Rebecca Pennington Participated in Buena Vista University's Eleventh Annual Scholars Day

2015 May 22

Buena Vista University's eleventh annual Scholars Day was held Friday, April 24. The event provided students from all disciplines an opportunity to present their best presentations, original research, academic posters, artistic creations and performances to their peers, professors and the public.

This year's Scholars Day event featured 43 presentations from 86 students, exploring topics from art and business to science and history.

Rebecca Pennington, a senior biology major from Mount Ayr, was one of the students who participated. Pennington's presentation was titled Does GABA play a role in establishing appetite? , and the project's abstract is as follows:

Neurotransmitters are chemicals in the brain that allow nerve cells of the brain to communicate with one another. GABA is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter found in the brain but it has been shown that GABA may have other jobs in development. The purpose of my study is to determine if GABA is involved in the development of a region of the brain that regulates appetite, the Arcuate Nucleus (Arc). I focused on the expression of two specific neurons found in the Arc; NPY and POMC, which contribute important regulating factors of appetite. To examine the effects of GABA on Arc development in mice I administered two drugs; bicuculline, which is a GABA antagonist and muscimol, which is a GABA agonist. Both drugs are known to cross the placental barrier and were administered subcutaneous from day eleven of pregnancy until day nineteen. After the pups were born I collected the brain tissue and examined them further by obtaining slices and analyzing the data. The data allowed for examination of changes in expression of NPY and POMC neurons within the Arc.

The keynote speaker for the event was Jeff Anderson, Class of 2003, who is the executive director of communications for the Minnesota Vikings. Anderson is entering his thirteenth season with the Vikings and plays a lead role in the organization's external and strategic communications.

"For some Scholars Day is the culmination of their work at BVU, and for others it becomes the springboard that sends them into a field they had not previously anticipated," said Dr. Steven Mills, assistant professor of Spanish and chair of the events committee who organized the event. "Either way, those who participate find in it a valuable growing experience and a strong sense of accomplishment."

Photos from this year's and previous Scholars Day events, along with a video from this year's event, are available online at www.bvu.edu/scholarsday.