Dissertation
The effects of aging on neural processes and microcolumnar networks
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
15 Sep 2015
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-7240
Abstract
Many areas of the human brain show intrinsic geometric order. This research focuses on particular substructures called microcolumns, which are vertically oriented clusters of neurons that form a columnar architecture in cortical areas of many mammalian brains. It has been measured in rhesus monkey brains that these structures are perturbed during the aging process and these changes are correlated to cognitive decline. This research poses the hypothesis that microcolumns play an important role in cognitive processing and perturbations in microcolumnar structures can cause underlying changes in neural networks. We propose several models to analyze the impact of neural networks constructed with different geometries, explain microcolumnar perturbations in the aging brain, and tie together these models to offer a relationship between aging microcolumns and cognitive decline.
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Details
- Title
- The effects of aging on neural processes and microcolumnar networks
- Creators
- Max Henderson - DU
- Contributors
- Luis R. Cruz Cruz (Advisor) - Drexel University (1970-)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Arts and Sciences; Physics; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 7240; 991014632696004721