Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Cognition And Mental Health: Addressing The Impact Of Traumatic Brain Injuries (Tbi) On Adults, Hannah E. Smith, Lesley Khan-Farooqi, Anne Mcdonnell, Mpa, Otr/L, Cbist

Spring 2026 OTD Capstone Symposium

This project addresses cognitive and mental health challenges in adults with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). It developed evidence-based resources, including a clinician handbook and user-friendly survivor guidebook - using research, interviews, and observations. The materials were refined with expert feedback and support improved interventions, education, and quality of life for individuals with TBIs, and their caregivers.

Cognitive And Mental Health Challenges: Addressing The Impact Of Traumatic Brain Injuries In Adults, Hannah E. Smith, Lesley Khan-Farooqi, Phd, Otd, Otr, Anne Mcdonnell, Mpa, Otr/L, Cbist

Student Capstone Papers

This capstone examined the challenges adults face following traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and explored interventions aimed at enhancing cognitive functioning and mental health. This capstone also aimed to reduce caregiver stress and burnout by expanding knowledge and resources focused on cognitive and mental health within the population. TBIs can result from a variety of causes, affecting cognitive abilities, mental health, and functional outcomes. This capstone shows evidence-based interventions designed to improve cognitive functioning, facilitate engagement in meaningful activities to improve mental health, and enhance overall quality of life for adults recovering from TBI. This also will demonstrate potential for occupational …

From Fog To Function: An Occupational Therapist's Guide To Evaluating And Treating Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairments, Lauren E. Toner

Entry-Level Occupational Therapy Doctorate - Doctoral Capstone Symposium

Cancer – related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is a common side effect of cancer treatment that interferes with cancer survivors’ occupational performance, independence, and quality of life. Despite its high prevalence, CRCI remains under recognized and inconsistently addressed within oncology care. About 70% of individuals diagnosed with cancer report cognitive changes during or after treatment, yet many do not receive treatment. Occupational therapists are clinically trained to evaluate and treat functional cognition, activities of daily activities, instrumental activities of daily living, and client centered goals, positioning them as key providers in addressing CRCI. However, limited occupational therapy specific resources have hindered …

Dual-Task Exercise Protects Healthy Older Adults Against In-Creased Risk For Dementia: A Controlled Trial, Helen Tatiane Santos Pontes, João Bento-Torres, Naina Yuki Vieira Jardim, Victor Oliveira Da Costa, Josilayne Patricia Ramos Carvalho, Cristovam Wanderley Picanço-Diniz, Natáli Valim Oliver Bento-Torres

Baltic Journal of Health and Physical Activity

Background: Functionality in aging is closely linked to the ability to divide attention during multitasking activities, which are essential for activities of daily life. However, coordination between motor and cognitive simultaneous tasks decreases with age, impairing functional ability and restricting older adults' participation and healthy aging. This study aimed to assess the effects of a multimodal dual-task exercise intervention on motor and cognitive dual-task costs and its potential to mitigate age-related declines in healthy older adults. Materials and Methods: A controlled trial was conducted with community-dwelling older adults assigned to either the Dual-Task Exercise group, which participated in a 24-session …

Neural Dynamics Supporting Flexible Cognition, Meredith J. Mccarty

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Flexible cognition enables humans to adapt their behavior to changing circumstances by prioritizing relevant information and filtering out distractions. This process is thought to be supported by the integration of ongoing behavioral goals with incoming sensory information, but how this integration is realized in the human brain remains unclear. It is unknown how high-order sensory cortices can balance specialized processing with flexible integration of changing behavioral goals. In the following investigations, we use intracranial EEG (iEEG) recordings in humans to study the neural dynamics of flexible cognition during high-order sensory processing. First, we validated assumptions about the locality of iEEG …

A Single Center Study Of The Symbol Digit Modalities Test As A Screening Tool For Cognitive Impairment In Parkinson’S Disease, Daniyell Thomason, Morganne Manuel, Shannin Moody, Jesus Lovera, Brain Copeland, Deidre Devier

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background: Parkinson’s Disease (PD) can include physical signs and possibly cognitive impairment, resulting from the convergence of pathologicalprocesses involving dopaminergic dysfunction, accumulation ofalpha-synuclein, cholinergic deficits, and disruption of otherneurotransmitter systems. We used screening tests to evaluate thecharacteristics of cognitive performance in patients with PD and to assess their validity compared tothe Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Methods: This is a natural history study of participants with PD and controls screened for possible cognitive impairment using the MoCA, Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), and King-Devick (KD). The groups were compared on performance and then factors associated with cognitive performance (age, diagnosis, and …

