Peter Nielson and Dr. Scott Steffensen, Department of Psychology Purpose In order to further the knowledge of physiological contributions to addiction, this project’s purpose was to elucidate the neuronal processes involved in nicotine (NIC) addiction. We studied its effects on critical neuronal substrates in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), an area of the midbrain implicated […]
Search Results for: mechanism
Religious Influence on Adolescents and Their Parents Faculty Mentor: Sam Hardy, Psychological Sciences
Carrolyn McMurdie and Dr. Sam Hardy, Department of Psychology For decades, research has shown religious involvement and religious belief to predict positive outcomes for adolescents and adults, including better physical and mental health, fewer risk-taking behaviors, and greater involvement in moral or pro-social and helping behaviors (Hood, Hill, & Spilka, 2009). However, the current body […]
Positional Segregation in Sport: How Rugby Introduces New Ethnicities to Research
Dylan Lubbe and Dr. Mikaela Dufur, Department of Sociology Modern scientists continue to argue over an issue that has existed since the first time a person realized that his or her skin was a slightly different shade or tint than someone else’s: Does skin color serve as an indicator for something deeper? The conversation about […]
To Act and Not be Acted Upon: A Look at State-building in Bosnia
Kurt Hepler and Dr. Nicholas Wheeler, Department of Political Science Troubling Times in Bosnia and Herzegovina In the wake of the brutal wars between Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks following the breakup of former Yugoslavia, many international organizations (IOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) poured into Bosnia and Herzegovina. These organizations were tasked with helping the country […]
Mapping Civil Society: An Experiment in NGO Coordination
Madeleine Gleave and Dr. Daniel Nielson, Department of Political Science Overview of Research Our research took us to the red dirt and bustling streets of Uganda. There we sought to understand how non-governmental organizations behave. We were interested in understanding the coordination behavior of NGOs in Uganda and India. With the on-site mentorship of Professor […]
Effects of Light Stimulation on the Baseline Level of Dopamine in the Nucleus Accumbens
Benjamin Carter and Dr. Scott Steffensen, Department of Psychology Introduction This study explored the effects of light stimulation on the baseline levels of dopamine (DA) in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc). DA is a neurotransmitter used in neuronal communication in the central nervous system (CNS) and is the primary signal molecule of the NAc. The high […]
Plasticity in Glutamate Neurotransmission to Midbrain GABA Neurons by Ethanol
Jennifer Mabey and Dr. Scott Steffensen, Department of Psychology The aim of my ORCA grant was to better under the addictive pathway of ethanol (EtOH) in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain. The VTA contains several neuron types that release different neurotransmitters, but the type I experimented with was γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), which […]
Essential Oboe Repair
Jordan Hatch and Dr. Geralyn Giovannetti, School of Music Oboists face many problems relating to the mechanism of their instruments that render them unplayable. These problems occur frequently due to routine use. Fortunately, solutions exist, but few people know how to apply them. With sufficient knowledge and experience, most of these problems could be resolved […]
An Analysis of Vocal Development Principles and Practices in Hungarian Music Education
Catherine Golding and Professor Jerry Jaccard, Department of Music Education In this study, we were able to further the music education research in Hungary that Dr. Jerry Jaccard has been implementing for many years. Hungary has one of the most sophisticated and successful music education systems in the world. My research group and I will be […]
The Role of PAS-kinase In Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy and Endurance Adaptation
Dr. David Thomson, Department of Physiology & Developmental Biology Evaluation of academic objectives and project findings The purpose of this mentoring environment grant was to determine whether the presence of the protein PAS-kinase (PASK) affects muscle growth and/or endurance performance. Our primary model system was the PASK knockout mouse (PASK-KO) and findings from this mouse […]