Cognitive decline is a commonly reported side effect after radiotherapy for patients with a pediatric brain tumor. Pathogenic mechanisms that are believed to underlie these cognitive impairments involve impaired synaptic plasticity and affected spine and dendritic morphology in the hippocampus. Due to the crucial role of noradrenaline in neuroplasticity, the present master thesis project aims to evaluate whether noradrenaline has the potential to reduce radiation-induced impairments in hippocampal synaptic plasticity and restore spine density and morphology. This will be investigated by pharmacological stimulation of the NA-system shortly after whole-head local irradiation of (P22) young mice followed by LTP induction experiments with the multi-electrode array (MEA) and a Golgi staining.
Doelstelling
The master student will be involved in the following procedures:
- Animal handling, anesthesia, and irradiation
- Tissue collection
- Vibratome sectioning of the mouse brain
- Golgi staining
Het vereiste minimumdiploma van de kandidaat
- Academische bachelor
De vereiste achtergrondkennis van de kandidaat
- Bio-engineering
- Biology