Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Diffusion Tensor Imaging And White Matter Abnormalities In Patients With Disorders Of Consciousness., Carlo Cavaliere, Marco Aiello, Carol Di Perri, Davinia Fernandez-Espejo, Adrian M Owen, Andrea Soddu

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Progress in neuroimaging has yielded new powerful tools which, potentially, can be applied to clinical populations, improve the diagnosis of neurological disorders and predict outcome. At present, the diagnosis of consciousness disorders is limited to subjective assessment and objective measurements of behavior, with an emerging role for neuroimaging techniques. In this review we focus on white matter alterations measured using Diffusion Tensor Imaging on patients with consciousness disorders, examining the most common diffusion imaging acquisition protocols and considering the main issues related to diffusion imaging analyses. We conclude by considering some of the remaining challenges to overcome, the existing knowledge …

Bilateral Saccadic Deficits Following Large And Reversible Inactivation Of Unilateral Frontal Eye Field., Tyler R Peel, Kevin Johnston, Stephen G Lomber, Brian D Corneil

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Inactivation permits direct assessment of the functional contribution of a given brain area to behavior. Previous inactivation studies of the frontal eye field (FEF) have either used large permanent ablations or reversible pharmacological techniques that only inactivate a small volume of tissue. Here we evaluated the impact of large, yet reversible, FEF inactivation on visually guided, delayed, and memory-guided saccades, using cryoloops implanted in the arcuate sulcus. While FEF inactivation produced the expected triad of contralateral saccadic deficits (increased reaction time, decreased accuracy and peak velocity) and performance errors (neglect or misdirected saccades), we also found consistent increases in reaction …

Short-Duration Stimulation Of The Supplementary Eye Fields Perturbs Anti-Saccade Performance While Potentiating Contralateral Head Orienting., Brendan B Chapman, Brian D Corneil

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Many forms of brain stimulation utilize the notion of state dependency, whereby greater influences are observed when a given area is more engaged at the time of stimulation. Here, by delivering intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) to the supplementary eye fields (SEF) of monkeys performing interleaved pro- and anti-saccades, we show a surprising diversity of state-dependent effects of ICMS-SEF. Short-duration ICMS-SEF passed around cue presentation selectively disrupted anti-saccades by increasing reaction times and error rates bilaterally, and also recruited neck muscles, favoring contralateral head turning to a greater degree on anti-saccade trials. These results are consistent with the functional relevance of the …

An Invitation To The Study Of Brain Networks, With Some Statistical Analysis Of Thresholding Techniques, Mark Daley

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

We provide a brief introduction to the nascent application of network theory to mesoscale networks in the human brain. Following an overview of the typical data-gathering, processing, and analysis methods employed in this field, we describe the process for inferring a graph from neural time series. A crucial step in the construction of a graph from time series is the thresholding of graph edges to ensure that the graphs represent physiological relationships rather than artifactual noise. We discuss the most popular currently employed methodologies and then introduce one of our own, based on the theory of random matrices. Finally, we …

Observing Object Lifting Errors Modulates Cortico-Spinal Excitability And Improves Object Lifting Performance., Gavin Buckingham, Jeremy D Wong, Minnie Tang, Paul L Gribble, Melvyn A Goodale

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Observing the actions of others has been shown to modulate cortico-spinal excitability and affect behaviour. However, the sensorimotor consequences of observing errors are not well understood. Here, participants watched actors lift identically weighted large and small cubes which typically elicit expectation-based fingertip force errors. One group of participants observed the standard overestimation and underestimation-style errors that characterise early lifts with these cubes (Error video--EV). Another group watched the same actors performing the well-adapted error-free lifts that characterise later, well-practiced lifts with these cubes (No error video--NEV). We then examined actual object lifting performance in the subjects who watched the EV …

Sign Language Ability In Young Deaf Signers Predicts Comprehension Of Written Sentences In English., Kathy N Andrew, Jennifer Hoshooley, Marc F Joanisse

