“Resistance”

Artist: Stephanie Fattori, Department of Visual Arts, Faculty of Arts & Humanities, Western University

Scientist: Leila Dzinic, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, Western University

For this project we have decided to do a painting illustrating the effects of exercise on certain neural and physiological measurements in older, overweight mice. The central portion of the painting shows the exercise apparatus itself, an inclined ladder which the mouse climbs with an added tail weight to simulate progressive resistance exercise. The background of the painting consists of histological representations of liver adiposity on one side, and neurogenesis on the other – creating a holistic illustration of the interacting effects of whole-body physiology, neural health, and exercise on cognitive function and memory.