Bengt Grua and Dr. C. Brock Kirwan, Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience Introduction The goal of this study was to determine how sleep affects memory recall in an academic setting with relation to memory discrimination and memory generalization. Memory generalization depends on the computational process of pattern completion, which is the brain’s ability to retrieve […]
Induction of Neuromelanin in Live Tissue
Corrine Morrison, Dr. Scott Steffensen, Psychology and Neuroscience Center Introduction: An estimated seven to ten million people worldwide are living with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and about 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with the disease each year (Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, 2013). The underlying cause of the movement disorders in PD is dopamine (DA) neuron degeneration in the […]
The Effect of Exercise on Inhibitory Control to Images of High and Low Calorie Food
Cory Pettit and Michael J. Larson, PhD, Psychology and Neuroscience Introduction The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of exercise on the neural correlates of response inhibition to high and low calorie foods. Specifically, we aimed to explore whether engaging in forty-five minutes of moderate intensity exercise affects brain activity that denotes […]
Effects of Light Stimulation on Long-term Potentiation in Dopamine Neurons in the Nucleus Accumbens
Eliza Lee Warren and Dr. Scott C. Steffensen, Psychology and Neuroscience Center Introduction: Light therapy has been utilized to treat alcoholics in the past (Zalewska- Kaszubska & Obzejta, 2004), and opiate dependent rats (Mirzaii-Dizgah, Ojaghi, Sadeghipour-Roodsari, Karimian, & Sohanaki, 2009). Unfortunately, research is limited and still little is known. It was the aim of this […]
Do D2 Receptors on Blood Lymphocytes adapt to Chronic Ethanol?
Joseph Linzey and Dr. Scott Steffensen, Neuroscience Research concerning whether or not D2 receptors can be used as an accurate biomarker for drug addiction is still currently underway. Unfortunately, this semester I was unable to engage in research nearly as much as I had planned. I spent a lot of time this semester interviewing at […]
Effects of Locus of Control on the Neural Mechanism of Error Processing
Kaylie Carbine and Dr. Michael Larson, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Introduction Performance monitoring is the ability to assess behavior and make necessary adjustments (Ullsperger & von Cramon, 2001). Performance monitoring can be examined through event-related potentials (ERPs), which are indicators of the brain’s electrical activity in response to a specific stimulus (Luck, 2005). One […]
Association between Heavy-Metal Exposure and the Digit-Symbol Substitution Test in US Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study
Parker Woody and Professor Dawson Hedges, Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Center Heavy metals in the environment are a serious concern. One of the most widely known and studied neurotoxins is lead. For many years it was put into gasoline and paint in the US until it was discovered that it lead to developmental defects […]
Error Processing and Generalized Anxiety Disorder
David Walker and Dr. Michael Larson, Neuroscience General anxiety disorder (GAD) affects approximately 5% of the U.S. population (Stein, 2009) and is the second-most frequent psychiatric disorder, after depression, in primary care settings (Wittchen & Hoyer, 2001). Although diagnosis requirements for GAD are extensive, common characteristics are hyper-vigilance, which is manifested as excessive or unreasonable […]
The Effects of Mindfulness of Error Processing
Kevin Voisin and Dr. Michael Larson, Neuroscience Mindfulness is the process of bringing one’s body functions, attention, feelings and content of consciousness to the experiences of the present. (Greeson, 2009). Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress in order to improve quality of life along with many other benefits such as reducing blood pressure, anxiety, […]
Word Quality and Memory
Marshall Roedel and Dr. C Brock Kirwan, Pschology and Neuroscience Current memory theory suggests that two separate processes contribute to recognition memory. Recollection is when recognition is accompanied by contextual information regarding the encoding event. Familiarity is when recognition is only a companied by a vague sense of having encountered something previously. Memory researchers theorize […]