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Differentiated Effects Of The Multimodal Antidepressant Vortioxetine On Sleep Architecture: Part 2, Pharmacological Interactions In Rodents Suggest A Role Of Serotonin-3 Receptor Antagonism, Steven C. Leiser, Deborah Iglesias-Bregna, Ligia Westrich, Alan Pehrson, Connie Sanchez

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Antidepressants often disrupt sleep. Vortioxetine, a multimodal antidepressant acting through serotonin (5-HT) transporter (SERT) inhibition, 5-HT 5-HTand 5-HTreceptor antagonism, 5-HTreceptor partial agonism, and 5-HTreceptor agonism, had fewer incidences of sleep-related adverse events reported in depressed patients. In the accompanying paper a polysomnographic electroencephalography (sleep-EEG) study of vortioxetine and paroxetine in healthy subjects indicated that at low/intermediate levels of SERT occupancy, vortioxetine affected rapid eye movement (REM) sleep differently than paroxetine. Here we investigated clinically meaningful doses (80-90% SERT occupancy) of vortioxetine and paroxetine on sleep-EEG in rats to further elucidate the serotoninergic receptor mechanisms mediating this difference. Cortical EEG, electromyography …

The Abcs Of Stress Responding: Examining The Time Course Of Affective, Biological, And Cognitive Responses To Induced Stress As Prospective Predictors Of Depressive Symptoms, Marissa Erin Rudolph

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Vulnerability-stress models of depression posit risk for depression is characterized by the presence of underlying affective, biological, and cognitive vulnerabilities that become activated during life stress exposure. Extant research has shown heightened reactivity to stress across these vulnerability domains predicts depression; however, little is known whether the persistence of and failure to down-regulate these maladaptive stress responses conveys greater risk of depression than initial reactivity alone. The current study examined associations between the time course of responses to a laboratory stress induction and depressive symptoms. I hypothesized that prolonged maladaptive responses to the stressor across affective (state negative affect; NA), …

Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy And Offspring Birth Weight: A Genetically-Informed Approach Comparing Multiple Raters, Valerie S. Knopik, Kristine Marceau, Rohan H.C. Palmer, Taylor F. Smith, Andrew C. Heath

Psychology and Child Development

Maternal smoking during pregnancy (SDP) is a significant public health concern with adverse consequences to the health and well-being of the fetus. There is considerable debate about the best method of assessing SDP, including birth/medical records, timeline follow-back approaches, multiple reporters, and biological verification (e.g., cotinine). This is particularly salient for genetically-informed approaches where it is not always possible or practical to do a prospective study starting during the prenatal period when concurrent biological specimen samples can be collected with ease. In a sample of families (N = 173) specifically selected for sibling pairs discordant for prenatal smoking exposure, we: …

Daily Minority Stress And Affect Among Gay And Bisexual Men: A 30-Day Diary Study, Adam I. Eldahan, John E. Pachankis, H. Jonathan Rendina, Ana Ventuneac, Christian Grov, Jeffrey T. Parsons

Publications and Research

Background. This study examined the time-variant association between daily minority stress and daily affect among gay and bisexual men. Tests of time-lagged associations allow for a stronger causal examination of minority stress-affect associations compared with static assessments. Multilevel modeling allows for comparison of associations between minority stress and daily affect when minority stress is modeled as a between-person factor and a within-person time-fluctuating state.

Methods. 371 gay and bisexual men in New York City completed a 30-day daily diary, recording daily experiences of minority stress and positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), and anxious affect (AA). Multilevel analyses examined …

The Efficacy Of Electroconvulsive Therapy In Managing Self-Injurious Behaviors Among Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review, Themal I. Ellawala

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

Self-Injurious Behaviors (SIB) in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) form a constellation of particularly pervasive and harmful symptoms signifying high morbidity for children and adolescents. Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) has been proposed as a last resort for particularly severe and treatment-resistant forms of SIB, yet has received little acceptance in mainstream clinical psychology. This paper summarizes findings of four studies investigating the effic- acy of ECT in treating SIB in ASD inflicted youth. This paper also evaluates the research on potential side-effects and ethical implications of ECT use. I conclude that while extensive further research is required to understand the implications of …

