Electrophysiolgy

Brain extracellular space of the naked mole-rat expands and maintains normal diffusion under ischemic conditions

Former PhD Student Dr. Donald Thevalingam was very intrigued with the enhancement of brain hyaluronan which has been identified in the African naked mole-rat. He set out to explore how this enhancement may influence the extracellular space of the brain in this species. This work is the result. It was accomplished through a wonderful collaboration with the Hrabetova Lab at SUNY Downstate. The conclusions of this work may cause ust to re-think how the brain accomplishes hypoxia tolerance in these extremophile rodents.