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

We investigated the robust correlation between American Sign Language (ASL) and English reading ability in 51 young deaf signers ages 7;3 to 19;0. Signers were divided into 'skilled' and 'less-skilled' signer groups based on their performance on three measures of ASL. We next assessed reading comprehension of four English sentence structures (actives, passives, pronouns, reflexive pronouns) using a sentence-to-picture-matching task. Of interest was the extent to which ASL proficiency provided a foundation for lexical and syntactic processes of English. Skilled signers outperformed less-skilled signers overall. Error analyses further indicated greater single-word recognition difficulties in less-skilled signers marked by a higher …

Links Between White Matter Microstructure And Cortisol Reactivity To Stress In Early Childhood: Evidence For Moderation By Parenting., Haroon I Sheikh, Marc F Joanisse, Sarah M Mackrell, Katie R Kryski, Heather J Smith, Shiva M Singh, Elizabeth P Hayden

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (measured via cortisol reactivity) may be a biological marker of risk for depression and anxiety, possibly even early in development. However, the structural neural correlates of early cortisol reactivity are not well known, although these would potentially inform broader models of mechanisms of risk, especially if the early environment further shapes these relationships. Therefore, we examined links between white matter architecture and young girls' cortisol reactivity and whether early caregiving moderated these links. We recruited 45 6-year-old girls based on whether they had previously shown high or low cortisol reactivity to a stress task at …

Sensitivity Of Human Auditory Cortex To Rapid Frequency Modulation Revealed By Multivariate Representational Similarity Analysis., Marc F Joanisse, Diedre D Desouza

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the extent, magnitude, and pattern of brain activity in response to rapid frequency-modulated sounds. We examined this by manipulating the direction (rise vs. fall) and the rate (fast vs. slow) of the apparent pitch of iterated rippled noise (IRN) bursts. Acoustic parameters were selected to capture features used in phoneme contrasts, however the stimuli themselves were not perceived as speech per se. Participants were scanned as they passively listened to sounds in an event-related paradigm. Univariate analyses revealed a greater level and extent of activation in bilateral auditory cortex in response …

Dopaminergic Medication Impairs Feedback-Based Stimulus-Response Learning But Not Response Selection In Parkinson's Disease., Andrew Vo, Nole M Hiebert, Ken N Seergobin, Stephanie Solcz, Allison Partridge, Penny A Macdonald

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Cognitive dysfunction is a feature of Parkinson's Disease (PD). Some cognitive functions are impaired by dopaminergic medications prescribed to address the movement symptoms that typify PD. Learning appears to be the cognitive function most frequently worsened by dopaminergic therapy. However, this result could reflect either impairments in learning (i.e., acquisition of associations among stimuli, responses, and outcomes) or deficits in performance based on learning (e.g., selecting responses). We sought to clarify the specific effects of dopaminergic medication on (a) stimulus-response association learning from outcome feedback and (b) response selection based on learning, in PD. We tested 28 PD patients on …

Rule-Based Category Learning In Children: The Role Of Age And Executive Functioning., Rahel Rabi, John Paul Minda

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Rule-based category learning was examined in 4-11 year-olds and adults. Participants were asked to learn a set of novel perceptual categories in a classification learning task. Categorization performance improved with age, with younger children showing the strongest rule-based deficit relative to older children and adults. Model-based analyses provided insight regarding the type of strategy being used to solve the categorization task, demonstrating that the use of the task appropriate strategy increased with age. When children and adults who identified the correct categorization rule were compared, the performance deficit was no longer evident. Executive functions were also measured. While both working …

Measuring Fragmentation In Dissociative Identity Disorder: The Integration Measure And Relationship To Switching And Time In Therapy, M. Rose Barlow, James A. Chu

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Some people with dissociative identity disorder (DID) have very little communication or awareness among the parts of their identity, while others experience a great deal of cooperation among alternate identities. Previous research on this topic has been sparse. Currently, there is no empirical measure of integration versus fragmentation in a person with DID. In this study, we report the development of such a measure.

