Cognitive Neuroscience Commons^™

Severe Covid-19 In Alzheimer’S Disease: Apoe4’S Fault Again?, Nian Xiong, Martin R. Schiller, Jingwen Li, Xiaowu Chen, Zhicheng Lin

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Challenges have been recognized in healthcare of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the COVID-19 pandemic, given a high infection and mortality rate of COVID-19 in these patients. This situation urges the identification of underlying risks and preferably biomarkers for evidence-based, more effective healthcare. Towards this goal, current literature review and network analysis synthesize available information on the AD-related gene APOE into four lines of mechanistic evidence. At a cellular level, the risk isoform APOE4 confers high infectivity by the underlying coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; at a genetic level, APOE4 is associated with severe COVID-19; at a pathway level, networking connects APOE …

Examining The Transient Neural Dynamics Underlying Working Memory Maintenance For Complex Visual Stimuli, Chelsea Reichert Plaska

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Working memory (WM) is the temporary storage of information to accomplish a future goal. The WM delay period is the time after encoding but before retrieval when information is being maintained, typically in the absence of relevant stimuli. Understanding how the brain supports maintenance during the delay period, and how neural activity and connectivity are related to memory is critical for advancing both basic knowledge as well as informing declines in memory and cognition related to neurodegenerative diseases and healthy aging. An open question in the field of WM research is how information is stored during this delay period. One …

Using Fnirs To Identify Brain Regions Involved In Emotional Face Processing In Infants At High Risk For Autism Spectrum Disorder, Christian Martinez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Faces provide an abundance of salient information, and within a few hours of being born, infants already show preferential attention to faces and face-like stimuli. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder consisting of social communication and interaction difficulties, and individuals with ASD show differences in the behavioral and neural processing of faces. Prospective studies with infants at high risk for ASD (HRA; by virtue of an older sibling with ASD) have begun to look at whether responses to faces could be an early marker of later ASD. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), the current study measured oxygenated hemoglobin …

Functional Connectivity Changes In The Default Mode Network In Moderate-To-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, Emily J. Haight

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients are known to have altered functional connectivity (FC), which has cognitive and behavioral significance and bears clinical implications. Previous literature has discovered a hyperconnectivity response to TBI, most notably in the default mode network (DMN). However, the exact pattern of changes in resting FC during the first year of recovery is unknown. We used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate longitudinal connectivity patterns in the DMN of 28 moderate-to-severe TBI patients as compared to 33 demographically matched healthy controls (HC). FC was assessed at 3, 6, and 12 months post-injury for patients using the …

Learning To Feel Safe: A Translational Study Of The Influence Of Safety Learning On Anxiety-Related Overgeneralized Fear, Hyein Cho

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health diagnoses, affecting about a third of the population in their lifetime. However, approximately a third of individuals with anxiety do not respond to current treatment approaches, highlighting the need to identify additional potential therapeutic mechanisms. Safety learning is one such mechanism, but methodological challenges and a dearth of research have prevented the field from advancing the understanding of the role of safety learning in the etiology and remediation of anxiety disorders. Animal research, using single-cued safety learning paradigms, has yielded promising early findings, demonstrating that safety learning directly reduces anxiety-related behaviors …

The Effect Of Anticipatory Anxiety On Fear Extinction Learning, Daniela C. Echeverria

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Adaptive regulation of fear is dependent on successful fear extinction learning; therefore, investigating factors that both enhance and diminish fear extinction learning is a critical line of research. In the present study, we induce mild anticipatory anxiety during fear extinction learning in an attempt to modulate how participants extinguish fear memory. In the experiment, we apply a classic three-day fear learning protocol to both control participants (N = 20) and an experimental group (N = 20) with fear acquisition, fear extinction, and fear recovery phases; each phase is separated by a period of 24 hours and we use a skin …

Effects Of Working Memory Load On Ensemble Versus Individual Object Processing, Clark Moore

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Ensemble perception is the ability of the visual system to summarize object groups by their statistical properties. At a fundamental level, past studies show clearly that ensembles are perceived, and statistical information is sent to working memory such that a subject may report on the averages (Ariely, 2001; Brady and Alvarez, 2011). Studies show that subjects are capable of reporting ensemble statistics for large groups of objects with high accuracy, inferring that this process bypasses the capacity limitations of attention and working memory (Chong and Treisman, 2003; Baijal et al., 2013; Huang, 2015; Epstein and Emmanouil, 2017, 2021). However, few …

