\u201cI\u2019m really interested in the brain,\u201d said Christopher Petty \u201924. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the most confusing things, but everybody has one.\u201d<\/p>\n
That complexity and ubiquity helped lead the neuroscience<\/a> major to the research overseen by Onarae Rice<\/a>, a professor of psychology and neuroscience and chair of the neuroscience department. This summer, Petty is one of seven undergraduate research fellows<\/a> working with Rice on his continuing research into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n They are homing in on dopamine receptors, proteins in the central nervous system that bind with molecules and set off chemical reactions. Their work this summer builds on Rice\u2019s previous research into the D3 receptor, which, when activated, has been shown to contribute to the development of PTSD, Rice said.<\/p>\n With the approval and oversight of Furman\u2019s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC<\/a>), which ensures compliance with animal welfare rules and ethical principles, the researchers first expose laboratory mice to a single prolonged stress protocol designed to evoke behaviors similar to PTSD symptoms found in humans \u2013 particularly hypervigilance, characterized by \u201cfreezing and constantly looking around,\u201d said Petty. They use the highly selective antagonist compounds SB277011A and YQA14 to target and block the D3 receptor and observe the effects.<\/p>\n So far, researchers have investigated many potential scenarios, said Rice. The D3 antagonist was shown to be effective in the animals that had already begun expressing PTSD-like symptoms. Petty and others have also focused on whether there is a window of time after a traumatic event happens \u2013 but before symptoms begin \u2013 in which a treatment can be effective.<\/p>\n And a third line of inquiry could have groundbreaking implications for populations like the military and first responders, Rice said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat if we gave them the D3 antagonist before they were on the scene of a traumatic event or before they went into war?\u201d he asked. \u201cThis research would be the first in the world to show that we can actually prevent PTSD from developing.\u201d<\/p>\n The students\u2019 work is \u201cnot just sitting on a bench and looking at molecules all day,\u201d said Jonathan Wade \u201924, a neuroscience major who hopes to enter medical school. It also requires designing and coding video-assisted machine-learning processes to characterize the movement patterns of the mice, as well as the biological components of working with the rodents.<\/p>\n \u201cNeuroscience is an amalgamation of a lot of different disciplines that you\u2019re having to apply all at once,\u201d Wade said.<\/p>\n The dedication to high-impact learning experiences pledged in The Furman Advantage<\/a> is demonstrated in the fact that students at all levels, from first-year to seniors, have the opportunity to work in the lab, said Rice.<\/p>\nPreventing PTSD?<\/h3>\n
\u2018An amalgamation of disciplines\u2019<\/h3>\n