Objective: The goal of this study was to pilot the integration measure (IM) and to address its psychometric properties and relationships to other measures. The IM is the first standardized measure of integration in DID. …

Dvt Surveillance Program In The Icu: Analysis Of Cost-Effectiveness, Ajai K. Malhotra, Stephanie R. Goldberg, Laura Mclay, Nancy R. Martin, Luke G. Wolfe, Mark M. Levy, Vishal Khiatani, Todd C. Borchers, Therese M. Duane, Michel B. Aboutanos, Rao R. Ivatury

Biostatistics Publications

Background

Venous Thrombo-embolism (VTE – Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and/or pulmonary embolism (PE) – in traumatized patients causes significant morbidity and mortality. The current study evaluates the effectiveness of DVT surveillance in reducing PE, and performs a cost-effectiveness analysis.

Methods

All traumatized patients admitted to the adult ICU underwent twice weekly DVT surveillance by bilateral lower extremity venous Duplex examination (48-month surveillance period – SP). The rates of DVT and PE were recorded and compared to the rates observed in the 36-month pre-surveillance period (PSP). All patients in both periods received mechanical and pharmacologic prophylaxis unless contraindicated. Total costs – …

Rare Variant Association Testing By Adaptive Combination Of P-Values, Wan-Yu Lin, Xiang-Yang Lou, Guimin Gao, Nianjun Liu

Biostatistics Publications

With the development of next-generation sequencing technology, there is a great demand for powerful statistical methods to detect rare variants (minor allele frequencies (MAFs)-MidPmethod (Cheung et al., 2012, Genet Epidemiol 36: 675–685) and propose an approach (named ‘adaptive combination of P-values for rare variant association testing’, abbreviated as ‘ADA’) that adaptively combines per-site P-values with the weights based on MAFs. Before combining P-values, we first imposed a truncation threshold upon the per-site P-values, to guard against the noise caused by the inclusion of neutral variants. ThisADA method is shown to outperform popular burden …

A New Powerful Nonparametric Rank Test For Ordered Alternative Problem, Guogen Shan, Daniel Young, Le Kang

Biostatistics Publications

We propose a new nonparametric test for ordered alternative problem based on the rank difference between two observations from different groups. These groups are assumed to be independent from each other. The exact mean and variance of the test statistic under the null distribution are derived, and its asymptotic distribution is proven to be normal. Furthermore, an extensive power comparison between the new test and other commonly used tests shows that the new test is generally more powerful than others under various conditions, including the same type of distribution, and mixed distributions. A real example from an anti-hypertensive drug trial …

A New Powerful Nonparametric Rank Test For Ordered Alternative Problem, Guogen Shan, Daniel Young, Le Kang

Biostatistics Publications

We propose a new nonparametric test for ordered alternative problem based on the rank difference between two observations from different groups. These groups are assumed to be independent from each other. The exact mean and variance of the test statistic under the null distribution are derived, and its asymptotic distribution is proven to be normal. Furthermore, an extensive power comparison between the new test and other commonly used tests shows that the new test is generally more powerful than others under various conditions, including the same type of distribution, and mixed distributions. A real example from an anti-hypertensive drug trial …

Associations Between Childhood Body Size, Composition, Blood Pressure And Adult Cardiac Structure: The Fels Longitudinal Study, Roy T. Sabo, Miao-Shan Yen, Stephen Daniels, Shumei S. Sun

Biostatistics Publications

Objectives

To determine whether childhood body size, composition and blood pressure are associated with adult cardiac structure by estimating childhood “age of divergence.”

Methods

385 female and 312 male participants in the Fels Longitudinal Study had echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular mass, relative wall thickness, and interventricular septal thickness. Also available were anthropometric measurements of body mass index, waist circumference, percentage body fat, fat free mass, total body fat, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures, taken in both childhood and adulthood. The age of divergence is estimated as the lowest age at which childhood measurements are significantly different between patients …

Job Attributes, Job Satisfaction And The Return To Health After Breast Cancer Diagnosis And Treatment, Andrew J. Barnes, Nicholas Robert, Cathy J. Bradley

Health Policy Publications

Background: As detection and treatment of cancer has advanced, the number of working age women with breast cancer has increased. This study provides new information on the intersection of breast cancer treatment and job tasks and how, together, they impact employed and newly diagnosed women.