Scaling Up Information Sharing On Hiv-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder: Raising Awareness And Knowledge Among Key Stakeholders, Renato M. Liboro, Paul A. Shuper, Lori E. Ross

Psychology Faculty Research

Although the majority of specialists and researchers in the field of HIV/AIDS are aware and knowledgeable about HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) as a condition that affects as much as 50% of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH), research has documented that many health care and service providers who work directly with PLWH are either unaware of HAND or believe they do not know enough information about HAND to effectively support their clients experiencing neurocognitive challenges. Based on the findings of a qualitative study that interviewed 33 health care and service providers in HIV/AIDS services to identify and examine their awareness and …

Exploring Tactile Art-Making With Deafblind Students And Their Families: An Opportunity For Creative Play, Alice Rodgers

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The impact of a deafblind diagnosis on an individual’s mental health and the well-being of the family involved can be profound. However, current research and available literature for the mental health treatment and therapy practices of deafblind persons and their families is limited (Kyzar et al., 2016; “WFDB Global Report 2018,” n.d.). This thesis used the Leeds Family Psychology and Therapy Service principles (Leeds FPTS) and the Expressive Therapies Continuum with established deafblind teaching strategies to facilitate an original arts-based community project entitled: “Things We Like.” This project provided an opportunity for deafblind students (ages three to 22) and their …

Monolingual And Bilingual Language Networks In Healthy Subjects Using Functional Mri And Graph Theory, Qiongge Li, Luca Pasquini, Gino Del Ferraro, Madeleine Gene, Kyung K. Peck, Hernán A. Makse, Andrei I. Holodny

Publications and Research

Bilingualism requires control of multiple language systems, and may lead to architectural differences in language networks obtained from clinical fMRI tasks. Emerging connectivity metrics such as k-core may capture these differences, highlighting crucial network components based on resiliency. We investigated the influence of bilingualism on clinical fMRI language tasks and characterized bilingual networks using connectivity metrics to provide a patient care benchmark. Sixteen right-handed subjects (mean age 42-years; nine males) without neurological history were included: eight native English-speaking monolinguals and eight native Spanish-speaking (L1) bilinguals with acquired English (L2). All subjects underwent fMRI with gold-standard clinical language tasks. Starting from …

Value-Generating Exploratory Trials In Neurodegenerative Dementias, Lauren G. Friedman, Nicholas Mckeehan, Yuko Hara, Jeffrey L. Cummings, Dawn C. Matthews, Jian Zhu, Richard C. Mohs, Deli Wang, Suzanne B. Hendrix, Melanie Quintana, Lon S. Schneider, Michael Grundman, Samuel P. Dickson, Howard H. Feldman, Judith Jaeger, Elizabeth C. Finger, J. Michael Ryan, Debra Niehoff, Susan L.J. Dickinson, Jessica T. Markowitz, Meriel Owen, Alessio Travaglia, Howard M. Fillit

School of Medicine Faculty Research

Drug development for Alzheimer disease and other neurodegenerative dementias, including frontotemporal dementia, has experienced a long history of phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials that failed to show efficacy of investigational drugs. Despite differences in clinical and behavioral characteristics, these disorders have shared pathologies and face common challenges in designing early-phase trials that are predictive of late-stage success. Here, we discuss exploratory clinical trials in neurodegenerative dementias. These are generally phase 1b or phase 2a trials that are designed to assess pharmacologic effects and rely on biomarker outcomes, with shorter treatment durations and fewer patients than traditional phase 2 …

Mental Imagery In The Regulation Of Differential Fear Conditioning: A Multimodal Investigation Involving Self-Report, Psychophysiology, And Brain Imaging, Tyler Daniel Robinson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mental imagery is a common component in a range of emotion regulation techniques. However, the effectiveness and neural mechanisms of regulation via mental imagery are underexplored due to a lack of studies targeting mental imagery specifically. This discrepancy results in uncertainty regarding the mechanism of regulation in existing paradigms. Biased competition for attentional resources presents a plausible model by which a mental imagery-based distracter can downregulate response to an emotional stimulus. If visualizing an imagined distracter effectively regulates emotional response, the inclusion of mental imagery components in other techniques represents a potential confound. To address this discrepancy, this dissertation investigates …

Aducanumab Produced A Clinically Meaningful Benefit In Association With Amyloid Lowering, Jeffrey Cummings, Paul Aisen, Cynthia Lemere, Alireza Atri, Marwan Sabbagh, Stephen Salloway

School of Medicine Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Neurocognitive Impairment In People Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Hiv): Risk Factors And Mortality, Zaeema Naveed

