Using literature and innovative assessments to ignite interest and cultivate critical thinking skills in an undergraduate neuroscience course.

Science education reform initiatives emphasize 1) the value of concepts over facts; 2) the benefits of open-ended, inquiry-based problem-solving rather than protocols leading to a single correct answer; and 3) the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to teaching that is not confined by departmental boundaries. Neuroscientists should be at the forefront of this movement by the very nature of the discipline we study. Neuroscience is a relatively new field that integrates diverse subjects (anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, molecular biology, computer science, and psychology) and experimental advances are constantly changing and expanding our understanding of brain function.

Enhanced cyclooxygenase-2 expression in olfactory-limbic forebrain following kainate-induced seizures.

Cyclooxygenase-2 is expressed at low levels in a subset of neurons in CNS and is rapidly induced by a multiplicity of factors including seizure activity. A putative relationship exists between cyclooxygenase-2 induction and glutamatergic neurotransmission. Cyclooxygenase-1 is constitutively expressed in glial cells and has been specifically linked to microglia.

P2X7 receptor immunoreactive profile confined to resting and activated microglia in the epileptic brain.

The purpose of this study was to identify the CNS cellular constituent immunoreactive for specific P2X7 receptor antiserum in the kainate-induced seizure and non-seizure rat brain. Analysis of P2X7 immunocytochemistry (ICC) revealed small immunoreactive cells with processes showing distinct morphological changes as seizures progressed in time. These morphological changes were reminiscent of reactive glia during CNS injury.

AMPA receptor alterations precede mossy fiber sprouting in young children with temporal lobe epilepsy.

Following neurological injury early in life numerous events, including excitotoxicity, neural degeneration, gliosis, neosynaptogenesis, and circuitry reorganization, may alone or in concert contribute to hyperexcitability and recurrent seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy. Our studies provide new evidence regarding the temporal sequence of key elements of hippocampal reorganization, mossy fiber sprouting and glutamate receptor subunit up-regulation, in a subset of young temporal lobe epileptic patients. Without evidence of mossy fiber sprouting, the youngest age group (3-10 years old) of mesial temporal lobe epileptic patients demonstrated enhanced glutamate receptor subunit profiles, suggesting that the dendritic change precedes axonal sprouting.