Role of Calcium in Seizure Activity

Research Problems:

•Currently, there is little information on the role of Calcium in a brain with seizure activity

•Studies have been done showing that a calcium spike is observe in neurons within a seizure model and also that these spikes are not seen in a brain exhibiting normal behavior

•Our goal is to further study the role of Calcium by investigating the influx of Calcium into the pre-synaptic terminal (i.e. is the voltage gated Calcium channel constitutively open?) over time.

•Our methods will include the use of a calcium indicator dye (the same as used in the Okhi article) and two photon microscopy to reveal the presence of Calcium

Background:

Two-photon Imaging of Synaptic Plasticity and Pathology in the Living Mouse Brain Grutzendler et. al.

Two-photon microscopy is used to study the neuronal structure of animal models of neurodegeneration, brain injury and cerebrovascular disease

Functional imaging with cellular resolution reveals precise micro-architecture in visual cortex. Ohki et. al.

Employ calcium sensing to reveal the micro-architecture in the visual cortex of the brains of rats and cats

In vivo imaging of seizure activity in a novel developmental seizure model. Hewapathirane et. al. Characterize an in vivo model of seizures in Xenopus laevis tadpole – allowing direct examination of seizure activist and seizure induced effects on neuronal development