{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/130001"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/130001","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"The impacts of stress, exercise, and extracellular vesicles on the brain","abstract":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-08-01","abstract_html":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-08-01","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Connolly, Meghan Grace"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Neuroscience","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Rhodes, Justin S.","Rhodes, Justin S","Raetzman, Lori T","Mahoney, Megan M","Gritton, Howard J."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-05-23","date_published":"2025-05-23","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:06Z","subjects":["Stress","Exercise","Extracellular Vesicles","Neurogenesis","Microglia","Hippocampus","Striatum"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["© 2025 Meghan Connolly All rights reserved."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130001","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Rhodes, Justin S.","Rhodes, Justin S","Raetzman, Lori T","Mahoney, Megan M","Gritton, Howard J."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Connolly, Meghan Grace"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-05-23","2025-08"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Neuroscience"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Stress","Exercise","Extracellular Vesicles","Neurogenesis","Microglia","Hippocampus","Striatum"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© 2025 Meghan Connolly All rights reserved."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130001"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-08-01","The student, Meghan Connolly, accepted the attached license on 2025-05-19 at 15:27.","The student, Meghan Connolly, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-05-19 at 15:49.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-05-23 at 11:26.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22302 on 2025-10-21 at 10:05:18","Stress and exercise are major regulators of brain plasticity, influencing neuroinflammation, motivation, and neurogenesis through central and peripheral mechanisms. Stress activates neuroimmune signaling pathways that disrupt brain homeostasis, while exercise promotes resilience by enhancing adaptive neural plasticity. Both circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs), and microglial activation states have emerged as important mediators of these effects, yet their roles in brain adaptation to stress and exercise remain incompletely understood. This dissertation investigates how stress, exercise, and exercise-derived EVs influence neuroplasticity and neuroimmune function in the hippocampus and striatum. Chapter 1 reviews the effects of stress and exercise on the brain, with a focus on microglial activation, neurogenesis, and extracellular vesicle signaling. Chapter 2 reports that plasma-derived EVs from exercising mice enhance adult hippocampal neurogenesis and astrogliogenesis. Chapter 3 examines whether human-derived ExerVs mitigate the adverse effects of simulated microgravity stress, revealing no significant changes in neuroinflammation, microglial proliferation, or neurogenesis. Chapter 4 uses single-nucleus RNA sequencing to characterize microglial transcriptional responses in the striatum, showing that stress and exercise each induce distinct, non-overlapping activation states. Chapter 5 synthesizes these findings and discusses how peripheral signals and microglial plasticity shape brain resilience and vulnerability. Together, these findings provide new insight into the molecular and cellular mechanisms through which systemic and immune-mediated processes regulate brain plasticity and identify potential targets for promoting cognitive resilience and mitigating stress-related neuroinflammatory dysfunction."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The impacts of stress, exercise, and extracellular vesicles on the brain"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Rhodes, Justin S.","Rhodes, Justin S","Raetzman, Lori T","Mahoney, Megan M","Gritton, Howard J."],"dc:creator":["Connolly, Meghan Grace"],"dc:date":["2025-05-23","2025-08"],"dc:description":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-08-01","The student, Meghan Connolly, accepted the attached license on 2025-05-19 at 15:27.","The student, Meghan Connolly, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-05-19 at 15:49.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-05-23 at 11:26.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22302 on 2025-10-21 at 10:05:18","Stress and exercise are major regulators of brain plasticity, influencing neuroinflammation, motivation, and neurogenesis through central and peripheral mechanisms. Stress activates neuroimmune signaling pathways that disrupt brain homeostasis, while exercise promotes resilience by enhancing adaptive neural plasticity. Both circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs), and microglial activation states have emerged as important mediators of these effects, yet their roles in brain adaptation to stress and exercise remain incompletely understood. This dissertation investigates how stress, exercise, and exercise-derived EVs influence neuroplasticity and neuroimmune function in the hippocampus and striatum. Chapter 1 reviews the effects of stress and exercise on the brain, with a focus on microglial activation, neurogenesis, and extracellular vesicle signaling. Chapter 2 reports that plasma-derived EVs from exercising mice enhance adult hippocampal neurogenesis and astrogliogenesis. Chapter 3 examines whether human-derived ExerVs mitigate the adverse effects of simulated microgravity stress, revealing no significant changes in neuroinflammation, microglial proliferation, or neurogenesis. Chapter 4 uses single-nucleus RNA sequencing to characterize microglial transcriptional responses in the striatum, showing that stress and exercise each induce distinct, non-overlapping activation states. Chapter 5 synthesizes these findings and discusses how peripheral signals and microglial plasticity shape brain resilience and vulnerability. Together, these findings provide new insight into the molecular and cellular mechanisms through which systemic and immune-mediated processes regulate brain plasticity and identify potential targets for promoting cognitive resilience and mitigating stress-related neuroinflammatory dysfunction."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130001"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["© 2025 Meghan Connolly All rights reserved."],"dc:subject":["Stress","Exercise","Extracellular Vesicles","Neurogenesis","Microglia","Hippocampus","Striatum"],"dc:title":["The impacts of stress, exercise, and extracellular vesicles on the brain"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Neuroscience"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:06Z"}