Theses & Dissertations

Despite the widespread use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment (NCI) persists in people living with HIV (PLWH) with clinical and public health implications. Studies have generated inconsistent results regarding etiological factors for NCI in PLWH and a brief user-friendly predictive tool is desirable in clinical practice to assess the probability of having NCI in PLWH. Furthermore, factors associated with clinically meaningful decline in neurocognitive status and survival disadvantage for patients with NCI are understudied in the post-cART era. The goal of this dissertation was to investigate factors associated with baseline NCI and neurocognitive decline and the association …

Diagnostic Criteria For Apathy In Neurocognitive Disorders, David S. Miller, Philippe Robert, Larry Ereshefsky, Lawrence Adler, Daniel Bateman, Jeff Cummings, Steven T. Dekosky, Corinne E. Fischer, Masud Husain, Zahinoor Ismail, Judith Jaeger, Alan J. Lerner, Abby Li, Constantine G. Lyketsos, Valeria Manera, Jacobo Mintzer, Hans J. Moebius, Moyra Mortby, Didier Meulien, Stephane Pollentier, Anton Porsteinsson, Jill Rasmussen, Paul B. Rosenberg, Myuri T. Ruthirakuhan, Mary Sano, Carla Zucchero Sarracini, Krista L. Lanctôt

School of Medicine Faculty Research

Introduction: Apathy is common in neurocognitive disorders (NCD) but NCD-specific diagnostic criteria are needed. Methods: The International Society for CNS Clinical Trials Methodology Apathy Work Group convened an expert group and sought input from academia, health-care, industry, and regulatory bodies. A modified Delphi methodology was followed, and included an extensive literature review, two surveys, and two meetings at international conferences, culminating in a consensus meeting in 2019. Results: The final criteria reached consensus with more than 80% agreement on all parts and included: limited to people with NCD; symptoms persistent or frequently recurrent over at least 4 weeks, a change …

Using Deep Learning For Children Brain Image Analysis, Rafael Toche Pizano

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Analyzing the correlation between brain volumetric/morphometry features and cognition/behavior in children is important in the field of pediatrics as identifying such relationships can help identify children who may be at risk for illnesses. Understanding these relationships can not only help identify children who may be at risk of illnesses, but it can also help evaluate strategies that promote brain development in children. Currently, one way to do this is to use traditional statistical methods such as a correlation analysis, but such an approach does not make it easy to generalize and predict how brain volumetric/morphometry will impact cognition/behavior. One of …

How The Covid-19 Pandemic Has Affected Physical Activity, Sleep And Mental Health In University Students, Faculty And Staff And To Examine The Relationship Between These Variables, Zachary Parisi

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background: Increased physical activity has been shown to be beneficial in decreasing stress. This project will expand on this knowledge while also studying college students, a demographic that has been less studied. This study will also examine the impact of COVID-19 on these variables. COVID-19 changed many peoples’ activities of daily life, and possibly physically activity levels, due to public health measures such as lockdowns and remote learning. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected physical activity, sleep, and mental health in university students, faculty and staff and to examine the relationship …

The Neural Architecture Of Emotional Intelligence., Teodora Stoica

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a nebulous concept that permeates daily interpersonal communication. Despite prolific research into its benefits, EI subjective measurement is difficult, contributing to an enigmatic definition of its core constructs. However, neuroimaging research probing socioaffective brain mechanisms underlying putative EI constructs can add an objective perspective to existing models, thereby illuminating the nature of EI. Therefore, the primary aim of this dissertation is to identify brain networks underlying EI and examine how EI arises from the brain’s functional and structural neuroarchitecture. EI is first defined according to behavioral data, which suggests EI is made up of two core …

Vitamin B12 Deficiency Does Not Stimulate Amyloid-Beta Toxicity In A Ceanorhabditis Elegans Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Opeyemi F. Showemimo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is symptomized by amyloid-beta plaques in the brain and accounts for more than 65 percent of dementia cases. Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency can result in similar cognitive impairment and roughly 15% of the elderly are vitamin B12 deficient. Vitamin B12 deficiency results in the accumulation of toxic methylmalonic acid and homocysteine. Hyperhomocysteinemia is a strong risk factor for AD. To test if vitamin B12 deficiency stimulates amyloid-beta toxicity, Caenorhabditis elegans expressing amyloid-beta in muscle were fed either vitamin B12-deficient OP50-1 or vitamin B12-rich HT115(DE3) E. coli bacteria. Increased amyloid-beta toxicity was found in worms fed the …

