Date of Award

4-2018

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

Advisor/Committee Chair

Damian Zuloaga

Committee Member

Andrew Poulos

Abstract

Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) has been established as a key modulator in the stress response. Areas of research have primarily focused on brain regions that control the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. However, extensive research has yet to be conducted on the CRF receptor 1 (CRFR1) in the dentate gyrus, a region associated with memory functions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate age-related changes in CRFR1 in the granule layer and the hilus layer of the dentate gyrus in CRFR1 reporter mice at three different age groups; pre-pubertal (p21), adult (p90), and old (22-24 months) age. The results of this study show that CRFR1 labeling did not exist in the granule layer at P21 but appears at moderate to heavy levels at P90 and 22-24 months. Furthermore, CRFR1 labeling in the hilus layer is noticeably visible in all three age groups, with higher levels at P21. Overall, these significant age-related differences at P21 could have implications towards the onset of other childhood-related developments, such as fear memories and possibly even depression.

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