2001 — 2003 |
Cavigelli, Sonia A |
F32Activity Code Description: To provide postdoctoral research training to individuals to broaden their scientific background and extend their potential for research in specified health-related areas. |
Peri-Pubertal Adrenal and Immune Function Development
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The pubertal process is marked by significant adrenal and lymphoid tissue development and social behavior development. Because the adrenal and immune systems are highly responsive to environmental conditions, social experiences during this period may have a significant impact on the development of these two systems. I will test the hypothesis that puberty is a sensitive period during which individual interactions with the social environment produce life-long changes in adrenal and immune function and disease risk. Recent data from rats and children indicate that during peri-puberty, adrenal and immune functioning begins to differ significantly among individuals, with some individuals developing response patterns similar to those associated with depression (e.g. glucocorticoid hypersecretion and compromised immunity), which is often first diagnosed shortly after puberty. I propose a study with rats that will identify the peri-pubertal social conditions and personality traits that predict glucocorticoid hypersecretion and immune suppression in adult rats. Experiments involve manipulations of peri-pubertal social environment relative to personality traits to determine what combination of these two variables leads to differential adrenal and immune function in adulthood.
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0.905 |
2004 |
Cavigelli, Sonia A |
R03Activity Code Description: To provide research support specifically limited in time and amount for studies in categorical program areas. Small grants provide flexibility for initiating studies which are generally for preliminary short-term projects and are non-renewable. |
A Rodent Model of Behavioral Inhibition @ Pennsylvania State University-Univ Park
[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): [unreadable] [unreadable] 'Behavioral inhibition' or 'shyness' among children and adults has been associated with several negative health consequences. Approximately 20% of children are reliably behaviorally inhibited - i.e. they withdraw from novel or unfamiliar circumstances and show greater activation of stress- and fear-associated physiological systems including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The proposed research will test whether a behavioral trait identified as neophobia in the commonly used laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus) is analogous to the trait identified as behavioral inhibition in humans, such that rats could provide an animal model in which to conduct experimental studies on the causes and consequences of this trait. By developing a non-human model of behavioral inhibition, it becomes possible to conduct life span developmental and experimental studies to determine the environmental and genetic origins of the trait, and to determine potential remedial interventions if the trait is found to be primarily disadvantageous to health. This research will be conducted with Sprague-Dawley rats, a strain of rat in which naturally-occurring variance exists in individual willingness to explore a novel environment and for which stress hormones (glucocorticoids) released by adrenal cortex are related to this trait. The research will assess the stability of this behavioral trait by measuring individual rats' behavioral responses across different conditions and across time, and will measure the dynamics of glucocorticoid production to determine if inhibited individuals experience longer, more chronic, elevations in glucocorticoids, thus making them more prone to health problems. Finally, given the importance of early peer social interactions on personality formation, the research will use an experimental study to determine how peri-pubertal social interactions affect the development of neophobia. This research will provide the basis for future research on the development and long-term consequences of behavioral inhibition / shyness. [unreadable] [unreadable]
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0.958 |
2011 — 2015 |
Cavigelli, Sonia Langkilde, Tracy [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Lit - Sublethal Impacts of Non-Native Species Invasion @ Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
Global environmental change, including habitat loss and the introduction of non-native species, poses a growing threat to native animals. The lethal outcomes of such threats have received much attention, but animals that survive can also suffer important consequences; growing more slowly, having suppressed immune systems, and producing fewer offspring. These consequences are poorly understood, but they can have important implications for the ability of native populations to persist in the face of these threats. This project will adopt a range of ecological and biomedical measures of animal health in the field and laboratory, from cellular immune function to measures of the reproductive capacity of individuals, to examine the impact globally-invasive fire ants are having on native lizards. It will also test how long-term exposure to this invasive pest can influence the threat-tolerance of these invaded populations; whether native populations become more or less resilient to the consequences of this threat. The results of this research will help us to understand how native populations are able to persist in the face of increasing environmental change, and provide important information needed to guide the conservation of global biodiversity. This project will also provide education and training of students and the general community. Graduate and minority undergraduate students, as well as K-12 students from minority-serving institutions, will be involved in the laboratory and field components of this work, and the local community will be engaged through displays and presentations of the results of this research.
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1 |
2012 — 2013 |
Cavigelli, Sonia A |
R21Activity Code Description: To encourage the development of new research activities in categorical program areas. (Support generally is restricted in level of support and in time.) |
Mechanisms Behind Asthma-Internalizing Disorder Co-Morbidity: Novel Mouse Model @ Pennsylvania State University-Univ Park
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Persons that have had asthma are twice as likely to develop anxiety or depression compared to those that have not had asthma, and this co-morbidity can occur as early as adolescence. This is of particular concern in light of rising rates of asthma in the US. Unfortunately, the mechanisms underlying the association between asthma and internalizing disorders are not clear, and thus proper interventions to minimize rates of anxiety and depression in asthma patients cannot be developed, particularly in the growing population of young people with asthma. To elucidate mechanisms underlying the association between asthma and anxiety/depression, we propose to use a periadolescent mouse model to test two possible mechanisms. The mechanisms are based on two specific aspects of allergic asthma: (1) the highly stressful experiences of potentially life-threatening respiratory distress with severely labored breathing, and (2) chronically-elevated inflammatory responses in the airways. Asthmatic adolescents experience these symptoms during a period of rapid neurological development and maturation of neurotransmitter systems involved in emotion regulation. Severe stress and chronic inflammation during periadolescence can have long-term influences on the regulation of stress hormones (glucocorticoids) and can eventually lead to glucocorticoid dysregulation - a well-known correlate of internalizing disorders. Thus, we propose to use a mouse model to experimentally determine the independent influence of periadolescent labored breathing and airway inflammation on adult glucocorticoid regulation, exploratory and hedonic behavior, and serotonin transporter gene expression - three important correlates of human anxiety and depression and mouse models of these disorders. A validated mouse model is an essential first step in conducting longitudinal and experimental studies to determine the independent effects of labored breathing and chronic inflammation on these symptoms and to model the bidirectional interactions of internalizing behavior and asthma. Discerning the relative role of each of these mechanisms on the development of anxiety and depression would provide key information for evaluating future interventions to minimize the risk of internalizing disorders in adolescents with asthma. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Asthma is the most common chronic condition for children and adolescents in the U.S., with a current prevalence of 9 percent, or approximately 5 million youth. Public health concerns are compounded by the fact that asthma is often co-morbid with anxiety and depression - asthma patients suffer from anxiety and depression at twice the rate as persons without asthma. The physiological processes underlying this co-morbidity are not clear, and thus appropriate intervention methods to minimize rates of these internalizing disorders in asthmatic adolescents are necessarily limited. Our proposed research will use a periadolescent mouse model to compare the influence of two asthma symptoms (labored breathing, airway inflammation) on the development of anxiety- and depression-related behavior and neuroendocrine processes. The relative role of each of these two symptoms in the development of internalizing disorders is key to developing future interventions to minimize anxiety and depression in patients with asthma.
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0.958 |