The Effect Of An Acute Bout Of Rock Climbing On Cognitive Functioning And Cortisol Levels, Vanessa Steigauf

All NMU Master's Theses

Rock climbing is an understudied physical activity (PA) that demands active decision-making, integration of sensory and visual input, and continuous regulation of nervous system activity to produce complex motor outputs. The unique psychological demands of climbing warrant studying its effect on cognition and brain health. I recruited 26 generally healthy adults for a randomized-controlled study. Climbing experience, PA and perceived stress were self-reported. Each participant was randomly assigned to a climbing (10x2 minutes climb, moderate intensity) or control group (seated, watching climbing-related video). The primary outcomes, cognitive performance and salivary cortisol levels were assessed by the Stroop test. A linear …

Low Premorbid Iq May Exacerbate The Cognitive Effects Of Apolipoprotein Ε4 (Apoe Ε4): A Multi-Ethnic Cross-Sectional Study From Habs-Hd, Lubnaa B. Abdullah, Zhengyang Zhou, Ney Alex Alliey, Robert Barber, James Hall, Sid O’Bryant

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Introduction: Apolipoprotein allele 4 (APOE ε4) is associated with lower IQ scores during childhood and adolescence, but the influence of APOE ε4 and low IQ on late-life cognition is unknown. This study examines the association between APOE ε4 and cognitive outcomes based on premorbid intellectual ability (pIQ) and ethnic background.

Methods: Participants were drawn from the Health & Aging Brain Study–Health Disparities (HABS-HD), categorized by low (z ≤ −2.00) or average (z = 0.00 ± 1.00) pIQ based on word reading scores. Statistical analyses were conducted to evaluate whether APOE ε4 was associated with the cognitive domains of …

Tailoring Evaluations Of Chronic Rhinosinusitis: Understanding Sleep And Its Effect On Memory Through Actigraphy, Donyea Moore, Rachel Nolte, Yitong Pepper Huang, Shreya Maharana, Pavan Nataraj, Bichun Ouyang, Mahboobeh Mahdavinia

Mathematics Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background/Objectives: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a persistent inflammatory condition of the sinonasal mucosa lasting for at least three months. For patients, CRS-related sleep disturbances can significantly disrupt circadian rhythms, leading to further health complications such as cognitive impairment. Despite the well-documented sleep disturbances associated with CRS, there is limited research on objective assessment methods. Additionally, the severity of these issues can vary among patients. This study aims to assess sleep quality and timing in CRS patients and investigate their impact on cognition, providing guidance for personalized and tailored assessment and management of CRS. Methods: Our case–control study compares sleep patterns …

The Impact Of Insufficient Sleep On The Serial Reproduction Of Information, David L. Dickinson, Sean P. A. Drummond

ESI Publications

Story retelling is an important form of communication, cultural practice, and message transmission. Insufficient sleep is known to affect relevant cognitive skill areas necessary for story retelling or transmission fidelity. We conducted a preregistered randomized cross-over study on n = 155 young adults with exogenously assigned nightly sleep levels experienced in their at-home environments. A serial story reproduction task was administered online, and chains of up to three retells of a given story involved varied numbers of sleep restricted (SR) versus well-rested (WR) retellers. While story content decayed with each retell, group-level analysis showed that additional SR retellers in a …

Cardiac Timing Effects On Response Speed Are Modulated By Blood Pressure But Not Heart Rate Variability In Healthy Young Adults, Xiao Yang, Catalina Roldan, Michael Gazzanigo, Yasmine Nabulsi, Fang Fang

Research and Infrastructure Service Enterprise (RISE) Faculty Publications

Cardiac timing effects reflect the dynamic interplay between interoceptive and exteroceptive processes. Human information processing tends to be facilitated during cardiac diastole and inhibited during systole, reflecting autonomic regulation and the neuromodulation by baroreceptor afferents. Thus, blood pressure (BP) and vagally-mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) are potential modulators of those effects. Additionally, cognitive control appears to play a critical role in the processes. However, whether cardiac timing effects are influenced by those factors remains unclear. The present study aimed to clarify these relationships. Fifty-one healthy young adults completed three experimental sessions to assess BP, short-term HRV, and cardiac timing effects. …

Cognitive Differences In Parkinson’S Disease With Amyloid Positivity And Negativity, Kenya Luna

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In Parkinson’s Disease (PD), research has shifted to investigate how biomarkers commonly seen in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), such as amyloid beta (AB), may be associated with cognitive functioning in PD. AB is considered a reliable biomarker for AD pathology, however in PD there is a lacking biomarker that can accurately reflect severity of cognitive impairment. AD research has shown an association between low AB and cognitive decline, but the data in PD has mixed results. Most studies that analyze cognitive decline and biomarkers do not use a cutoff level and the few that do have a threshold vary greatly in …