Methods: The sample comprised 493 employed women within two months of initiating treatment. Job satisfaction and demands were assessed by pre-diagnosis recall along with measures of mental and physical health and assessed again nine months after initiating treatment. Using seemingly unrelated regression, we tested the effect of job tasks and satisfaction on mental and …

Polypectomy Techniques, Endoscopist Characteristics, And Serious Gastrointestinal Adverse Events, Askar S. Chukmaitov, Cathy J. Bradley, Bassam Dahman, Umaporn Siangphoe, Doumit Bouhaidar, Joan L. Warren

Health Policy Publications

Background: A use of polypectomy techniques by endoscopist specialty (primary care, surgery, and gastroenterology) and experience (volume), and associations with serious gastrointestinal adverse events, were examined.

Methods: A retrospective follow-up study with ambulatory surgery and hospital discharge datasets from Florida, 1999-2001, was used. Thirty-day hospitalizations due to colonic perforations and gastrointestinal bleeding were investigated for 323,585 patients.

Results: Primary care endoscopists and surgeons used hot biopsy forceps/ablation, while gastroenterologists provided snare polypectomy or complex colonoscopy. Low-volume endoscopists were more likely to use simpler rather than complex procedures. For hot forceps/ablation and snare polypectomy, low- and medium-volume endoscopists reported higher …

Determinants Of Coverage Decisions In Health Insurance Marketplaces: Consumers' Decision-Making Abilities And The Amount Of Information In Their Choice Environment, Andrew J. Barnes, Yaniv Hanoch, Thomas Rice

Health Policy Publications

Objective

To investigate the determinants and quality of coverage decisions among uninsured choosing plans in a hypothetical health insurance marketplace.

Study Setting

Two samples of uninsured individuals: one from an Internet-based sample comprised largely of young, healthy, tech-savvy individuals (n = 276), and the other from low-income, rural Virginians (n = 161).

Study Design

We assessed whether health insurance comprehension, numeracy, choice consistency, and the number of plan choices were associated with participants' ability to choose a cost-minimizing plan, given their expected health care needs (defined as choosing a plan costing no more than $500 in excess of the total …

Music Therapy For Patients Who Have Undergone Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant, Chelsea G. Ratcliff, Sara Prinsloo, Michael Richardson, Laura Baynham-Fletcher, Richard Lee, Alejandro Chaoul, Marlene Z. Cohen, Marcos De Lima, Lorenzo Cohen

Journal Articles: College of Nursing

Objectives. This study examines the short- and long-term QOL benefits of a music therapy intervention for patients recovering from hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Methods. Ninety allogeneic HSCT patients, after transplant, were randomized to receive ISO-principle (i.e., mood matching) based music therapy (MT; n = 29), unstructured music (UM; n = 30), or usual care (UC; n = 31) for four weeks. The ISO principle posits that patients may shift their mood from one state to another by listening to music that is "equal to" the individual's initial mood state and subsequently listening to music selections that gradually shift in …

Testing The Waters: Are Health Education Specialists Willing To Conduct Rapid Hiv Testing?, Angela W. Prehn, Jacquie Fraser, Anthony J. Santella

2010-2016 Archived Posters

Approximately 1 in 5 people with HIV are not aware of their infection; access to testing is an important part of public health. In a national study, Health Education Specialists with high HIV knowledge and favorable attitudes towards persons with HIV/AIDS were more willing to be trained to conduct rapid HIV testing (RHT)

The Fatigue Experience Of African American Women With Breast Cancer, Phyllis D. Morgan Dr.

2010-2016 Archived Posters

Little is known about fatigue related to breast cancer among African American women. This qualitative study explored the fatigue experience of 10 African American women with breast cancer. The study was conducted in the southeastern United States. African American women provided vivid accounts of cancer related fatigue. The women discussed how they worked together with their physicians to manage fatigue related to breast cancer treatment. Strategies used by women included pharmacologic (i.e., vitamins and supplements) and non-pharmacologic (i.e., prayer and exercise) interventions. This information can be used to assist breast health advocates to understand how to support African American women …

Organizational Climate And The Theory Of Human Caring In Hospitals, Vivienne C. Meanger

2010-2016 Archived Posters

Patient care in hospitals has become perfunctory, task focused, and void of a personalized human connection, which has become an area of concern among scholars since the 1970s. This experimental, post-test only, control-group study with a purposive patient and clinical staff sample explored the relationship between human caring and patient satisfaction; and the role of leadership in transforming the organizational culture in an long term acute care hospital (LTACH) setting implanting the Magnet initiatives.