Craving Versus Control: Negative Urgency And Neural Correlates Of Alcohol Cue Reactivity, David S. Chester, Donald R. Lynam, Richard Milich, C. Nathan Dewall

Department of Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Alcohol abuse is a common and costly practice. Individuals high in negative urgency, the tendency to act rashly when experiencing negative emotions, are at particular risk for abusing alcohol. Alcohol abuse among individuals high in negative urgency may be due to (a) increased activity in the brain’s striatum, (b) decreased activity in brain regions associated with self-control, or (c) a combination of the two. Methods: Thirty eight non-alcohol-dependent participants completed a measure of negative urgency and then underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while passively viewing pleasant and alcohol images. Results: Alcohol images (as compared to pleasant images) were …

Laterality Enhances Numerical Skills In The Guppy, Poecilia Reticulata, Marco Dadda, Christian Agrillo, Angelo Bisazza, Culum Brown

Sentience Collection

It has been hypothesized that cerebral lateralization can significantly enhance cognition and that this was one of the primary selective forces shaping its wide-spread evolution amongst vertebrate taxa. Here, we tested this hypothesis by examining the link between cerebral lateralization and numerical discrimination. Guppies, Poecilia reticulata, were sorted into left, right and non-lateralized groups using a standard mirror test and their numerical discrimination abilities tested in both natural shoal choice and abstract contexts. Our results show that strongly lateralized guppies have enhanced numerical abilities compared to non-lateralized guppies irrespective of context. These data provide further credence to the notion that …

Suppression Of Locomotor Activity In Female C57bl/6j Mice Treated With Interleukin-1Β: Investigating A Method For The Study Of Fatigue In Laboratory Animals, David R. Bonsall, Hyunji Kim, Awa Ndiaye, Abbey Petronzio, Grace Mckay-Corkum, Penny C. Molyneux, Thomas E. Scammell, Mary E. Harrington

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Fatigue is a disabling symptom in patients with multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease, and is also common in patients with traumatic brain injury, cancer, and inflammatory disor- ders. Little is known about the neurobiology of fatigue, in part due to the lack of an approach to induce fatigue in laboratory animals. Fatigue is a common response to systemic challenge by pathogens, a response in part mediated through action of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). We investigated the behavioral responses of mice to IL-1β. Female C57Bl/6J mice of 3 ages were administered IL-1β at various doses i.p. Interleukin-1β reduced locomotor …

Distinct Effects Of Contrast And Color On Subjective Rating Of Fearfulness, Zhengang Lu, Bingbing Guo, Anne Boguslavsky, Marcus Cappiello, Weiwei Zhang, Ming Meng

Dartmouth Scholarship

Natural scenes provide important affective cues for observers to avoid danger. From an adaptationist perspective, such cues affect the behavior of the observer and shape the evolution of the observer’s response. It is evolutionarily significant for individuals to extract affective information from the environment as quickly and as efficiently as possible. However, the nearly endless variations in physical appearance of natural scenes present a fundamental challenge for perceiving significant visual information. How image-level properties, such as contrast and color, influence the extraction of affective information leading to subjective emotional perception is unclear. On the one hand, studies have shown that …

Can Non-Haptic Manipulation Of Temperature Influence The Same Emotions As Ostracism?, Rebecca Ann Oglesby

Theses and Dissertations

I explored the possibility that temperature can alter the same variables affected by ostracism (i.e., being ignored and excluded): belonging, control, meaningful existence, and self-esteem need satisfaction, feelings of ostracism, mood, and loneliness. According to the theory of embodied cognition, individuals can associate physical warmth with social intimacy, as well as cold temperatures with social isolation (Zhong & Leonardelli, 2008; IJzerman et al., 2012). Bargh and Shalev (2012) found that participants holding a cold pack reported higher loneliness than participants holding a neutral or warm pack. My study expands upon Bargh and Shalevâ??s (2012) findings by examining more emotions frequently …

Exploring The Dark Side: Investigating The Relationship Between Creativity And Perceptions Of Dishonesty, Kiera Michelle Dymit

Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies have reported a connection between creativity and dishonesty (Beaussart, Andrews, & Kaufman, 2013; Gino & Ariely, 2012; Gino & Wiltermuth, 2014). This study attempts to investigate these finding further, and empirically connect the number of justifications provided or produced for a dishonest behavior to the perceived acceptability of the behavior. 203 participants were given two tasks involving evaluating and justifying dishonest behavior. Those who scored high on the Creative Behavior Inventory were able to produce significantly more justifications overall, but not those who scored high on the Creative Personality Scale. The total number of justifications produced was correlated …

Psychopathy: What Mental Health Professionals Need To Know, Jillian K. Peterson, Jerrod Brown

College of Liberal Arts All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Age And Context Dependency In Causal Learning, Katherine Danielle Lowry

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The ability to make associations between causal cues and outcomes is an important adaptive trait that allows us to properly prepare for an upcoming event. Encoding context is a type of associative processing; thus, context is also an important aspect of acquiring causal relationships. Context gives us additional information about how two events are related and allows us to be flexible in how we respond to causal cues. Research indicates that older adults exhibit an associative deficit as well as a deficit in contextual processing; therefore, it seems likely that these deficits are responsible for the deficit in older adults’ …

The Quality Of Evidence Revealing Subtle Gender Biases In Science Is In The Eye Of The Beholder, Ian M. Handley, Elizabeth R. Brown, Corinne A. Moss-Racusin, Jessi L. Smith

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Scientists are trained to evaluate and interpret evidence without bias or subjectivity. Thus, growing evidence revealing a gender bias against women—or favoring men—within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) settings is provocative and raises questions about the extent to which gender bias may contribute to women’s underrepresentation within STEM fields. To the extent that research illustrating gender bias in STEM is viewed as convincing, the culture of science can begin to address the bias. However, are men and women equally receptive to this type of experimental evidence? This question was tested with three randomized, double-blind experiments—two involving samples from the …

A Neurobiological Pathway That Mediates Stress-Induced Drug Use, Oliver Vranjkovic

Dissertations (1934 -)

Cocaine addiction represents a tremendous health and financial burden on our society and the high rate of relapse to cocaine use in abstinent addicts represents a major barrier to effective therapy. Thus, understanding the factors that contribute to relapse and the underlying neurobiological processes is important for guiding the development of treatment for addiction. Stressful life events often trigger drug use in recovering addicts. The contribution of stress to drug use is problematic due to the unpredictable and often uncontrollable nature of stress. A growing literature indicates that norepinephrine and corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) in the brain play key roles …

Self-Compassion As A Predictor Of Loneliness: The Relationship Between Self-Evaluation Processes And Perceptions Of Social Connection, Taylor A. Lyon

Selected Honors Theses

Loneliness is a common and painful experience related to a multitude of negative health outcomes. The current study examined the relationship between measures of self-compassion and measures of loneliness in order to explore whether a self-compassionate mindset might alleviate feelings of social isolation. Because prior research has indicated a relationship between self-evaluation processes and perceptions of social connectedness, the study was conducted with the hypothesis that there would be a negative correlation between self-compassion and loneliness constructs. The sample consisted of 198 undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 25 at a small Christian university in the Southeast U. …

Marmosets Treated With Oxytocin Are More Socially Attractive To Their Long-Term Mate, Jon Cavanaugh, Michelle C. Huffman, April M. Harnisch, Jeffrey French

Psychology Faculty Publications

Adult male-female bonds are partly characterized by initiating and maintaining close proximity with a social partner, as well as engaging in high levels of affiliative and sociosexual behavior. Oxytocin (OXT), a neuromodulatory nonapeptide, plays a critical role in the facilitation of social bonding and prosocial behavior toward a social partner (Feldman, 2012). However, less attention has been given to whether augmentation of OXT levels in an individual alters others’ perceptions and behavior toward an OXT-treated social partner. We examined social dynamics in well-established male-female pairs of marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) in which one member of the pair was …

Treatment Response In Couple Therapy: Relationship Adjustment And Individual Functioning Change Processes, Lynne M. Knobloch-Fedders, William M. Pinsof, Claudia M. Haase