Cognition And Inflammation In Youth With Perinatal Hiv, Megan Niehaus, Julie Mannarino, Jacob Bolzenius, Tori Frerichs, Robert Paul

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Background: Perinatally acquired HIV (PHIV) remains a major global health challenge. Approximately 90% of the global population of PHIV reside in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) where access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains incomplete, particularly for PHIV. With PHIV, the brain is exposed to the virus during critical periods of brain development without the immunological benefits from ART. Unlike adults with horizontally acquired HIV whose nadir CD4+ Tcell count is a strong correlate of cognitive difficulties that persist after sustained use of ART, cognitive symptoms among PHIV youth are independent of traditional HIV disease metrics. Prior studies indicate that PHIV …

Meconium: A Potential Means To Predicting Later-Life Cognition, Leah Duran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Maternal perinatal stress is a commonly experienced, yet chronically undiagnosed condition (CDC, 2010). Literature has suggested that perinatal stress exposure has long lasting implications of the developing child both physically and mentally (Behrman et al., 2007; Hobel et al., 2008; Bowman et al., 2004; Polanska et al., 2017; Van de Bergh et. al, 2020). The use of meconium in the clinical setting has become one that serves a purpose of detection in medical conditions like in utero drug exposure. Using meconium as a predictor for brain behavior, however, is still an emerging concept in the literature. It is quickly gaining …

Comparing Cognitive Tests And Smartphone-Based Assessment In 2 Us Community-Based Cohorts., Ileana De Anda-Duran, Preeti Sunderaraman, Edward Searls, Shirine Moukaled, Xuanyi Jin, Zachary Popp, Cody Karjadi, Phillip H Hwang, Huitong Ding, Sherral Devine, Ludy C Shih, Spencer Low, Honghuang Lin, Vijaya B Kolachalama, Lydia Bazzano, David J Libon, Rhoda Au

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

BACKGROUND: Smartphone-based cognitive assessments have emerged as promising tools, bridging gaps in accessibility and reducing bias in Alzheimer disease and related dementia research. However, their congruence with traditional neuropsychological tests and usefulness in diverse cohorts remain underexplored.

METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 406 FHS (Framingham Heart Study) and 59 BHS (Bogalusa Heart Study) participants with traditional neuropsychological tests and digital assessments using the Defense Automated Neurocognitive Assessment (DANA) smartphone protocol were included. Regression models investigated associations between DANA task digital measures and a neuropsychological global cognitive

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that smartphone-based cognitive assessments exhibit concurrent validity with a …

Prospective Associations Of Fish Consumption In Cognitive Function And Depressive Symptoms Among Puerto Rican Adults, Johanna Grace Koroma

Honors Theses and Capstones

Johanna Koroma, Anne Bodenrader, and Sherman Bigornia

Objectives

Fish intake has been linked to certain neural benefits, specifically in slowing cognitive decline and attenuating depressive symptoms. However, existing evidence is conflicting and insufficient. The present study aimed to investigate the association of fish consumption with depressive symptoms and cognitive function among Puerto Rican adults.

Methods

Data is acquired from the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study, comprised of 1517 adults residing in the Boston Metro Area. Dietary patterns were evaluated using a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) with follow-up surveys conducted 2 years from baseline. Consumption was organized into quartiles based …

Sex Differences In Stress Reactivity, Brain Morphology, And Oxytocin In The Hypothalamus Of The Gray Short-Tailed Opossum (Monodelphis Domestica), Esperanza I. Zacarias, Daniela Rodriguez, Alexandra Chalons, Sasawan Heingraj, Nicole Altamirano, Joseph Rafac, John L. Vandeberg, Mario Gil

Research Colloquium

Understanding the effects of stress on behavior and cognition is important due to its impact on mental health and wellbeing (Schneiderman et al. 2005). Translational animal research can contribute to the development of new treatments that can improve therapeutic outcomes and our understanding of the neurobiology of stress. In the present study, we complement behavioral stress reactivity with immunohistochemical localization of oxytocin in the hypothalamus, a neuropeptide that regulates stress (Neumann & Slattery, 2016). Oxytocin has potential therapeutic use for mental health disorders (Neumann & Slattery, 2016), and the effects of oxytocin seem to be sexually dimorphic (Love, 2018). Using …

The Effects Of Music Therapy On Elderly Adults With Dementia, Jeante J. Jackson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As people age, the brain is more susceptible to changes that diminish cognitive function. In recent years neuroscience has found convergent evidence between music therapy and brain architecture, as it has shown the generation of new connections in the brain or a reorganization and possible strengthening of existing connections already in the brain. However, the literature regarding music training’s effects on executive control, selective attention, and speech processing is lacking particularly when it comes to older populations.

