Date of Award

2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Neuroscience

Abstract

Repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (rmTBI) increases an individual’s risk for developing persistent deficits in recognition memory with symptoms experienced by up to 30% of rmTBI patients. Cellular senescence has been suggested as an underlying mechanism of persistent rmTBI symptoms; however, the subacute progression of cellular senescence following rmTBI has not been evaluated. Furthermore, the use of subacute testosterone administration to treat persistent recognition memory deficits and the cellular and molecular underpinnings has yet to be well characterized. Our lab utilizes a 5-hit closed-head rmTBI rat model to induce deficits in recognition memory and determine the effects of subacute testosterone administration at a clinically relevant time point on recognition memory and cellular senescence. We determined that subacute testosterone treatment mitigates persistent recognition memory deficits, and the progression of cellular senescence can be altered with subacute pharmacological intervention. These exciting findings provide hope to those suffering the long-term ramifications of rmTBI.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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