Reduced Adaptation Of Glutamatergic Stress Response Is Associated With Pessimistic Expectations In Depression, Jessica A. Cooper, Makiah R. Nuutinen, Victoria M. Lawlor, Brittany A.M. Devries, Elyssa M. Barrick, Shabnam Hossein, Daniel J. Cole, Chelsea V. Leonard, Evan C. Hahn, Andrew P. Teer, Grant S. Shields, George M. Slavich, Dost Ongur, J. Eric Jensen, Fei Du, Diego A. Pizzagalli, Michael T. Treadway

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Stress is a significant risk factor for the development of major depressive disorder (MDD), yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Preclinically, adaptive and maladaptive stress-induced changes in glutamatergic function have been observed in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Here, we examine stress-induced changes in human mPFC glutamate using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in two healthy control samples and a third sample of unmedicated participants with MDD who completed the Maastricht acute stress task, and one sample of healthy control participants who completed a no-stress control manipulation. In healthy controls, we find that the magnitude of mPFC glutamate response to the …

An Eeg Source-Space Analysis Of The Neural Correlates Underlying Self-Regulation, Stephanie M. Long

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self-regulation is the cognitive process of controlling our thoughts and behaviors to be aligned with our goals. This process is used in many different contexts and has been associated with contributions from several brain regions. This research aimed to investigate differences in four prefrontal areas of the brain while participants applied four different self-regulation strategies. We recorded EEG while participants (N = 132) performed three tasks which engaged each of the four self-regulation strategies: the AX-CPT task engaged proactive and reactive control, the Go/Nogo task engaged inhibitory control, and the hybrid Flanker Global/Local task engaged the resolution of response conflict. …

Cortical Dynamics Of Language, Kiefer Forseth

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The human capability for fluent speech profoundly directs inter-personal communication and, by extension, self-expression. Language is lost in millions of people each year due to trauma, stroke, neurodegeneration, and neoplasms with devastating impact to social interaction and quality of life. The following investigations were designed to elucidate the neurobiological foundation of speech production, building towards a universal cognitive model of language in the brain. Understanding the dynamical mechanisms supporting cortical network behavior will significantly advance the understanding of how both focal and disconnection injuries yield neurological deficits, informing the development of therapeutic approaches.

The Effects Of Acute Exercise On Retrieval Induced Forgetting, Walter Simpson

Honors Theses

Retrieval Induced Forgetting (RIF) is a type of active forgetting that may play beneficial and detrimental roles in long-term memory. The benefit of the retrieval of certain information is that information will become more readily available following subsequent retrieval; a concept termed the retrieval practice effect (RP). The detrimental effect of RIF may be that, upon the subsequent recall of certain information, related information may be inhibited from recall. The effects and mechanisms of RIF have remained a topic of debate among neuroscientists, psychologists, and other related scholars. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of acute …

Corticospinal Excitability During A Perspective Taking Task As Measured By Tms-Induced Motor Evoked Potentials, Elizabeth Murray, Janet Brenya, Katherine Chavarria, Karen J. Kelly, Anjel Fierst, Nathira Ahmad, Caroline Anton, Layla Shaffer, Kairavi Kapila, Logan Driever, Kayla Weaver, Caroline Dial, Maya Crawford, Iso Hartman, Tommy Infantino, Fiona Butler, Abigail Straus, Shakeera L. Walker, Brianna Balugas, Matthew Pardillo, Briana Goncalves, Julian Keenan

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Only by understanding the ability to take a third-person perspective can we begin to elucidate the neural processes responsible for one’s inimitable conscious experience. The current study examined differences in hemispheric laterality during a first-person perspective (1PP) and third-person perspective (3PP) taking task, using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Participants were asked to take either the 1PP or 3PP when identifying the number of spheres in a virtual scene. During this task, single-pulse TMS was delivered to the motor cortex of both the left and right hemispheres of 10 healthy volunteers. Measures of TMS-induced motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) of the contralateral abductor …

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Phase 2b Proof-Of-Concept Clinical Trial In Early Alzheimer’S Disease With Lecanemab, An Anti-Aβ Protofibril Antibody, Chad J. Swanson, Yong Zhang, Shobha Dhadda, Jinping Wang, June Kaplow, Robert Y.K. Lai, Lars Lannfelt, Heather Bradley, Martin Rabe, Akihiko Koyama, Larisa Reyderman, Donald A. Berry, Scott Berry, Robert Gordon, Lynn D. Kramer, Jeffrey L. Cummings

