About the Brain Organization and Aging Lab
This lab at the University of Florida's Department of Neuroscience is located at the McKnight Brain Institute. At this lab we get the opportunity to work under the principle investigator Dr. Sara Burke.
I have been volunteering for over a year which has given me the chance to learn about various projects.
Examining Changes to the Brain Connectome After Modeling Age Related Deficits in Rats
Research Focus
As each individual ages, they also face cognitive decline. By better understanding the processes of cognitive decline future therapeutic methods can be developed to combat this decline. This project is focused on understanding how brain excitation of the perirhinal cortex may affect the hippocampal-prefrontal-perirhinal circuit and the rest of brain connectome. Understanding this neural circuitry can help understand the cognitive decline associated with this hippocampal-prefrontal-perirhinal circuit.
Project Responsibilities
My core responsibilities include assisting on MRI scans, and surgeries as well as analysis of this cohort of rats. Assisting in surgeries include drawing the viral agents and drugs administered to the rat as well as assisting on pre and post surgical procedures. MRI scan days include the MRI scan as well as assisting with administering anesthetic agents before the MRI and monitoring the rats after the MRI. Some peripheral responsibilities include maintaining the wellbeing of the rats. This includes feeding and testing the body conditioning score of the rats.