Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Psychiatric Labels And Sexual Orientation On Attitudes Toward People With Pedophilic Attractions, Gabriel Traub

Senior Projects Spring 2023

This study explores whether framing pedophilic attractions as a mental disorder and/or manipulating the sexual orientation of these attractions impacts attitudes toward people with pedophilic attractions (PPA). This study used an experimental 2 (Pathological Language vs. Non-Pathological Language) by 2 (Heterosexual vs. Homosexual) between-subjects design, in which online participants read a vignette describing a fictional subject’s pedophilic attractions. Both independent variables were manipulated within the vignette, in that the subject’s attractions were either given a pathological or non-pathological explanation, and were either heterosexual or homosexual. To assess stigmatizing attitudes, participants reported their affective responses, agreement with beliefs/stereotypes about the individual, …

Migrant Minds: A Proposed Explorative Survey Examining Cultural Barriers And Mental Health Aid In Mexican Immigrant Women, Alexandra Melissa Garcia

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Women on the Move (WOM) are an at-risk population of women who leave their home countries with the hope of a better quality of life (QOL). WOM is a wide umbrella term and for this paper, it encompasses documented, undocumented, migrating, immigrating, and emigrating women. This proposal focuses on Mexican WOM and their mental health; to better understand their experiences with professional mental health in the United States and any barriers they face. This topic is under-researched, and the quantitative studies on the topic are prone to “frequently inconsistent and contradictory” generalizations. This exploratory study will collect qualitative data. By …

Difference In The Inhibitory Effects Of Violacein On Various Yeast Isolate Strains From The Hudson Valley Region, Lilah Dorothy Blaker

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Violacein is a purple pigmented compound produced by numerous bacterial species including Janthinobacterium lividum. Studies into violacein have found it to have a multitude of medicinal properties, from antifungal, antibiotic, to antitumor activity. Research has shown that violacein significantly inhibits both tumor and fungal growth and it has been shown to have higher cyotoxicity in pathogenic or cancerous cells than in healthy ones, giving it great potential as for use as a pharmaceutical drug in humans, alongside the fact that as a bacterial compound it’s easier and faster to produce than some other drugs. Violacein has also been shown to …

Dementia And Socioeconomic Status: A Proposal On The Effects Of Occupation Level On Cognitive Decline, Kristian Krslovic

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Dementia is a term used to describe brain diseases that affect an individual's cognitive functioning (memory, language, problem solving, judgment, etc.). Specifically, dementia can cause losses in cognitive and emotional abilities that affect daily functioning as well as someone’s quality of life. Not only is treatment for dementia and cognitive related diseases paramount, but discovering the cause and external factors that can affect the development or severity of these diseases is equally as important. This, in turn, can help to determine what factors of life can cause a worse prognosis for someone with dementia. This proposal aims to explore how …

Despicable Me: Shame And Guilt On Self-Avoidance Behaviours – An Eye-Tracking Study, Shuai Shao

Senior Projects Fall 2023

Shame and guilt are often used interchangeably in our daily lives, however, this project aims to differentiate between the two emotions based on people’s self-avoidance behaviours. Existing theories propose that while feelings of shame lead to increased self-avoidance behaviours, feelings of guilt do not. Using a modernised version of the mirror paradigm, this project captured participants’ gaze behaviours around their own face reflections. In this pre-registered study, the gaze behaviour of 30 participants were collected while emotions (either shame or guilt) were induced. Their state shame and guilt as well as trait shame and guilt were also collected through self-reports. …

Moving Forward: Studying The Impact Of Future Self-Continuity And Active Commuting On Depression, Anxiety, And Stress, Max William Gehr

Senior Projects Fall 2023

The current research delves into the relationship between Future Self-Continuity (FSC) and mental health, particularly in the context of commuting behaviors. It employs a cross-sectional, observational design and relies on self-reported data. While this approach provides helpful perspicuity into the nature of the observed phenomena, it also expresses methodological limitations in terms of causal inference and variable control and manipulation. The study utilizes established psychometric tools as a basis for modified measures for the sake of brevity and digestibility by recruited online participants: the Truncated Future Self-Continuity Questionnaire (FSCQ-T) and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-10 (DASS-10), to measure the …

Tripping Over Trauma: A Proposal Of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy For Comorbid Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder And Depression, Liam Paul Gomez

