[CS] CS Wednesday Noon Talk on April 11: Students Lightning Talks! in the ASH Lobby

[Paula Harmon]

== LIGHTNING TALKS BY STUDENTS! ===
Wednesday, April 11, at Noon in the ASH Lobby

Daniel G. Taub
" Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, the Thyroid Axis, and Brain Development"
Abstract:  Thyroid hormone is essential for normal brain development. A 
lack of thyroid hormone during development can result in severe deficits 
in cognition, I.Q., and psychomotor capabilities. The importance of 
thyroid hormone during development is emphasized by the fact that every 
baby born in the United States is screened for thyroid function. 
Recently, a number of industrial chemicals, termed endocrine disrupting 
chemicals, have been found to interact with the thyroid axis and 
subsequently, alter brain development. My work in the Zoeller Lab at the 
University of Massachusetts-Amherst has been examining the molecular 
mechanisms underlying the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on 
the thyroid axis and brain development. Using a novel genetic model and 
analyzing several sensitive endpoints has provided more insight into the 
molecular foundation of thyroid hormone action in the developing brain.

Dylan Furlong
"The Effects of Sleep Quality on the Processing of Emotional Facial 
Expressions"
Abstract: Sleep deprivation is known to have strong effects on our 
ability to perceive and respond to emotional stimuli. However relatively 
little is known about how sleep deprivation might affect the processing 
of facial expressions. For my division III project I examined the 
effects of sleep deprivation on facial processing using ERP.

Steven Myers
"Utilizing Biology and Neuroendocinology to Contextualize Masculine 
Gender: Sexual Dimorphisms in the Form and Function of the Body and Mind"
Abstract:  Gender is often considered a social construct that one's 
socioeconomic and cultural upbringing, surroundings, and experiences 
shape.  While this is true, biology also plays a role in shaping gender. 
This work is an exploration of that in two parts, and using sex 
differences as a starting point. Those parts are: I) How audio visual 
cues can signal masculinity.  Such as: pitch of voice, word choice, 
gait, and the biometrics of walking. II) How testosterone, vasopressin, 
and oxytocin act on the brain to produce masculine behavior.

Julie Sargent
"Changing Practice Patterns of Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson's 
Disease in the USA"
Abstract: Randomized control studies have shown deep brain stimulation 
(DBS) to be an effective treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). Outside 
of large-center studies, little is known about trends of DBS in the USA 
. We employ the Nationwide Inpatient Sample to look at changes in DBS 
utilization over time. We identified all individuals with PD (332.0) and 
essential tremor (ET) (333.1) who underwent DBS (02.93) from 1998 to 
2007. We examined demographics, hospital status, comorbidities and 
in-hospital systematic/technical complications. DBS patients from 2000 
to 2007 were compared using chi-squared tests. PD patients from the 2007 
sample who underwent DBS were older (p=0.01). Both ET and PD patients 
had significantly more comorbidities in 2007 (p<0.001). In hospital 
complications decreased from 3.8 to 2.8%. DBS was performed in medium or 
high volume centers in 70% of cases in 2000 and 9n 50% in 2007. In all 
groups, a majority of cases (range 65-71%) underwent DBS at hospitals in 
the western and southern USA . Patients who underwent DBS in the 2007 
sample were older and had more comorbidities than those in the 2000 
sample, in hospital complications remained low. Understanding trends in 
DBS is helpful in assessing how the technology is adopted and what 
relationships should be further explored.

Jake Vogel
"Confirming and expanding upon differences in resting alpha EEG 
asymmetry between depressed and non-depressed men. "
Abstract: Differences in resting alpha asymmetry have been consistently 
found between depressed and non-depressed individuals, in both frontal 
and parietal scalp sites, suggesting this measure to be a putative state 
or trait marker for depression.  However, this phenomenon has been 
understudied in males, and existing research has found inconsistent 
results.  Paying close attention to methodological details, EEG was 
taken and alpha asymmetry compared between depressed and non-depressed 
men.  Results demonstrated a significant linear relationship between 
depression scores and frontal alpha asymmetry, where individuals with 
higher depression scores demonstrated more right frontal alpha 
activity.  Temporal and, in particular, parietal channels also revealed 
interesting depression/alpha asymmetry relationship.  These results 
confirmed findings from a pair of recent studies showing that depressed 
male alpha asymmetry patterns occur in the opposite direction that of 
depressed females.

~~~~ A light lunch will be available at 11:45 a.m. ~~~~

-- 
Paula Harmon, Administrative Assistant
School of Cognitive Science
Hampshire College
893 West Street Amherst, MA 01002
phone: 413.559.5502
fax: 413.559.5438
http://cs.hampshire.edu
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