Stander, Rachel https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3734-6832
Ayyappan, Nithilah
Sikorski, Darek https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6178-8312
van der Heijden, Meike E.
Hsiao, Kuangfu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0753-9335
Funding for this research was provided by:
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (30044)
Children's Research Institute Startup Fund
Virginia Tech | Fralin Life Science Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Startup fund)
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R00NS13046)
Article History
Received: 10 March 2025
Revised: 23 October 2025
Accepted: 7 November 2025
First Online: 22 November 2025
Competing interests
: The authors declare no competing interests.
: All animal procedures were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the ARRIVE guidelines. All experimental protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at Children’s National Medical Center (No.00031058).