Introduction: Roughly 10% -30% of the United States' population is known to suffer from some form of anxiety. The majority of those who struggle with anxiety have their first experience before 21.5 years of age, which falls within the age range of many college students. Since stress and anxiety can lead to difficulty with concentrating and memory, they can have significant effects on a student's academic performance and success. One method of reducing stress and anxiety prior to high-stakes examinations is animal-assisted interventions (AAI). Methods: 39 graduate level students (12 males, 27 females) consented to participate in this study. Physiological stress levels were measured by gathering heart rate and blood pressure, and anxiety was measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Baseline measurements were taken at times during the semester when students did not have exams in the near future. Measurements were repeated immediately before a practical examination following either an interaction with a registered therapy dog (experimental) or quiet time studying (control group). Results: A significant difference was observed on exam day between the control group and the experimental group on state anxiety (P = 0.008). No significant effects of the therapy dog were observed for heart rate, systolic blood pressure, or diastolic blood pressure (P > 0.05). Discussion and Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that interactions with a registered therapy dog may assist in reducing the anxiety of graduate students prior to a practical examination.

Background: There is growing evidence supporting the many benefits of interprofessional education (IPE) amongst students of varying medical professions. Since anatomy education is necessary for all healthcare providers, an anatomy laboratory can provide an excellent environment for IPE activities. Unfortunately, due to the high cost of maintaining an anatomy laboratory, many programs do not have access to learn in a cadaver-based environment. The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of an interprofessional teaching and learning opportunity between doctorate of physical therapy (DPT) students and certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) students during a cadaver-based anatomy review course. Methods: A group of DPT students taught different sections of clinically relevant anatomy to the CRNA students under the direction and provision of faculty from both programs. At the completion of the course, students from both disciplines were given an anonymous survey to complete regarding their overall experience in a cadaver-based setting as well as their thoughts regarding the interprofessional teaching/learning opportunity with students in another healthcare discipline. Results: Of the 11 DPT students and 60 CRNA students who completed a survey, 82.0% of the DPT students and 86.0% of the CRNA students felt they better understood another healthcare profession after the experience and that IPE is beneficial for other healthcare professions. One hundred percent of the CRNA students found it beneficial to have a cadaver-based anatomy course and felt the course enhanced their three-dimensional understanding of human anatomy, which they believed would be beneficial in fu-

Introduction. Graduate professional educational programs are very rigorous and challenging, often leading to increased physiological stress and perceived anxiety for the enrolled student. Stress and anxiety levels in physical therapy students are higher than that in their age and gender matched peers. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of an animal-assisted intervention on stress and anxiety of entry-level physical therapist (PT) students prior to a laboratory practical exam. Subjects. Twenty-three first-year PT students (mean age 23.4 ± 1.70) participated in this study. Methods. A 15 -20-minute intervention which either included a therapy dog or no therapy dog was performed prior to the students' laboratory practical exam. Following the intervention, heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and state anxiety measures using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were obtained. Results were compared to baseline measures as well as between each of four intervention trials using repeated measures ANOVA or Freidman test (alpha level of p < 0.05). A post-participation questionnaire

While evidence supports the use of cadavers to facilitate the teaching and learning of human anatomy, cadaver-based teaching may not be present at the undergraduate level at many institutions due to limited laboratory access, financial constraints, and the lack of qualified faculty trained to teach in this type of setting. The following case example outlines a unique program designed to provide cadaver-based instruction to undergraduate students, while simultaneously training undergraduate faculty to teach in this setting through peer observational methods. More specifically, the following teaching collaboration was designed with the intent to achieve the following: 1) expose undergraduate anatomy students to cadaver-based learning; 2) provide education and training to undergraduate faculty so they are better qualified to teach human anatomy in the context of a cadaver laboratory; 3) provide graduate physical therapy students additional opportunities to dissect and reinforce their anatomy knowledge; and 4) demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary collaboration.Eighty-one undergraduate students were exposed to the cadaver laboratory for four educational sessions throughout the semester. Course evaluations revealed that 93% of the undergraduate students reported that their experiences in the cadaver laboratory served to enhance their learning, and 97% reported that the use of human cadavers should be continued in future courses. This interdisciplinary collaboration allowed anatomy instruction to be expanded to previously unserved student groups as well as provided a mechanism for professional development of undergraduate anatomy faculty. This collaborative model may serve as a template to promote new program development to enhance faculty and student learning, while simultaneously encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration across the university.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and fronto-temporal dementia (FTD) comprise a spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases linked to TDP-43 proteinopathy. At the cellular level, TDP-43 proteinopathies are characterized by loss of nuclear TDP-43 and accumulation of cytoplasmic TDP-43 puncta that ultimately cause RNA processing defects including dysregulation of splicing, mRNA transport and translation. Complementing our previous models of ALS, here we report a novel model of FTD based on overexpression of TDP-43 in the Drosophila mushroom body (MB) circuit. This model recapitulates several aspects of FTD pathology including age dependent nuclear depletion and cytoplasmic accumulation of TDP-43 accompanied by behavioral deficits in working memory and sleep that occur before axonal degeneration ensues. RNA immunoprecipitations identify several candidate mRNA targets of TDP-43 in MBs, some of which are specific to the MB circuit and others that are shared with motor neurons. Using genetic interactions we show that overexpression of Dally-like-protein (Dlp), a modulator of Wg/Wnt signaling in MBs mitigates TDP-43 dependent working memory deficits. These results highlight the utility of modelling TDP-43 proteinopathy in Drosophila and provide a novel platform for studying the molecular mechanisms underlying FTD, and potentially uncovering circuit specific vulnerabilities in ALS/FTD.