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

This study, a naturalistic investigation of the process of change in relationship adjustment and individual functioning during conjoint therapy, examined the first 8 sessions of a multisystemic model of couple therapy, integrative problem-centered metaframeworks (Breunlin, Pinsof, Russell, & Lebow, 2011; Pinsof, Breunlin, Russell, & Lebow, 2011). The sample consisted of 125 heterosexual couples who reported on their relationship adjustment and individual functioning before every session using the Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change (Pinsof et al., 2009; Pinsof, Zinbarg, et al., in press). Data were analyzed using dyadic latent growth curve and cross-lagged models. For both men and women, relationship adjustment …

The Effects Of Task Criticality And Target Modality On A Simulated Battlefield Search Task, Julie A. Hanson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Warfighters must rely on lengthy instruction manuals when asked to perform tasks in critical environments. These instruction manuals are predominantly written in text and rarely include images. Several theoretical frameworks, including the Pictorial Superiority Effect, posit images to be more effective forms of instruction for short-term memory recall tasks. It is unclear whether pictures are superior forms of instruction for use in tasks with potential life-threatening consequences. Recently, studies have attempted to define and manipulate task criticality to determine the effects a critical scenario may have on operator performance. Findings have been equivocal, perhaps because of the ambiguity associated with …

Support For Gestalt Versus Business-As-Usual Theories Of Insight Depends On Operational Definition Of Insight, Kimberly D. Lee

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Some theories propose that insight involves automatic processes that are responsible for restructuring. Other theories postulate that the mechanisms surrounding restructuring are controlled and effortful. The current study tested these theories by comparing different methodology and operational definitions that have been used in previous research to investigate the nature of “Aha!” experiences and impasse in insightful problem solving. One hundred two undergraduate psychology students from Old Dominion University completed working memory tasks, six classic insight problems, and gave initial problem representation ratings for the insight problems before solution attempt. Using a think-aloud protocol, we assessed the occurrence of impasse during …

Examining The Factors Related To Bisexual Individuals' Preference For Future Parenting Partner, Laurin Beth Roberts

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Although a notable amount of research has examined sexual minority parents and their families over the last decade, very little literature has focused on bisexual parents. Most of the research emphasis has been placed on parenting by lesbian women and gay men, with parenting by bisexual individuals often being subsumed by these categories. There is currently a lack of understanding of what factors contribute to bisexual individuals’ preference for gender of their future parenting partner. Because of this, the current study examined the factors related to parenting partner preferences of bisexual students. Forty-seven bisexual individuals completed a series of questionnaires …

Examining The Relationship Between Leadership Decision Making Styles And Personality Type Within The Department Of Defense, Antoine Lamont Prince Sr.

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Leadership is perhaps the single most important function within the Department of Defense. While the old cliché “everyone is a leader regardless of position” may hold moral meaning, personnel in leadership positions are key. Under the umbrella of leadership is decision making. What leadership is to an organization, decision making is to leadership. Yet, despite this knowledge, unsound decisions are readily conducted. There are various theories as to why this holds true, one of which is personality type. Research however, shows that there is a limited amount of relevant knowledge to determine if there is in fact a …

Singing Motherhood: First Time Mothers' Experiences Singing To Their Infants, Margaret Mia Pixley

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Mothers have sung to their children for centuries. Because singing provides an opportunity for self-expression and connection with others, understanding how first time mothers experience this age old practice might help us understand how singing facilitates a woman's developing relationship with herself as a mother and with her new infant. To date, little research exists on this particular function and experience of first time maternal singing. In this qualitative phenomenological study, 16 first time mothers with infants one year and under were interviewed about their experiences singing to their babies and were also asked to write a one-time diary entry …

Interleukin-1 (Il-1) As A Potential Contributor To The Pathophysiology Of Alzheimer's Disease, Sara Nicole Resch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Elevations of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) have been reported as part of the inflammatory response to injury and neurodegenerative disorders. The observation of increased IL-1 levels in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) triggered over two decades of research implicating IL-1 in the disease pathogenesis. IL-1 has been suggested to modulate a variety of actions related to AD pathology, including the processing of the Aβ precursor protein and deposition of amyloid plaques. IL-1 also activates glial cells and induces recruitment of leukocytes and peripheral macrophages to the CNS across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). When exposed to IL-1, …

