Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Cognitive Functioning In Well-Controlled Asthma, Erin Walsh

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Asthma is a common lung disease that impacts lung functioning through inflammatory based mechanisms. Past research suggests that decreased blood oxygenation due to asthma attacks may impair cognitive capabilities (Irani et al., 2017). Moreover, the observed differences in cognition between those with and without asthma may be associated with disease severity or asthma control respectively in asthma populations. The current study explored differences in cognitive functioning between college students with and without self-reported asthma. Sociodemographic data, self-reported asthma severity, and measures of asthma control were collected. The current study did not find significant differences in measures of cognitive efficiency between …

Community Awareness Of Youth Sport Related Concussion: A Neuropsychological Perspective, Ryan D. Bennett, Claire Stafford, Shanna K. Williams, Vijay Bajnath, Chris Burley, Alison Datoc, Alexis Hartman

Journal for Sports Neuroscience

There continues to be growing public awareness regarding concussions and the detrimental effects sustaining such an injury can have on one’s life. Of increased importance is the understanding of how concussions impact children and adolescents, particularly as a result of sport engagements. Contact sports involving youth account for 41% of the concussions seen in emergency departments (Waltzman et al., 2020). Of note, hospital estimates tend to underrepresent the total number of sport-related concussions as they do not factor patients treated in a community setting (Bazarian et al., 2020). In consideration of this public health epidemic, there is a current projection …

Cerebellum-Seeded Functional Connectivity Changes In Trait-Anxious Individuals Undergoing Attention Bias Modification Training, Katherine Elwell

All NMU Master's Theses

Anxiety and anxiety related disorders are increasing at a drastic rate in the past decade, with the NIMH reporting that 31.1% of U.S. adults will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Anxiety is commonly characterized by increased attention bias to threat. Attention Bias Modification (ABM) is a new treatment used to reduce individual’s attention bias towards threat. The extent to which ABM leads to underlying neural changes is still unknown. The cerebellum is a neglected brain structure, with new research provides evidence that cerebellum’s functional connectivity and shared networks with threat processing regions has a direct …

The Effectiveness Of A Mindfulness-Based Intervention: A Neuropsychological Perspective Using An Electroencephalography, Elizabeth Mary Grace

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in mindfulness-related techniques. The willingness to experience emotions fully, just as they are, is a catalyst for psychological change to occur. Mindfulness has been used to alleviate stress and promote healthy living (Lagopoulos et al., 2009). The clinical utility of mindfulness has grown exponentially; however, the neuropsychological process of mindfulness is still being understood. The present study sought to examine the influence of a brief mindfulness intervention on brain activation in college students. A sample (n = 17) of undergraduate participants were randomly assigned into a prepost mindfulness intervention or control …

Volition And Action In The Human Brain: Processes, Pathologies, And Reasons, Itzhak Fried, Patrick Haggard, Biyu J. He, Aaron Schurger

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Humans seem to decide for themselves what to do, and when to do it. This distinctive capacity may emerge from an ability, shared with other animals, to make decisions for action that are related to future goals, or at least free from the constraints of immediate environmental inputs. Studying such volitional acts proves a major challenge for neuroscience. This review highlights key mechanisms in the generation of voluntary, as opposed to stimulus-driven actions, and highlights three issues. The first part focuses on the apparent spontaneity of voluntary action. The second part focuses on one of the most distinctive, but elusive, …

Relationships Between Age And White Matter Integrity In Children With Phenylketonuria, Erika M. Wesonga

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a hereditary metabolic disorder associated with cognitive compromise. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has allowed detection of poorer microstructural white matter integrity in children with PKU, with decreased mean diffusivity (MD) in comparison with healthy children. However, very little research has been conducted to examine the trajectory of white matter development in this population. The present study investigated potential differences in the developmental trajectory of MD between children with early- and continuously-treated PKU and healthy children across a range of brain regions.

Methods: Children with PKU (n = 31, mean age = 12.2 years) were …