FUN SOCIAL & POSTER SESSION 2018 Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience Agenda and Abstract Book Sunday, November 4, 6:45-8:45 pm Marriott Marquis Grand Ballroom Welcome to the 2018 FUN Poster Session and Social – an event that embodies the mission of FUN to facilitate and celebrate undergraduate neuroscience research and education. This year we have 168 posters being presented from over 95 institutions. We are tremendously thankful for the support of the Society for Neuroscience. In addition, we thank those institutions, organizations, and companies that have sponsored student travel awards. Their commitment to undergraduate neuroscience research and education is greatly appreciated! Travel Award Sponsors AD Instruments Grass Foundation BrainBits Hubel Memorial Fund DSI Med Associates Fine Science Tools Noldus FUN Nu Rho Psi Agenda for the FUN Social and Poster Session 6:45-8:00 pm: Poster presentations 8:15-8:45 pm: Awards ceremony Opening remarks, Leah Chase (Past-President) Announcement of new officers, Ronald Bayline (President-Elect) Travel Award winners recognized, Hewlet McFarlane (President) Brain Awareness award winner recognized, Hewlet McFarlane (President) FUN Faculty Awards, Leah Chase Mentor Award Service Award Recognition of the Out-Going President, Leah Chase Closing Remarks, Ronald Bayline FUN Faculty Awards Committee: Leah Chase (Hope College), Past-President Hewlet McFarlane, Chair (Kenyon College), President Shelly Dickinson (St. Olaf College), Councilor FUN Social Organizing Committee: Leah A. Chase (Hope College), Past-President Shelly Dickinson (St. Olaf College), Councilor Alexis Martin (Society for Neuroscience), Meeting Programs Assistant FUN Student Travel Awards Committee: CHAIR: President-Elect: Ronald Bayline (Washington and Jefferson), Arseny Khakhalin (Bard College), Gary Muir (St. Olaf College), Jennifer Honeycutt (Northeastern University), Anthony Kline (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine), Christina McKittrick (Drew University), Lora Becker (University of Evansville), Leah Chase (Hope College), Carolyn Pytte (Queens College), Jacqueline Morris (Baldwin Wallace University), Anthony Rauhut (Dickinson College), Sarah Holstein (Lycoming College), Tyisha Williams (Wilkes University) 2018 FUN Travel Award Winners Poster Student Sponsor Faculty Mentor Insititutional Affiliation Number Nicolette Barnett Nu Rho Psi Marise Parent Georgia State University 153 Isabel Bleimeister Nu Rho Psi Anthony Kline University of Pittsburgh 50 University of Nevada Las April Contreras DSI Rochelle Hines Vegas 35 David H. Hubel Kent State University/ Ya’el Courtney Memorial Fund Erik Herzog Washington University 154 Mary Kate Dougherty Grass Foundation Jennifer Tudor Saint Joseph’s University 100 Matthew Indiana Wesleyan Michael Gongwer Grass Foundation Kreitzer University 36 Fine Science Ashley Fricks- Haley Jenkins Tools Gleason Regis University 51 Anna Li Nu Rho Psi Rebecca Shansky Northeastern University 135 Charles Marcucci BrainBits Joshua Weiner University of Iowa 1 Amber McLaughlin Noldus Mark Thomas University of Minnesota 99 University of Destynie Medeiros FUN Paola Sacchetti Hartford 52 Shubhik Chisomo Mwale Nu Rho Psi DebBurman Lake Forest College 53 Nick Paige ADInstruments Deranda Lester University of Memphis 37 Jessica Boyette- Haley Rhodes FUN Davis St. Edward’s University 82 Christina Pearl Sutter Nu Rho Psi McKittrick Drew University 54 Rensselaer Polytechnic Dylan Taylor Grass Foundation Alicia Walf University 55 Duke Shayal Vashisth Med Associates Christina Williams University 56 Washington State Jereme Wingert FUN Barbara Sorg University 136 Posters are Organized by Society for Neuroscience Themes Theme Poster #s A Development 1-34 B Neural Excitability, Synapses, and Glia 35-49 C Neurodegenerative Disorders and Injury 50-81 D Sensory Systems 82-93 E Motor Systems 94-98 F Integrative Physiology and Behavior 99-134 G Motivation and Emotion 135-152 H Cognition 153-164 I Techniques 165-167 J History and Education 168 Author index can be found at the end of the abstract book. Poster #1 TRAVEL AWARD WINNER Charles Marcucci sponsored by FUN Member Joshua Weiner Award Sponsor: Brain Bits PHYSICAL AND FUNCTIONAL INTERACTION BETWEEN GAMMA- PROTOCADHERINS AND NEUROLIGIN-2 IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INHIBITORY SYNAPSES Steffen, D.; Marcucci, C.; Molumby, M.; Weiner, J. Department of Biology and Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa The mammalian Pcdha, Pcdhb, and Pcdhg gene clusters encode a diverse group of cadherin superfamily adhesion molecules, the α-, β-, and γ-Protocadherins, respectively. The 22 γ- Protocadherins (γ-Pcdhs) are combinatorially expressed in the brain, and play critical roles in synaptogenesis, dendrite arborization and patterning, and