Presentation Type
Poster
Full Name of Faculty Mentor
Ryan M. Yoder, Psychology
Other Mentors
Scott L. Parker, Biology
Major
Psychology
Presentation Abstract
Environmental changes, such as temporary hypoxia, during the embryonic stage can impair brain development in leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius). We therefore tested whether this early brain damage produces behavioral deficits that persist into adulthood. The organization and kinematic properties of non-visual exploration between normal (n = 14) and hypoxia (n = 3) geckos were compared. Geckos were individually placed on a circular table (diam=91cm) and allowed to explore darkness for 60min while being recorded. The gecko's coordinates were calculated at 5frames/second. Movement properties within each trial were evaluated across five 10min epochs. Total distance, peak speed, movement scaling (correlation between path length and peak speed), distance ratio, heading error, total stop time, mean stop time, number of stops, number of progressions, and progression distance were compared between groups and across epochs with a mixed Group X Epoch ANOVA. Movement properties did not differ across time epochs. However, hypoxia animals showed significantly lower peak speed [F(1,15) = 6.18, p = .025], and greater movement scaling [F(1,15) = 5.78, p = .03] scores, compared to controls. These results indicate that brain damage caused by early hypoxia causes adult geckos to move slowly, but they retain the ability to move normally and accurately estimate distance. Thus, the reduced speed is not caused by a general movement deficit. These preliminary results suggest that embryonic hypoxia alters exploratory behavior that persists into adulthood. This on-going study will continue to evaluate exploratory movement, and data will be added to the presentation as they become available.
Location
Poster Session 2
Start Date
13-4-2022 4:30 PM
End Date
13-4-2022 6:30 PM
Disciplines
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Boon, Nikki; Adorno, Kyleigh; Ozimac, Kayley; and Kinerson, Emma, "Embryonic Hypoxia Alters Exploratory Movement in Adult Geckos" (2022). Undergraduate Research Competition. 8.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/ugrc/2022/fullconference/8
Included in
Embryonic Hypoxia Alters Exploratory Movement in Adult Geckos
Poster Session 2
Environmental changes, such as temporary hypoxia, during the embryonic stage can impair brain development in leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius). We therefore tested whether this early brain damage produces behavioral deficits that persist into adulthood. The organization and kinematic properties of non-visual exploration between normal (n = 14) and hypoxia (n = 3) geckos were compared. Geckos were individually placed on a circular table (diam=91cm) and allowed to explore darkness for 60min while being recorded. The gecko's coordinates were calculated at 5frames/second. Movement properties within each trial were evaluated across five 10min epochs. Total distance, peak speed, movement scaling (correlation between path length and peak speed), distance ratio, heading error, total stop time, mean stop time, number of stops, number of progressions, and progression distance were compared between groups and across epochs with a mixed Group X Epoch ANOVA. Movement properties did not differ across time epochs. However, hypoxia animals showed significantly lower peak speed [F(1,15) = 6.18, p = .025], and greater movement scaling [F(1,15) = 5.78, p = .03] scores, compared to controls. These results indicate that brain damage caused by early hypoxia causes adult geckos to move slowly, but they retain the ability to move normally and accurately estimate distance. Thus, the reduced speed is not caused by a general movement deficit. These preliminary results suggest that embryonic hypoxia alters exploratory behavior that persists into adulthood. This on-going study will continue to evaluate exploratory movement, and data will be added to the presentation as they become available.