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a widespread, often debilitating affliction that is only partially attenuated by current first-line treatment despite its heightened prominence in the sociopolitical arena. Since individuals with PTSD also experience high rates of depression comorbidity and resultant suicidality, it is essential that treatment is more holistically effective. A possible novel intervention, psilocybin-assisted therapy, has shown promising results for the improvement of depression, addiction, and other disorders; prospectively, when administered with non-directive therapy, it could prove to be an efficacious intervention for PTSD with comorbid depression. In the proposed study, there will be two participant groupings: the control …

Getting Under Your Skin Until You Jump Out Of It: The Psychological Effects Of Music On The Experience Of Film, Clare Ellen Herzog

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Music is like magic. It can sweep you off your feet and spirit you away to places you never thought possible: it can serve as a teleportation device, achieve time travel, and let us read minds. Some pieces of music exist for their own sake, like Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead, while others accompany different forms of media: ballets such as The Nutcracker and operas like La Bohème are instantly recognizable for their grandiose and immersive scores. For a moment in time, audiences can really believe that they are traveling to a magical world with Clara, and even without the …

Enforcing A More Complex Notion Of Proper Posture With Pose Estimation, Marco Alessandro Scanni

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Practicing poor posture for many hours throughout the day can lead to a myriad of both physical and mental morbidities. People tend to put their postures in jeopardy for multiple hours per day when using the computer. Pose estimation has the ability to track human positions in real-time with high accuracy and performance. The goal of this thesis is to provide evidence for what proper posture is, and enforce this proper posture through the use of a pose estimation model, namely BlazePose.

The Effects Of D2 Receptor Modulation On Locomotor Development In Danio Rerio, Isaiah Thomas Mcroberts

Senior Projects Spring 2022

This study utilized a novel design to investigate the sensitivity of D2 dopamine receptors to modulating compounds through multiple exposures over early development of zebrafish larvae. Zebrafish were dosed for 30 minutes from 5-8 days post fertilization (dpf) with 16µ/mol of either a D2 antagonist, haloperidol, or a D2 agonist, quinpirole hydrochloride. Two other groups were then dosed with these compounds from 9-12dpf. The effects of D2 receptor modulation were measured by analyzing motor activity on measures of movement distance, frequency, and velocity. Results indicated that larvae dosed with haloperidol on 5dpf had increased activity after the first dosage, but …

Madness In Islam: Cultural Dimensions And Medical Knowledge From The Medieval To The Postcolonial, Rachel Rose Petrarca

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Errors In Healthcare: A Proposed Study Investigating A Universal Methodology For Improving Patient Handoffs And Limiting Healthcare Errors, Olivia J. Couture

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Medical errors are greatly considered to be one of the leading causes of death in the United States, with around 250,000 deaths occurring per year (Anderson & Abrahamson, 2017). Many studies have investigated the causes of these errors, and have found communication to be a major source. The present proposal is a two-study design first planned to investigate the effects of interruptions on the time taken to return to the Tower of London Task. This methodology has first been observed in Hodgetts and Jones (2006) who investigated this using undergraduate students as participants, and found a main effect of both …

How Lyrics Influence The Effect Of Music On Emotions Regarding Differences In Musical Training, Keyan Ivy Wu

Senior Projects Fall 2022

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Science, Mathematics and Computing of Bard College.

How Lyrics Influence The Effect Of Music On Emotions Regarding Differences In Musical Training, Keyan Wu

Senior Projects Fall 2022

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Science, Mathematics and Computing of Bard College.

Sickle Cell Adhesion To Blood Vessels, Peace Okoko

Senior Projects Fall 2021

Sickle cell disease is a hemoglobin disorder that occurs when there is a mutation on the hemoglobin gene. This leads to an irregular shape in sickle cells as compared to regular red blood cells. Sickle cells are also stickier than regular red blood cells because they contain higher levels of P-selectin, an adhesive molecule. The stickiness of Sickle cells can lead to them sticking in blood vessels, which in turn blocks oxygenated blood from reaching different parts of the body and eventually leads to a crisis. A crisis event causes extreme pain in the person experiencing it. A recent study …

Female Health Networks In Yemen: An Examination Of The Impact Of Conflict On Health Infrastructure And The Role Of Women In Yemen’S Health System, Philippa S. Chadwick

Senior Projects Spring 2021

This project aims to establish the existence of informal community female-led health networks within Yemen and understand the functions of these health networks and how they have been impacted by the ongoing internal conflict in the country. Female health networks exist globally in both informal and formal sectors. But, the extent to which female health networks function and their importance is unique to Yemen, and there has been no scholarly work focusing on this phenomenon. This paper will use the information gained from 52 interviews with Yemeni women and available literature to understand the current formal and informal health systems …

The Incorporation Of Indigenous Tradition In Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Pathway To Cultural Inclusivity Within Mental Health, Angelo Adonnis Winings

Senior Projects Spring 2021

The use of psychedelic medicine has been a part of society and the evolution of humanity since the beginning of our existence. Throughout the years, these practices were integrated into cultures around the world throughout the years, as societal structures promoted traditional practices reflective of ritual and custom. One such practice that survived the test of time is the use of psychoactive substances to promote mental states that put the user in touch with spiritual ancestors as well as with the subtleties of the world around them. These practices included tribal usage in indigenous cultures from Africa, the Americas, parts …

Music As Medicine: Supporting Nasa’S Advancement Into Long-Duration Space Missions, Gabriela M. Rosado Torres

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Abstract

Considering that a new era for space exploration has begun, space scientists and engineers have devoted their time to develop the capabilities needed to send humans abroad into extended forays in space. Individuals who are subjected to these hostile environments experience various aspects of social isolation and confinement. The stress induced by living under these environmental conditions has been shown to cause changes in brain structures that negatively impact mood cognitive performance. However, it has been found that musical training can positively impact the structural and functional organization of the human brain, thus improving the mood and cognitive performance …

Art As Therapy: Using Fictional Written Accounts In The Treatment Of Ptsd, Nathanael J. Matos

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Though art therapies and cognitive therapies are both well-established as treatments for PTSD, no studies thus far have tried to consolidate the pros of each into a single therapy. Through modifications to CPT procedures to include expressive fictional written accounts rather than the standard autobiographical account of traumatic events, I believe that the expressive writing paradigm can be utilised to create a new therapeutic procedure for PTSD. Due to lesser emotional intensity and the freedom allowed by creative endeavours, I believe that this procedure would not only yield positive outcomes comparable to CPT, but also have lower drop-out rates than …

Walking A Thin Line: Towards A Cautious Implementation Of The Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative, Phoebe Schuyler Brand

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Across nearly all categories, the United States kidney care system ranks below its global counterparts. With a high prevalence of kidney disease, poor treatment outcomes, and high expenditures, there is no doubt that the U.S. kidney system needs revamping. In 2019, the Trump administration released the Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative, which, among other things, both restructures the Medicare payment systems for kidney care to incentivize new treatment practices and outcomes and alters the kidney transplant system in an effort to increase transplant rates. Alongside the goal of improving patient outcomes, the proposal seeks to reduce the expenditures of this …

Health In The Musical Profession: A Human Rights Investigation At The Intersections Of Identity, Reputation, And Resources, Jillian P. Reed

Senior Projects Spring 2020

This project investigates the effects of illness, injury, and disability on professional musicians. Issues of the musician’s identity, importance of reputation, and disability stigma are explored through firsthand accounts of 15 musicians who faced health challenges during their careers. My original research also includes the data from 200 responses to my musicians’ health survey. The patchwork of resources available to these musicians is examined through the lenses of human rights claiming and humanitarian charity, with a focus on healthcare, interpersonal accommodations, and the currently insufficient legal protections for this population.

On a micro scale, this paper is about the experiences …

Existing But Not Living: A Discussion And Proposal For The Acute Social Withdrawal Syndrome Hikikomori In Japan, Andrea Michelle Otey

Senior Projects Spring 2020

This senior project is a comprehensive discussion of hikikomori syndrome. It intends to offer a deeper knowledge of the complicated acute social withdrawal phenomenon that is impacting the lives of millions of people worldwide, with a specific focus on its relevance within the country of Japan. This project sets out to look deeper into hikikomori’s meaning and prevalence, its receival in the world of psychiatry, and its placement within modern Japanese society. This project also offers a proposal for a potential method of treatment for hikikomori syndrome, wherein the structure of modern Japanese households is explored and the possibility of …

Corey Rich, Corey Alexander Rich

Senior Projects Spring 2020

This project initially started out as a collection of found wood pieces, which I then sorted, sanded, and painted. I took some parts from recycling bins at Fisher and UBS as well as finding some random chunks at my house. Other wood was either collected in similar ways except for 3 2x4’s which I purchased. Through the process of mixing and matching the color and shape of each wooden chunk I found it easier for each piece to find its place among the rest. Like a puzzle for me to find the correct spot for the item at hand. It …

