Lingual Nerve Terminal Field Development in Rats

Presenter Information

Chris ThomasFollow

Advisor Information

Suzanne Sollars

Location

MBSC 201

Presentation Type

Poster

Start Date

6-3-2020 2:00 PM

End Date

6-3-2020 3:15 PM

Abstract

During early development, connections in the brain, called synapses, are at their most numerous (Gogtay et al., 2004; Tierney & Nelson, 2009). The reduction of these synapses, known as pruning, is crucial for proper brain development and suppression can lead to various functionality issues (Zhan et al., 2014). Pruning has been shown in rat models in which afferents of the chorda tympani nerve (CT) undergo a 75 percent volume reduction (Mangold & Hill, 2008). The region where the CT sends information located in the brainstem is referred to as the terminal field. Like the CT, the lingual nerve also communicates with the anterior tongue but conveys touch, heat, and even pain information to its own terminal field within the brainstem (Ghatak and Ginglen 2018; Snyder & Bartoshuk, 2016). However, whether the lingual nerve also prunes is currently unknown. The goal of the current study is to analyze lingual nerve terminal field volume at different time-points to determine if developmental pruning occurs. At either 15, 25, or 45 days of age (based on key pruning timepoints for the CT), the rats’ lingual nerve will be surgically labeled with biotinylated dextran amine (BDA; Sollars et al., 2006). Forty-eight hours after labeling, rats will be sacrificed, and their brains extracted and sectioned at 50µm via microtome. Sections will then be processed to visualize the BDA. Volume quantification will be measured using a brightfield microscope and the computer software Neurolucida. We predict that the lingual nerve terminal field will undergo volume reduction during development.

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Mar 6th, 2:00 PM Mar 6th, 3:15 PM

Lingual Nerve Terminal Field Development in Rats

MBSC 201

During early development, connections in the brain, called synapses, are at their most numerous (Gogtay et al., 2004; Tierney & Nelson, 2009). The reduction of these synapses, known as pruning, is crucial for proper brain development and suppression can lead to various functionality issues (Zhan et al., 2014). Pruning has been shown in rat models in which afferents of the chorda tympani nerve (CT) undergo a 75 percent volume reduction (Mangold & Hill, 2008). The region where the CT sends information located in the brainstem is referred to as the terminal field. Like the CT, the lingual nerve also communicates with the anterior tongue but conveys touch, heat, and even pain information to its own terminal field within the brainstem (Ghatak and Ginglen 2018; Snyder & Bartoshuk, 2016). However, whether the lingual nerve also prunes is currently unknown. The goal of the current study is to analyze lingual nerve terminal field volume at different time-points to determine if developmental pruning occurs. At either 15, 25, or 45 days of age (based on key pruning timepoints for the CT), the rats’ lingual nerve will be surgically labeled with biotinylated dextran amine (BDA; Sollars et al., 2006). Forty-eight hours after labeling, rats will be sacrificed, and their brains extracted and sectioned at 50µm via microtome. Sections will then be processed to visualize the BDA. Volume quantification will be measured using a brightfield microscope and the computer software Neurolucida. We predict that the lingual nerve terminal field will undergo volume reduction during development.