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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Impact Of Neonatal Pain And Reduced Maternal Care On Brain And Behavioral Development, Sean Michael Mooney-Leber
The Impact Of Neonatal Pain And Reduced Maternal Care On Brain And Behavioral Development, Sean Michael Mooney-Leber
Wayne State University Dissertations
In the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) preterm infants are exposed to a multitude of stressors, which include both neonatal pain and reduced maternal care. Clinical and preclinical research has demonstrated that exposure to neonatal pain and reduced maternal care has a profound negative impact on brain and behavioral development. Currently, the biological mechanism by which both of these stressors impacts brain and behavioral outcomes remains widely unknown. To uncover a potential biological mechanism, the current dissertation project utilized a preclinical model of repetitive needle pokes and developed a novel model of reduced maternal care through tea-ball encapsulation. Briefly, rat …
Hearing Loss And Verbal Memory Assessment In Older Adults, Christina G. Wong
Hearing Loss And Verbal Memory Assessment In Older Adults, Christina G. Wong
Wayne State University Dissertations
Prior research has found that adults with hearing loss perform worse on cognitive testing than adults without hearing loss, and some studies have suggested that hearing loss is associated with dementia. Heavy emphasis on tests involving auditory stimuli for memory assessment may result in overdiagnosis of cognitive impairment in individuals with hearing loss. The present study compared visual and auditory versions of a verbal memory test among older adults with and without hearing loss. Forty-one adults with moderate-to-severe, sensorineural hearing loss (HL) and 41 age-matched adults with normal hearing (NH) participated. Age ranged from 55 – 80 years. They completed …
Motor Skills Among Preschool-Aged Children Born Prematurely, Brittany Nicole Peters
Motor Skills Among Preschool-Aged Children Born Prematurely, Brittany Nicole Peters
Wayne State University Dissertations
It has been documented that children who are born prematurely are at risk of experiencing motor skills deficits early in life; however, little is known about the relationships between early perinatal risk factors and later motor abilities. The current investigation attempted to gain better understanding regarding the influence of gestational age and sex on early motor development among a cohort of preschool-aged children born prior to 34 weeks gestation (N = 104). Additionally, relationships between motor performance and other abilities, namely cognitive and language, were examined. As hypothesized, degree of gestational immaturity was significantly associated with poorer performance on specific …
Changes In Cerebral White Matter, Vascular Risk And Cognition Across The Adult Lifespan, Andrew Robert Bender
Changes In Cerebral White Matter, Vascular Risk And Cognition Across The Adult Lifespan, Andrew Robert Bender
Wayne State University Dissertations
Numerous studies over the past decade have used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine associations between age, diffusion and anisotropy measures of cerebral white matter (WM), and cognitive performance. However, few have examined relationships between intra-individual change in DTI measures of WM and cognitive function. It is possible that the extant cross-sectional findings are a poor representation of age-related change in WM and cognition. The present study used latent difference-score modeling (LDM) to assess change over two years in DTI indices fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (DR), axial diffusivity (DA) and mean diffusivity (MD). In addition, we examined the effects …
Antidepressant Medications And Cognitive Functioning In Major Depressive Disorder, Rachel Kay
Antidepressant Medications And Cognitive Functioning In Major Depressive Disorder, Rachel Kay
Wayne State University Theses
Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) frequently experience cognitive decrements in addition to mood impairments. Ironically, antidepressant medications used to treat depression may have adverse effects on cognitive functioning. It is imperative to understand the relative cognitive costs of antidepressants when considering the treatment of MDD patients. Furthermore, observational studies of depression are challenged by problems of systematically confounded variables. Researchers are often faced with difficulties in managing this issue and opt to either ignore the problem, alter their sample, or use inappropriate statistical methods (e.g., Analysis of Covariance) due to a limited understanding of acceptable solutions. It is important …
Language Development Among Preschool Age Children Born Prematurely, Brittany Nicole Peters
Language Development Among Preschool Age Children Born Prematurely, Brittany Nicole Peters
Wayne State University Theses
Premature birth has been shown to be associated with various deficits in neuropsychological functioning during early childhood; however, few studies have attempted to understand the variables that contribute to variability in performance among children born prematurely. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationships between specific perinatal factors and language and cognitive outcome measures in a group of preschool-aged children born prematurely (N=47). As predicted, there were significant relationships between sex and specific outcome measures, with boys performing more poorly than girls; however, contrary to hypotheses, significant relationships failed to be found between outcome measures and both …
C-Reactive Protein, Homocysteine, And Cognitive Performance In Healthy Adults, Cheryl Dahle
C-Reactive Protein, Homocysteine, And Cognitive Performance In Healthy Adults, Cheryl Dahle
Wayne State University Dissertations
Elevated blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and homocysteine (Hcy) have received a great deal of attention as biomarkers for the development of cardiovascular disease. Their utility in predicting cognitive function has also been assessed, though the findings are equivocal. The current study examined the relationship between elevated blood levels of CRP and Hcy and their effect on cognition across several cognitive domains. As baseline blood levels of CRP and Hcy and cognition are in part regulated by genetic factors, the impact of T carrier status for variants in the CRP -286 C>T>A and the MTHFR 677C>T …