Senior Project Advisor
Jacqueline Rose
Document Type
Project
Publication Date
Spring 2025
Keywords
Chemotaxis, Benzaldehyde, Caenorhabditis elegans, Learning, Alzheimer's
Abstract
Exposure to 100% benzaldehyde has been previously shown to cause avoidance of 1% benzaldehyde in C. elegans. Previous work in our lab investigated the effects of ferulic acid on learning behavior in a C. elegans model of Alzheimer’s disease. In that associative conditioning assay, 100% benzaldehyde was used during conditioning and 1% benzaldehyde was used during testing. Here, a chemotaxis assay following associative conditioning was employed to investigate whether CL2355 (human Aβ expression) C. elegans show a learning deficit compared to CL2122 (WT background) C. elegans. To investigate the legitimacy of the learned avoidance previously seen following pairing of two aversive stimuli, the effects of using 1% benzaldehyde during both conditioning and testing were investigated. Videos of the testing periods were captured using the WormLab® Imaging System. Chemotaxis indexes were calculated using WormLab® prior to statistical analysis via a two-way ANOVA in R. Here, CL2355 (human Aβ expression) C. elegans were found to show no learning deficit compared to CL2122 (WT background) C. elegans.
Department
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Westgard, Elenore, "A Chemotaxis Assay Using 1% Benzaldehyde in a C. elegans Model of Alzheimer's Disease" (2025). WWU Honors College Senior Projects. 1004.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwu_honors/1004
Type
Text
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf