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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: Impact On The Acoustic Startle Response, Daniel Grossman Jun 2015

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: Impact On The Acoustic Startle Response, Daniel Grossman

Honors Theses

Previous research has demonstrated that the magnitude and duration of the acoustic startle response can be modulated by a number of psychological factors. Mindfulness meditation, being a form of mental training known to produce benefits in affect and attention regulation as well as other domains, may modulate factors of the acoustic startle response. The present study investigated participants’ skin conductance responses to an acoustic startle stimulus before and after an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course, and paired this assessment with self-reported trait mindfulness and positive and negative affect. There was significant startle habituation across the intervention, but no between …


Thrilling Monotony: A Summer Of Alzheimer's Research, Baronger Dowell Bieger Jan 2015

Thrilling Monotony: A Summer Of Alzheimer's Research, Baronger Dowell Bieger

Honors Theses

The primary genetic risk determinant for late-onset Alzheimer's disease is the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE). Variations in this gene produce three different isoforms of the apolipoprotein E protein (ApoE): ApoE2, ApoE3, and ApoE4. ApoE# is the most common isoform, so rates of LOAD among other genotypes are indexed to this variant. ApoE2 is rather rare, but its carriers are less likely to get LOAD; when they do, they get it later. The second most common variant is ApoE4, and its carriers are significantly more likely to get LOAD. They also tend to succumb earlier. Once developed, LOAD is characterized by …