School of Medicine Faculty Research

Background: Lecanemab (BAN2401), an IgG1 monoclonal antibody, preferentially targets soluble aggregated amyloid beta (Aβ), with activity across oligomers, protofibrils, and insoluble fibrils. BAN2401-G000-201, a randomized double-blind clinical trial, utilized a Bayesian design with response-adaptive randomization to assess 3 doses across 2 regimens of lecanemab versus placebo in early Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild AD dementia. Methods: BAN2401-G000-201 aimed to establish the effective dose 90% (ED90), defined as the simplest dose that achieves ≥90% of the maximum treatment effect. The primary endpoint was Bayesian analysis of 12-month clinical change on the Alzheimer’s Disease Composite …

#Eegmanylabs: Investigating The Replicability Of Influential Eeg Experiments, Yuri G. Pavlov, Nika Adamian, Stefan Appelhoff, Mahnaz Arvaneh, Christopher S.Y. Benwell, Christian Beste, Amy R. Bland, Daniel E. Bradford, Florian Bublatzky, Niko A. Busch, Peter E. Clayson, Damian Cruse, Artur Czeszumski, Anna Dreber, Guillaume Dumas, Benedikt Ehinger, Giorgio Ganis, Xun He, José A. Hinojosa, Christoph Huber-Huber, Michael Inzlicht, Bradley N. Jack, Magnus Johannesson, Rhiannon Jones, Evgenii Kalenkovich, Laura Kaltwasser, Hamid Karimi-Rouzbahani, Andreas Keil, Peter Koning, Layla Kouara

Psychology Faculty Research

There is growing awareness across the neuroscience community that the replicability of findings about the relationship between brain activity and cognitive phenomena can be improved by conducting studies with high statistical power that adhere to well-defined and standardised analysis pipelines. Inspired by recent efforts from the psychological sciences, and with the desire to examine some of the foundational findings using electroencephalography (EEG), we have launched #EEGManyLabs, a large-scale international collaborative replication effort. Since its discovery in the early 20th century, EEG has had a profound influence on our understanding of human cognition, but there is limited evidence on the replicability …

Finding Rhythm Through Auditory Imagery: An Approach To Parkinson’S Disease Treatment, Jacqueline Larivee

Psychology Student Work

The following research article explores music therapy in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). The general interaction between the rhythmic properties of music and motor associated brain areas is discussed at length. These interactions provide a basis for understanding how music therapy can address the rhythmic impairments of the disease. Dance therapy, Musical Sonification, Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) are three types of music-based therapies that have been found to be effective in treating the motor symptoms of PD. These therapies may be particularly effective for the PD population because they draw upon musical rhythm as an external pacing cue.While external …

Application Of Cycle-By-Cycle Analysis To Eeg Data From Individuals With Phelan-Mcdermid Syndrome, Naomi Miller

ENGS 88 Honors Thesis (AB Students)

This study aimed to analyze a novel method of processing data from electroencephalography (EEG) recordings, which implements time-domain cycle-by-cycle analysis. This "bycycle" method, developed by the Cole & Voytek laboratory, was implemented on a EEG dataset of children with and without Phelan-McDermid Syndrome in the hopes of uncovering network-level explanations for the genetic disorder. A supplemental Python pipeline was developed to organize and visualize the data. This led to the discovery of group-level differences in measures of cycle symmetry in alpha band waves over the sensorimotor electrodes. Through the same pipeline, the bycycle tool was validated as a sound EEG …

Life Satisfaction: Aging Female Informal Caregivers Of Persons With Dementia, Deborah Ann Monson

Dissertations

Purpose/Aims

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between aging female informal caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD) and care recipients’ PWD demographic factors, aging female informal caregivers of PWD social support factors, positive and negative feelings, a sense of flourishing, stress, and life satisfaction.

Background/Rationale

Older adults with dementia are living longer and the majority are receiving care by aging female informal caregivers. Dementia incrementally worsens over time impacting informal caregiver life satisfaction. Most studies have focused on negative aspects of informal caregiving. Therefore, this study investigated both positive and negative aspects of caregiving.

Conceptual Basis …

Semester Schedule For Cognitive And Behavioral Neuroscience, Megan V. Caldwell

Open Educational Resources

This course schedule has been created for an asynchronous 15-week, 4 credit Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience course. It is a comprehensive schedule including a week-by-week breakdown of lecture topics, reading material, assignments, and exam schedule. The course covers topics related to cognition and neuroscience including the action potential, neurotransmitters, cell gradients, sensation (vision, hearing, and pain/somatosensation), neuroplasticity, memory, and movement systems. The schedule is intended to be accompanied by a syllabus.