How We Value Future Generations, Elias Connors Dorf

Senior Projects Fall 2020

This project examines how we value future generations. From looking at different ways we value future and present wellbeing we are able to see a tension that arises from having a high value on both. When looking at examples of ways we value future wellbeing we can see that if you value future wellbeing highly it will devalue current wellbeing. Then we look for a justification for valuing one over the other. This leads us into two ways of how we justify valuing either valuation of wellbeing and a discussion of the average and the classical principles of utility. We …

Does Aerobic Exercise Or Cardiovascular Exercise Facilitate Explicit Memory?, Nicole Paige Ellin

Senior Projects Spring 2019

This study examined whether cardiovascular or aerobic exercise aids in explicit memory. Five male and twenty-four females on the Bard College campus either engaged in cardiovascular or aerobic exercise (experimental condition) or watched a video (control condition). Before beginning these tasks, participants read a list of 15 words. After the task, participants recalled as many words as they could from the previous list. The participants’ test scores did not indicate that a specific condition aided in their received score, meaning memory did not differ across conditions, F(2,29)= .420, p>.05. Future directions would implement a longer period of time for …

Delivering Identities: A Symbolic Interactionist Study Of Doulas And The Decline Of Medical Professional Dominance, Madeline Lucie Firkser

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Doulas are non-medically affiliated people who provide emotional, physical, and informational support to people before, during, and after childbirth. The purpose of this study is to understand the role of the doula beyond its typically-assumed value as a superficial or consumerist entity and in relation to the broader maternal health care system available within the United States. Through six in-depth interviews with doulas about their conceptions of their personal identities, as well as their relationships with their medical counterparts and their clients, this project contributes to extant literature on symbolic interactionist linkages between identities and occupations. I examine how doula …

Agent Based Model Of Cavitation In Spinal Cord Injury, Rahma Ahmed

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Annually, approximately 375,000 people suffer from spinal cord injury (SCI) worldwide and many SCI patients develop secondary health conditions such as respiratory, cardiovascular, and urinary/bowel complications which negatively impact their daily lives. SCI occurs when there is damage to the spinal cord resulting in decreased motor functions, decreased sensory functions, or paralysis. Days to weeks after initial impact, the lesion (area of injury) continues to increase in size in a process called progressive cavitation which demyelinates axons and inhibits effective axonal regeneration. In an in vitro model of progressive cavitation, Fitch et al. showed that activated macrophages cause cavities to …

Can Brain Training Through Replicating A Three-Dimensional Object Improve Visuospatial Performance?, Rachael Rice

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Studies have shown that cognitive training improves brain function. There are many forms of training that have been used to improve brain function from recalling a list to improve memory, using aerobic exercise to increase brain activation, to increasing the ability to talk in nonverbal autistic children. Training the brain and focusing on one task can also improve untargeted areas of the brain. This study uses the understanding of how perceiving biological movement of hands and how working with one’s hands can activate the superior temporal sulcus to create a brain training task that will activate and improve participants visuospatial …

The Power Of Social Movements To Influence Government Action In Urban Water Crises: A Dual Case Study Of Flint, Mi And Newburgh, Ny, Mary Grace Mcnulty

Senior Projects Spring 2019

As the problem of urban water pollution continues to grow, so does the need to ensure clean viable water sources that are irrefutably safe for public consumption. The growing need to regulate clean water creates a sense of urgency amongst marginalized low-income communities, with less power and therefore less of a fortifiable claim to the inalienable right of a citizen to clean, toxin free drinking water. Although the United States acknowledges its obligation to protect the wellbeing of the people under its leadership, there is a continual disregard for at-risk communities, unless they actively take a role in fighting for …

Herbal Supplements: Perceptions, Risks And Need For Improved Regulation, Julia Nikati Wright

Senior Projects Fall 2019

Herbal supplements have become widely used in the United States to treat a variety of ailments. Though the market for these supplements have grown since the passage of the 1994 Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act, the FDA has failed to expand its regulation over these products. Herbal supplements in the United States have been found to be contaminated, misbranded, and sold at unsafe doses. These issues can seriously affect the health and safety of consumers. The issue with the quality of these products is coupled with the lack of knowledge about herbal supplements. Scientific research is severely lacking when …