Measuring Compensatory Eye Movements to Assess Sensory and Learning Properties

This thesis deals with measuring compensatory eye movements to assess sensory and learning properties of humans and mice. We have used this method to determine the visual performance of humans and of mouse models of aging and congenital nystagmus and to measure the effect of direct stimulat

Human Gaze Following Response Is Affected by Visual Acuity

The present study investigated how gaze following eye movements are affected by stimulus contrast and spatial frequency and by aberrations in central visual acuity due to refractive errors. We measured 30 healthy subjects with a range of visual acuities but without any refractive correction. Visual acuity was tested using a Landolt-C chart. Subjects were divided into three groups with low, intermediate, or good visual acuity. Gaze following responses (GFR) to moving Gabor patches were recorded by video-oculography. In each trial, the subjects were presented with a single Gabor patch with a specific spatial frequency and luminance contrast that moved sinusoidally in the horizontal plane. We observed that GFR gain decreased with increasing spatial frequency and decreasing contrast and was correlated with visual acuity. GFR gain was lower and decreased more for subjects with lower visual acuity; this was especially so for lower stimulus contrasts that are not tested in standard acuity tests. The largest differences between the groups were observed at spatial frequencies around 4 cpd and at contrasts up to 10%. Aberrations in central visual acuity due to refractive errors affect the GFR response depending on the contrast and spatial frequency of the moving stimulus. Measuring this effect may contribute to a better estimate of changes in visual function as a result of aging, disease, or treatments meant to improve vision

Environmental Enrichment Improves Vestibular Oculomotor Learning in Mice

We assessed the behavioral effects of environmental enrichment on contrast sensitivity, reflexive eye movements and on oculomotor learning in mice that were housed in an enriched environment for a period of 3 weeks. Research has shown that a larger cage and a more complex environment have positive effects on the welfare of laboratory mice and other animals held in captivity. It has also been shown that environmental enrichment affects various behavior and neuroanatomical and molecular characteristics. We found a clear effect on oculomotor learning. Animals that were housed in an enriched environment learned significantly faster than controls that were housed under standard conditions. In line with existing literature, the enriched group also outperformed the controls in behavioral tests for explorative behavior. Meanwhile, both visual and reflexive oculomotor performance in response to visual and vestibular stimuli was unaffected. This points toward an underlying mechanism that is specific for motor learning, rather than overall motor performance

Environmental Enrichment Improves Vestibular Oculomotor Learning in Mice

We assessed the behavioral effects of environmental enrichment on contrast sensitivity, reflexive eye movements and on oculomotor learning in mice that were housed in an enriched environment for a period of 3 weeks. Research has shown that a larger cage and a more complex environment have positive effects on the welfare of laboratory mice and other animals held in captivity. It has also been shown that environmental enrichment affects various behavior and neuroanatomical and molecular characteristics. We found a clear effect on oculomotor learning. Animals that were housed in an enriched environment learned significantly faster than controls that were housed under standard conditions. In line with existing literature, the enriched group also outperformed the controls in behavioral tests for explorative behavior. Meanwhile, both visual and reflexive oculomotor performance in response to visual and vestibular stimuli was unaffected. This points toward an underlying mechanism that is specific for motor learning, rather than overall motor performance.</p

Human gaze following response is affected by visual acuity

The present study investigated how gaze following eye movements are affected by stimulus contrast and spatial frequency and by a

Queer Victims: Reports of Violence by LGBTQI Survivors Result in Violent Assaults by Police

abstract: LGBTQI people are often victimized by law enforcement and these victimizations often are related to victimizations of domestic violence and hate violence. Because reporting a victimization to the police leads to contact with police, a part of the research question involved herein looked at whether or not reporting a victimization to the police also increases the rate of police violence. Through secondary data analysis, this study investigated the correlation between reporting domestic violence and hate violence to the police, and subsequent victimizations by the police in the form of police violence. Additionally through secondary data analysis, this study investigated whether or not this correlation is stronger with transgender women and people of color. All data analyzed in this study was collected in Tucson, Arizona through the Wingspan Anti-Violence Project (WAVP). All data was analyzed with the permission of the data owner, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) (see Appendix IV), and with IRB approval from the Arizona State University Office of Research Integrity and Assurance (see Appendix III). The findings demonstrated a positive correlation between the rate of LGBTQI people reporting violent crimes to the police and the rate of police violence against LGBTQI survivors of domestic violence and hate violence. The results further demonstrated the rate of police violence associated with reporting domestic violence or hate violence is greatest for transgender women and people of color.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Social Work 201

Impairment of Long-Term Plasticity of Cerebellar Purkinje Cells Eliminates the Effect of Anodal Direct Current Stimulation on Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex Habituation

Anodal direct current stimulation (DCS) of the cerebellum facilitates adaptation tasks, but the mechanism underlying this effect is poorly understood. We have evaluated whether the effects of DCS effects depend on plasticity of cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs). Here, we have successfully developed a mouse model of cerebellar DCS, allowing us to present the first demonstration of cerebellar DCS driven behavioral changes in rodents. We have utilized a simple gain down vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) adaptation paradigm, that stabilizes a visual image on the retina during brief head movements, as behavioral tool. Our results provide evidence that anodal stimulation has an acute post-stimulation effect on baseline gain reduction of VOR (VOR gain in sham, anodal and cathodal groups are 0.75 ± 0.12, 0.68 ± 0.1, and 0.78 ± 0.05, respectively). Moreover, this anodal induced decrease in VOR gain is directly dependent on the PP2B medicated synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) and intrinsic plasticity pathways of PCs