This study investigated Verbal Working Memory, Visuospatial Attention and Task Initiation, and Auditory Selective Attention in a 91-year-old adult (B.P.) diagnosed with dementia. …

Do Plants Have The Cognitive Complexity For Sentience?, Ricard V. Solé

Animal Sentience

Are plants sentient? Like other aspects of the cognitive potential of plants, this is a controversial issue, often driven by analogies and seldom supported on solid theoretical grounds. Sentience is understood in cognitive sciences as the capacity to feel. I suggest that because of plants’ evolved adaptations to morphological plasticity, sessile nature and ecological constraints, they are unlikely to have the requisite cognitive complexity for sentience.

Neuronal Sirt3 Deletion Predisposes To Female-Specific Alterations In Cellular Metabolism, Memory, And Network Excitability, Jennifer N Pearson-Smith, Ruth Fulton, Christopher Q Huynh, Anna G Figueroa, Gia B Huynh, Li-Ping Liang, Lindsey B Gano, Cole R Michel, Nichole Reisdorph, Richard Reisdorph, Kristofer S Fritz, Eric Verdin, Manisha Patel

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Mitochondrial dysfunction is an early event in the pathogenesis of neurologic disorders and aging. Sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) regulates mitochondrial function in response to the cellular environment through the reversible deacetylation of proteins involved in metabolism and reactive oxygen species detoxification. As the primary mitochondrial deacetylase, germline, or peripheral tissue-specific deletion of SIRT3 produces mitochondrial hyperacetylation and the accelerated development of age-related diseases. Given the unique metabolic demands of neurons, the role of SIRT3 in the brain is only beginning to emerge. Using mass spectrometry-based acetylomics, high-resolution respirometry, video-EEG, and cognition testing, we report targeted deletion of SIRT3 from select neurons …

Functional Organization Of Auditory And Reward Systems In Aging, Alexander Belden, Milena Aiello Quinci, Maiya Geddes, Nancy J. Donovan, Suzanne B. Hanser, Psyche Loui

Faculty Works

The intrinsic organization of functional brain networks is known to change with age, and is affected by perceptual input and task conditions. Here, we compare functional activity and connectivity during music listening and rest between younger (n = 24) and older (n = 24) adults, using whole-brain regression, seed-based connectivity, and ROI–ROI connectivity analyses. As expected, activity and connectivity of auditory and reward networks scaled with liking during music listening in both groups. Younger adults show higher within-network connectivity of auditory and reward regions as compared with older adults, both at rest and during music listening, but this agerelated difference …

Accelerated Forgetting In People With Epilepsy: Pathologic Memory Loss, Its Neural Basis, And Potential Therapies, Sarah Ashley Steimel Phd

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

While forgetting is vital to human functioning, delineating between normative and disordered forgetting can become incredibly complex. This thesis characterizes a pathologic form of forgetting in epilepsy, identifies a neural basis, and investigates the potential of stimulation as a therapeutic tool. Chapter 2 presents a behavioral characterization of the time course of Accelerated Long-Term Forgetting (ALF) in people with epilepsy (PWE). This chapter shows evidence of ALF on a shorter time scale than previous studies, with a differential impact on recall and recognition. Chapter 3 builds upon the work in Chapter 2 by extending ALF time points and investigating the …

Effects Of Home-Based High-Intensity Interval Training Versus Continuous Walking On Cognition In Overweight And Obese Women, Kelsey C. Bourbeau

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to determine whether six weeks of home-based high-intensity interval training versus six weeks of moderate-intensity walking improves cognition, depression, and anxiety in women that are overweight or obese. Design: A randomized control trial design. Subjects: Twelve sedentary women characterized as overweight or obese were randomized into either a six-week home-based high-intensity interval training (HIIT, n = 6, 26.6 ± 8.9 years, 37.4 ± 4.9% body fat) group or a six-week moderate-intensity walking (Walk, n = 6, 22.5 ± 3.7 years, 40.2 ± 4.1% body fat) group. Main Measures: Pre- and post-intervention, participants …

The Effects Of Physical Function And Genetics On Cognition And Blood Biomarkers In Individuals At-Risk For Alzheimer’S Disease And Related Dementias, Joshua Louis Gills