Reliability/Validity Of The Self-Stigma Of Mental Illness Scale (Ssmis), Amy Sickel, Jason D. Seacat Ph.D., Nina A. Nabors Ph.D.

2010-2016 Archived Posters

Most individuals diagnosed with mental illness are mild-moderate in severity. Research on the Self- Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (SSMIS) has traditionally focused on stigma associated with severely mentally ill individuals using clinical samples, leaving the psychometric properties of the SSMIS questionable when used with less severely ill individuals. Data from a non-clinical sample of 423 adults indicates the SSMIS scales are reliable. Correlations between the SSMIS scales and mental health scales provide convergent validity for the SSMIS. Findings suggest the SSMIS scales are reliable and valid when used within this population and suggest future directions for mental health stigma …

Anxiety And The Imposter Phenomenon Among Graduate Students In Online Versus Traditional Programs, Christy B. Fraenza

2010-2016 Archived Posters

This study compared online and traditional students on measures of imposter phenomenon (IP), anxiety, and perfectionism. Traditional students had significantly higher IP scores. Perfectionism was the strongest predictor of IP scores. Because the scale for perfectionism explored socially prescribed perfectionism, it seems to suggest an underlying social component to IP.

Examining The Effect Of Medical-Surgical Nurse Manager Leadership On Employee Organizational Citizenship, Cheryl B. Cullen

2010-2016 Archived Posters

An intriguing question in a hospital is “What makes one medical-surgical nursing unit more desirable to nurses, physicians, and patients than another?” This quantitative, correlational research study identified a moderately positive correlation (r = .35, p = .000 between the leadership and communication behaviors of the nurse manager and the organizational citizenship of the nurses and nursing assistants who worked on the medical-surgical nursing units studied. The social impact of this positive correlation is better patient care outcomes.

Effects Of Positive Behavior Intervention And Supports On Teacher Self-Efficacy And Teaching Anxiety, Jill Van Parys Couet

2010-2016 Archived Posters

Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS), for improving behavior and achievement is well established. The impact PBIS has on teaching anxiety and self-efficacy levels is unknown. Research indicates that both attributes affect students’ performance. This study examined how the implementation of PBIS affects teachers’ levels of teaching anxiety and self-efficacy.

Stress: The Development And Influence On Self-Identity, Earl Grey

2010-2016 Archived Posters

Using a grounded theory methodology and constantcomparative analysis, the investigator sought to develop an empirical understanding of the experience of stress and its influence on identity development. The 23 participants, who did not meet criteria for a DSM-IV-TR diagnoses, received 10 - 60 minutes sessions of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing treatment (EMDR). EMDR treatment targets stressful memories and elicits recall of thoughts, imagery, emotions, and physical body sensations related to the stressful experience. The data from video recorded sessions provided holistic information regarding each participant’s experience and recall of stressful events. The results yielded thematic developmental patterns of thoughts, …

Big Five Personality Traits And Proenvironmental Attitudes And Behaviors, Tara Rae Wuertz

2010-2016 Archived Posters

The big five is the most widely used model of individual personality trait differences. This quantitative research study is being completed to discern if the big five personality traits of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism are correlated with pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors

The Human-Animal Bond And Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress, Melissa White

2010-2016 Archived Posters

This study explored the lived experiences of Operational Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) service members with combatrelated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms who had a companion animal postdeployment. Twelve OEF and OIF veterans participated in semi-structured interviews analyzed using Moustakas’ phenomenological approach. Four themes emerged: (a) rich descriptions of deployment events, (b) the experiences of returning from a deployment, (c) participants’ perceptions on their pets’ influence on posttraumatic stress symptoms, and (d) other comments and opinions related to participants’ experiences. These findings illuminate the experience of combat-related posttraumatic stress and the importance of animals in the therapeutic …