Aging is a natural process that leads to a decline in physical and often mental abilities. It also leads to risk of degenerative diseases such as dementia. This project designed a system to allow for study of the effects of aging through use of associative learning in C. elegans. This system includes a microfluidic device that allows for study of adult C. elegans where previously devices only allowed for larval and smaller adult C. elegans. A light device was created to provide conditioned stimulus whose behavioral response could be mediated by pairing with attractive chemical stimuli to test associative learning. The designed system is capable of versatile experiments in which associative learning can be assessed and compared across ages, gender, and genetic mutants.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Hiznay, Alexa Lee
• Gantulga, Dulguun
• Lou, Kevin Wenchin
• LaValley, Julia Caulfield

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042716-121707

Advisor

• Doyle, James Kevin
• Albrecht, Dirk

Year

• 2016

Date created

• 2016-04-27

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Biomedical Engineering
• Interdisciplinary

Rights statement

• In Copyright

License

• All rights reserved