Ryan Rota

Biography

I was born in Lac La Biche AB and lived there until I moved to Lethbridge to begin my undergrad at the University of Lethbridge, where in 2009 I received my Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Neuroscience. Previously I have worked under the supervision of Dr. Robbin Gibb and Dr. Bryan Kolb conducting multiple independent studies aimed at understanding prenatal stress and neuronal populations, recovery from brain injury, and the effects of pre/post natal tactile stimulation.

Project Description

I am a Research Assistant in the Dr. Tatsuno and Dr. McNaughton lab. With the support of the Dr. Tatsuno and Dr. McNaughton lab I am designing an experiment to monitor the effects of acute circadian disruption and its affect on sleep quality. Hippocampal to neocortical memory transfer is widely believed to involve replay of behaviorally induced firing patterns during sleep. Chronic Circadian disruption has been shown to negatively affect performance in the water maze task; associated with hippocampal dependent memory. We will attempt to use long term recordings to analyze changes to local field potentials in order to understand how circadian disruption changes the electrophysiology of sleep quality.

Education

• 2009 Bachelor of Science – Neuroscience Major, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge AB.

Scholarly Work

Acknowledgments

• Nemeti, F., Kolb, W. (2010). Motor cortex injury has different behavioral and anatomical effects in early and late adolescence. Behavioural neuroscience 2010; 124: 612-622.

Presentations

• Muhammad, A., Medland, B., Rota, R., Gibb, R., and Kolb, B. (2010). Stress during development modulates behavior and prefrontal cortical thickness without affecting drug-induced behavioral sensitization. Society of Neuroscience Abstracts, 871.1.
• Muhammad, A., Medland, B., Rota, R., Gibb, R., and Kolb, B. (2009). Tactile stimulation during development attenuates drug sensitization in adulthood. Society of Neuroscience Abstracts, 468.13.