Head trauma, Painkillers, and Memory. Oh my! by Sanjana Balaji

Wow the weeks have flown by! We are now approaching week 7 of TRIP and we have begun our independent projects. I’ve found myself eagerly awaiting Saturday afternoons because of how amazing the TRIP family is! It is so much fun to work, learn, and joke around with my peers, the TAs, and Dr. Leystra and Dr. Purdy. Before starting our independent projects, we first worked on introductory experiments in order to familiarize ourselves with the flies, the assays, and the little hassles of the lab (aka releasing flies by accident, contaminating pipettes, and not labeling everything and getting utterly confused). My intro experiment was how valerian, a drug that reduces anxiety and helps with insomnia, coupled with head trauma affects the anxiety levels of flies. I learned how to sort flies on ice and carbon dioxide, how to give head trauma to flies (this was very interesting), and how to perform the centrophobism assay in order to quantify anxiety. I presented my findings to everyone, and while this was nerve-wracking, the support and feedback from the instructors and my peers made this a fruitful experience and taught me a lot on how to deliver information effectively. 

After this experiment, it was now time to brainstorm ideas for our independent project. While I was overwhelmed with the endless possibilities, I knew that I wanted to test something to do with behavior and effects of a drug or stressor on cognitive functioning skills. The effect of ibuprofen and Tylenol on memory piqued my interest. I’ve been getting migraines since I was 8 and I take ibuprofen to combat the pain. I scoured the internet to figure out how ibuprofen works and if it had any effect on the mind, and surprisingly, I found that those who took NSAIDS (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as ibuprofen, had nearly the same increased dementia risk as those taking opioids. However, I also found that scientists have found that a daily regimen ibuprofen can prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease. These studies directly opposed each other and I found that a lot of other claims were simply correlation rather than true cause and effect. This inspired the question: How does taking a steady dose of ibuprofen and other common painkillers affect the memory and learning of a developing brain? 

​After forming my question, it was now time to plan out my project! Basically, I am going to expose my flies to ibuprofen, Tylenol, and a mix of both drugs, and perform the larval memory assay to quantify their learning and memory capabilities. The larval memory assay tests how many larvae associate a certain smell to a sugar reward after being exposed to 2 different scents- one that rewards them with sugar and one that does not. The more larvae correctly identify the correct scent, the better their memory is. I am hopeful that my assay yields a positive connection between NSAIDS and memory, and I am also really excited to see if painkillers suppress or increase memory!

I set up my first round of flies this week and I will be performing the larval memory assay for the first time next week. I will keep you updated with the results!

How does taking a steady dose of ibuprofen and other common painkillers affect the memory and learning of a developing brain?