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<font face="Palatino">== LIGHTNING TALKS BY STUDENTS! ===<br>
Wednesday, April 11, at Noon in the ASH Lobby<br>
<br>
Daniel G. Taub<br>
" Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, the Thyroid Axis, and Brain
Development"<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Dylan Furlong<br>
"The Effects of Sleep Quality on the Processing of Emotional
Facial Expressions"<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Steven Myers<br>
"Utilizing Biology and Neuroendocinology to Contextualize
Masculine Gender: Sexual Dimorphisms in the Form and Function of
the Body and Mind"<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Julie Sargent<br>
"Changing Practice Patterns of Deep Brain Stimulation in
Parkinson’s Disease in the USA"<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Jake Vogel<br>
"Confirming and expanding upon differences in resting alpha EEG
asymmetry between depressed and non-depressed men. "<br>
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.<br>
<br>
~~~~ A light lunch will be available at 11:45 a.m. ~~~~<br>
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<title>CBD to-do list updated and attached</title>
Paula Harmon, Administrative Assistant <br>
<div class="moz-signature"><small> School of Cognitive Science <br>
Hampshire College<br>
893 West Street Amherst, MA 01002 <br>
phone: 413.559.5502 <br>
fax: 413.559.5438 <br>
<a href="http://cs.hampshire.edu">http://cs.hampshire.edu</a></small>
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