The Influence of Various Drug States on the Responses to External Stimuli through Simulation in a Rodent Model
Session Number
Project ID: BIO 35
Advisor(s)
Dr. Maria Virginia Centeno; Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine
Dr. A. Vania Apkarian; Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine
Discipline
Biology
Start Date
22-4-2020 10:25 AM
End Date
22-4-2020 10:40 AM
Abstract
Opioids are consistently prescribed as pain management drugs for patients. However, the physiological impact of opioids on the brain are not very well understood, specifically in determining the neurotransmitters affected by the drugs. Morphine, a narcotic analgesic, is used to treat severe pain by changing how the brain feels and responds to pain but it is unknown exactly how the drug alters the brain. Hence, a nociceptive assay was performed on rodent models in order to characterize the physiological effects of morphine. A group of rats were injected with morphine and saline or a combination of levodopa and carbidopa to determine their basic pain-based reflexes. A traditional two-hour infrared tail flick test was administered to measure the pain reflex time, with a baseline test taken previous to injection. A distinction was also made between male and female rats and this comparative model was tested multiple times.
The Influence of Various Drug States on the Responses to External Stimuli through Simulation in a Rodent Model
Opioids are consistently prescribed as pain management drugs for patients. However, the physiological impact of opioids on the brain are not very well understood, specifically in determining the neurotransmitters affected by the drugs. Morphine, a narcotic analgesic, is used to treat severe pain by changing how the brain feels and responds to pain but it is unknown exactly how the drug alters the brain. Hence, a nociceptive assay was performed on rodent models in order to characterize the physiological effects of morphine. A group of rats were injected with morphine and saline or a combination of levodopa and carbidopa to determine their basic pain-based reflexes. A traditional two-hour infrared tail flick test was administered to measure the pain reflex time, with a baseline test taken previous to injection. A distinction was also made between male and female rats and this comparative model was tested multiple times.