Denis Michael Rudisch, M.M., M.A., Adv. Cert.
Ph.D. Student
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, UW-Madison
Department of Surgery-Otolaryngology, UW-Madison
Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, UW-Madison
Early Signs of Voice Deficits and Muscle Pathology in the TgF344-AD Rat Model of Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative condition that causes significant cognitive, communication, and swallowing deficits. Classically, central nervous system pathology is associated with these deficits. However recently, the peripheral nervous system has been implicated, but this is not well understood. The overarching goal of our study is to test the hypothesis that pathology and related behavioral deficits occur in the peripheral nervous system even in the early stages of AD. Since this is difficult to accomplish in humans, as this requires clinical diagnosis, we use a translational rat model (TgF344-AD) that manifests cognitive, behavioral, and neuropathological dysfunction akin to AD in humans. In our larger study, we are testing communication, cognition, oromotor function, and swallowing, as well as related pathology from prodromal to later stages. Here, we test the hypotheses that: (1) changes in vocalizations occur in the prodromal (5mo) stage and worsen in the early stage (7mo), and (2) laryngeal neuromuscular junction morphology differs between wildtype (WT) and TgF344-AD rats at 12 months of age. We performed acoustical analyses on ultrasonic vocalizations and our preliminary findings suggest early and progressive vocal deficits. After I discuss preliminary results, I will provide examples of other behavioral and tissue assays that address our overarching research goals.
Funding:
NIH R01 DC018584 (PI: Dr. Michelle Ciucci)
NIH R01 DC018071 (PI: Dr. Nadine Connor)