building experience
Roots in Idaho
I grew up with an ability to appreciate the beauty of the earth. Idaho provided an environment rich with wonders. I took this picture myself on the top of table rock. This is a view of the Grand Tetons.
I Found a passion
Fluid Draw
Needle Placement
Needle Placement
This fluid is called 6OHDA (6-hydroxydopamine). This is intended to inhibit the Dopamine producing neurons in specific locations of the brain. The needles we used were home-made in order to make them thin enough to cause minimal tissue disturbance. The amount of fluid in this droplet is 3 microliters.
Needle Placement
Needle Placement
Needle Placement
Using a rat brain atlas, we drilled a strategic hole in the skull of our rat just above the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain. The set-up to get to this point of the procedure takes lots of experience. You need to make sure that the rat is anesthetized properly, the skull must be level, the drill hole must be the correct depth, th
Using a rat brain atlas, we drilled a strategic hole in the skull of our rat just above the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain. The set-up to get to this point of the procedure takes lots of experience. You need to make sure that the rat is anesthetized properly, the skull must be level, the drill hole must be the correct depth, the needle cannot have air in it, and the structures are small and delicate.
Fluid Injection
Needle Placement
Fluid Injection
This is the easiest part and also the most stressful. All you’re doing is injecting fluid, but this is where you find out if you performed all previous steps properly. The fluid injection also has to be controlled and slow. After this step we brought the rats out of anesthesia and facilitated their recovery from this procedure. Then we measured behaviors compared to before the surgery.