the survival of subsets of neurons in vivo. The γ-Pcdhs can interact promiscuously with each other, and with other clustered Pcdhs, in cis, but interact strictly homophilically in trans. Mice lacking the γ-Pcdhs in the cerebral cortex in vivo exhibit severely reduced dendrite arborization (Garrett, et al., Neuron, 2012). Recently, we further demonstrated that these cortical mutants exhibit a significant increase in the density of dendritic spines and excitatory synapses, and found that the γ-Pcdhs physically interact in cis with neuroligin-1, a postsynaptic adhesion molecule implicated in autism and schizophrenia that is important for the maturation of excitatory synapses. In an “artificial synapse assay” in vitro, γ-Pcdhs could inhibit the ability of neuroligin-1 to induce presynaptic differentiation (Molumby et al., Cell Reports, 2017). While this study identified a new mechanism through which γ-Pcdhs regulate excitatory synapses, their effect on inhibitory synapse development has not yet been examined. Here, we provide evidence that the -Pcdhs can also negatively regulate inhibitory synapse development in forebrain neurons. Using co- immunoprecipitation assays, we find that γ-Pcdhs interact both in vitro and in vivo with neuroligin-2, which is found at inhibitory postsynaptic sites and promotes inhibitory synapse maturation. Utilizing the artificial synapse assay, we find that multiple γ-Pcdhs can, when co- expressed in COS cells, strongly inhibit the ability of neuroligin-2 to promote presynaptic clustering of synaptic vesicle proteins synapsin and VGAT in contacting axons. To ask whether the γ-Pcdhs negatively regulate inhibitory synapse density in vivo, we analyzed mice in which a conditional Pcdhg allele has been excised in excitatory cortical neurons (the postsynaptic sites of many inhibitory synapses) using Emx1-Cre. Using immunostaining for synaptic markers, we find that inhibitory synapse density is, indeed, significantly increased in the absence of γ-Pcdhs. Together, these data suggest that γ-Pcdhs interact with neuroligin-2 in cis at inhibitory postsynaptic sites to negatively regulate the formation and/or maturation of inhibitory synapses. Theme: Development Poster #2 DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPATIAL GRADIENT ALONG THE DORSAL-VENTRAL AXIS OF THE HIPPOCAMPUS Neal, S., Guenther, D., Lovett, S., Sulaman, B., Lubke, K., Guevara, M., Burke, S., Maurer A. University of Florida The size of hippocampal place fields progressively increases from the dorsal to ventral region of the hippocampus (Jung et al., 1994; Maurer et al., 2005; Kjelstrup et al., 2008), leading to the hypothesis that there is a spatial gradient along the long axis of the hippocampus. Small place fields in the dorsal hippocampus are associated with spatial representation while broader fields in the ventral hippocampus facilitate emotional and homeostatic processing (Bannerman et al., 2004). Although the dorsal-ventral axis of transcription is differentiated at birth (O’Reilly et al., 2015), place cells and spatial selectivity do not appear for approximately 2 more weeks. Therefore, to understand the developmental trajectory of the spatial selectivity along the long- axis of the hippocampus, we characterized the expression of the activity-regulated immediate early gene, Arc, at ages P14 to P21. Pups underwent a two-epoch object exploration task, in which the position of two out of the four objects are swapped (Ramsaran, Westbrook, & Stanton, 2016). This design provides the capability to assess spatial selectivity as well as any potential correlates to object-place selectivity. Our preliminary data demonstrates that at P14, there is no significant difference in Arc activity between the dorsal and ventral regions of CA1, however by P21 a gradient is evident. In addition, this gradient is a result of increased expression of Arc in the dorsal region, as the activity in the ventral region remains relatively stable. Ongoing experimentation will seek to focus on the development of the spatial gradient in the CA3 region in addition to the previously studied CA1. Theme: Development Poster #3 CHARACTERIZATION OF A NEW MOUSE MODEL OF SUPRATENTORIAL EPENDYMOMA BRAIN TUMOR Randazzo, Ericka, Dunnack, Jesse, Fang, Justin, & LoTurco, Joseph Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut Ependymomas are a class of brain tumor characterized by neoplasms containing a mixture of abnormal glial and endothelial cells. The third most common brain tumor in children, ependymomas can be divided into several subclassifications based upon their location, and molecular genetic features. An important subclass of these tumors are supratentorial ependymomas (ST-EPN), which form in either the third or lateral ventricles and have been found to be significantly correlated with a