Sex-Dependent Role Of Interleukin-1 Signaling In Emotional And Cognitive Behaviors In Mice: Phenotyping Male And Female Il1-R1 Null Mutant Mice, Jennifer Anne Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

IL1-R1 null mutant mice (IL1-R1 KO) have reduced signaling in the interleukin-1 (IL-1) pathway, making them a convenient model for testing the importance of IL-1 in either the development or maintenance of mouse behaviors. Prior research has revealed impaired cognitive and emotional processes in adult male IL1-R1 KO mice, including impaired spatial learning and memory and decreased anxiety with associated impairments in hippocampal cell proliferation and signal transmission. The current studies explored the neuroanatomy and behavioral phenotype of both male and female IL1-R1 KO mice. An array of behavioral tests was administered, including retesting at an older age for cognitive …

The Role Of The Vta Nmda Receptors, Vta Da Cells And Vta Terminal Regions In Reward-Related Learning, Karen Kest

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Reward-related learning occurs when an initially neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit responses similar to an unconditioned stimulus (US) with which it is associated, in which case the stimulus now functions as a conditioned stimulus (CS). The mechanisms whereby stimuli come to function as CSs are not fully understood and comprise the theme of this dissertation. We have previously proposed that coincident signals from an unconditioned and the eventual conditioned stimulus (US and CS) signals on dopamine (DA) cells of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) leads to strengthening of CS synapses, allowing the CS to acquire the ability to …

The Influence Of A Child's Learning Disability On A Parent's Psychological Experience: A Comparison Of Parents With And Without Learning Disabilities, Alice Varley Mangan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examined the psychological experience of parents whose children have been diagnosed with moderate to severe learning disabilities (LD) and compared the impact of a child's learning disability across two groups of parents: one with LD and one without LD. In-depth semi-structured interviews were administered to eleven parents of children with LD, four of whom had LD themselves, and seven of whom did not have LD. Three levels of qualitative data analysis were employed to code the interviews resulting in four theoretical constructs: (1) Diagnosis as a Threat to Parental Narcissism; (2) Parents Engage Containing and Stabilizing Strategies; (3) …

Improving Investigative Interviews: Facilitating Disclosure Of Information Through Implicit Means, Evan Crawford Dawson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Investigative interviews are essential to intelligence collection. However, eliciting information from subjects is challenging when they are not motivated to cooperate. Psychological research has examined social influence tactics that may influence an interviewee's forthcomingness, however, there has been no focus on implicit methods despite their prominence in the basic social cognitive literature. Research on implicit cognition has found that activating mental concepts can lead people to behave in ways that are semantically related to or metaphorically consistent with the activated concept. In the present research, I sought to examine the concept of disclosure and test the effects of its activation …

Art As Communication: Employing Gricean Principles Of Communication As A Model For Art Appreciation, Melissa June Dolese

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Abstract

How and why artworks elicit varied preferences and judgments among different individuals remains a topic with many unresolved issues. For instance, individuals with little artistic experience tend to show little appreciation for abstract art, even though such works often show a highly skilled organization of visual elements. A key aspect of a positive aesthetic experience concerns the ability of viewers to construct meaning. I propose that viewers attempt to make meaning of artworks due to a sense that art is a communicative process. Here I attempt an application of one intentionalist model of communication, the Gricean framework, to visual …

The Relationship Between A Norm Referenced Measure Of Theory Of Mind And Preschoolers' Social Skills In The Classroom, Sarah Ellen Birch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study sought to examine the effect of Theory of Mind (ToM) performance as measured by a norm-referenced assessment on the social skills of a multicultural group of preschool students. This study extends the current research in this area. Most previous studies examined the relationship among ToM, other social cognitive skills and social skills using participants from predominately Caucasian middle class families (Slaughter et al., 2015). Additionally, earlier research relied primarily on homemade measures of such skills (Cassidy et al., 2003; Disendruck & Ben-Eliyahu, 2006; McAlister & Peterson, 2013; Watson et al., 1999; Walker, 2005).

Participants included 67 children between …