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Date of Award
Summer 2023
Document Type
Masters Thesis
Department or Program Affiliation
Experimental Psychology
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Rose, Jacqueline K.
Second Advisor
Wang, Adrienne M.
Third Advisor
Grimm, Jeffrey W. ǂc (Behavioral scientist)
Abstract
There has been a growing body of research in the field of Alzheimer’s Disease that investigates the healthful properties of phenolic acids. The phenolic compound, Ferulic acid, has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and amyloidogenic effects that makes it a great candidate to aid in the search of new effective Alzheimer’s treatments. Amyloid beta oligomers, a hallmark protein of Alzheimer’s, can inhibit the learning process by leading to downregulation of the learning receptors AMPA and NMDA. Studies in rodents, sea urchins, C. elegans, and in vitro have already shown ferulic acid to negate the negative effects of amyloid beta. The current study uses a transgenic strain of C. elegans that pan-neuronally expresses amyloid beta. The C. elegans are fed ferulic acid to test their learning ability with a benzaldehyde-starvation associative conditioning assay. This study, however, did not find that FA aided in the learning recover of the amyloid beta transgenic worms. Baseline expression of the AMPA learning receptor was also visualized with the use of a green fluorescent protein marker and confocal microscopy. Administration of ferulic acid increased the mean relative intensity for receptor puncta along the ventral chord in the WT strain, but that increase was not seen in the Alzheimer’s strain. Although the results of this study were not congruent with other studies showing the beneficial effects of ferulic acid on an Alzheimer’s research model, perhaps a higher concentration of ferulic acid and longer exposure to amyloid beta expression could better showcase any benefits of FA.
Type
Text
Keywords
Alzheimer’s Disease, amyloid beta, C. elegans, learning, AMPA receptors, ferulic acid, antioxidant
Publisher
Western Washington University
OCLC Number
1485517242
Subject – LCSH
Phenolic acids--Therapeutic use; Phenols--Physiological effect; Alzheimer's disease--Treatment--Research; Alzheimer's disease--Animal models; Glutamic acid--Receptors; Caenorhabditis elegans; Amyloid beta-protein
Format
application/pdf
Genre/Form
masters theses
Language
English
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.
Recommended Citation
Gauvin, Jessica, "Investigating the Effects of Ferulic Acid on Learning and Expression of the Plasticity-Related Glutamate Receptor (GLR-1) with a C. elegans Alzheimer’s Model" (2023). WWU Graduate School Collection. 1349.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/1349