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) rates are expected to triple by the year 2050. Early detection and specific mitigation efforts are warranted to blunt the alarming rate. Physical function (PF) declines with age, but higher physical function is associated with better cognitive functioning in middle-to- older age individuals. Moreover, greater physical activity (PA) is associated with better global cognition; however, Apoliporotein e4 carriers may not gain the same benefits with exercise. Additionally, plasma phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) has been identified as a novel diagnostic ADRD biomarker which needs further research to examine associations with risk factors. Therefore, the aims …

The Effects Of Floral Attributes And Conspecifics On Bumble Bee Forager Memory, Lucas Lauter, Tiffany Dinh

Undergraduate Research Symposium

What do bees remember about flowers? These memories are important for both bees and flowers. The bees have better foraging success and gain more nectar and pollen from flowers when they remember the most rewarding flower types. More memorable flowers will be visited more frequently, resulting in more successful pollination for the plant. At the same time, bees can also learn about flowers from other bees and may remember this information differently. We are training and testing three floral cues and a single social cue to see how the different types of cues affect their learning and memory of rewarding …

The Effects Of Near-Threshold Color Manipulation On Perceptual Decision-Making And Confidence Report, Trevor Caruso

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Confidence measures are sometimes used to index awareness below a participant’s criterion for what counts as being subjectively aware of a stimulus or stimulus property. If confidence ratings index awareness below subjective thresholds, then one might be tempted to use confidence ratings in place of subjective reports of whether a stimulus/stimulus property was “seen” or “unseen”. As such, a dissociation of confidence from performance may be construed as a dissociation of subjective awareness from objective task performance. This methodology has been used as supporting evidence for blindsight in typical observers (Balsdon and Azzopardi 2015; Peters and Lau 2015; Peters et …

Effects Of Neuronal Activation And Psychiatric Drug Treatment On Circhomer1 Biogenesis, Grigorios Papageorgiou

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

There are currently only very few efficacious drug treatments for SCZ and BD, none of which target and improve cognitive symptoms. Thus, there is an emerging need to develop novel therapeutics targeting molecular pathways linked to cognitive function and antipsychotic treatment. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are stable non-coding RNAs, derived from the covalent back-splicing of precursor mRNA molecules. CircHomer1is a neuronal-enriched, activity-dependent circRNA, derived from the precursor of the long HOMER1B mRNA isoform, which is abundantly expressed in the adult frontal cortex and significantly downregulated in the prefrontal cortex of subjects with psychosis. Even though its relevance to psychiatric disorders …

Frailty And Neurocognition In Prostate Cancer, Lindsey Hanson

Theses & Dissertations

Prostate cancer (PCa) treatment often leads to distressing side effects ranging from muscle loss, physical inactivity, and fatigue to cancer associated cognitive decline (CACD). Evidence suggests that men treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) may have a specifically high risk of CACD, partially due to increased frailty. However, the current literature on cognitive effects of ADT is equivocal. Therefore, the primary objectives of this study were to (1) compare cognitive function, physical activity (PA), and fitness in men receiving ADT, men scheduled to receive radiation, and men under active surveillance for PCa; (2) examine changes in cognitive performance and PA …

The Effects Of Acute Exercise Intensity On Retrieval-Induced Forgetting, Geoffrey Reliquias

Honors Theses

Previous research has indicated that aspects of cognitive inhibition may be enhanced after engaging in acute exercise. Notably, cognitive inhibition has been theorized as a potential mechanism for a form of active forgetting known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). Given that cognitive inhibition may explain the RIF phenomenon, and is also influenced by exercise, it is plausible that acute exercise may directly influence RIF. To our knowledge, only one study has examined whether acute exercise has an effect on RIF. The findings of that study did not find a statistically significant effect for RIF; however, we believe that the rather small …

Influence Of Core Temperature On Psychomotor Performance During Cold Weather Military Training, Douglas Jones, Rebecca Weller, Stephen Eggan, Nicholas Roberts, Weimin Zheng, Jay Heaney, Timothy Dunn

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

Purpose: Cold environments may deteriorate psychomotor performance due to slowing of neuronal signals, distractions caused by pain and discomfort, and a loss of manual dexterity. The extent to which core temperature (T_c) influences psychomotor performance in the cold has not been established. Therefore, psychomotor performance and T_c were assessed during a cold weather military training exercise to evaluate this relationship.

Methods: Thirty-six military personnel (age: 26 ± 4 yr, ht: 175 ± 8 cm, wt: 79.1 ± 11.1 kg) participating in cold weather training volunteered for this study. Participants completed a 10-min immersion in cold (1°C) water, …