance with their prenatal drug exposure.
The second experiment involves male rats that have received a range of morphine doses and gone through morphine withdraw and measures their latent reactions when placed on a hot plate.
“Dr Schrott is really passionate about her work and excited about the research we’re doing,” says Hotz, who hopes to begin medical school in the fall of 2009. “This experience has been irreplaceable. It has taught me to appreciate research a lot more, especially the importance of animal research as it pertains to human life. Further, it has allowed me to realize the cooperative nature of research, and the importance of teamwork.”
Murray is working with Jay Weiss ’62, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. Weiss uses animal models to study the neurochemical basis of mental illness and examine the relationship between stress and immune responses.
The goal of Murray’s informational project is to determine if a line of 24 hyperactive rats that she is working with will be a suitable model for bipolar disorder. This depends on whether the chronic stress pushes the rats into a hyperactive or depressive phase.
“I am subjecting the rats to a procedure called chronic mild stress in which I subject the experimental group to one of eight stressors each day over the course of about three weeks,” she says. “Therefore each day is different, which is great experience for working with rats since I am learning multiple procedures that are not typically used in tandem.”
Her tasks also include monitoring and refilling the rats’ food and water as well as cleaning them.
“Working with Dr. Weiss is great,” she says. “He knows his stuff and is excited about my work, which makes me enjoy my work even more.”
Murray is considering options for her post-graduate education and desires to explore different research-oriented career opportunities.
Jenkins is studying the process of echolocation in bats under the supervision of James Simmons ’65, professor of neuroscience at Brown University in Providence, R.I.
Simmons studies the biological sonar, or echolocation, of bats as an auditory imaging system. The research is used to learn how bats process echoes of their ultrasonic sounds to perceive the location and identity of the flying insects they prey upon.
“As of now, a large part of what I am doing is looking at the changes in wing angles of bats right before they capture a mealworm,” Jenkins explains. “I am looking at videotapes from earlier experiments and looking at the angle changes of the wings of bats as they fly up to capture a mealworm on a string. Later on, I will hopefully be able to correlate this with the sounds that the bats emit to determine where the prey is, and gain more knowledge on their echolocation and their pattern of wing beats when capturing prey.
“I also have gone out at night to videotape bats flying using a video camera with thermal imaging, and with sound pickup tuned to higher frequency to obtain the bat sounds as well.”
Jenkins is considering going to graduate school for psychology or neuroscience.
“[This experience] has definitely has shown me what research is like,” he explains. “Before this, I had never worked in a lab setting other than for classes � The experience has definitely generated more interest in science research.”