Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Sleep Estimates In Children: Parental Versus Actigraphic Assessments, Ehab A. Dayyat, Karen Spruyt, Dennis L. Molfese, David Gozal

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Background: In the context of increasing awareness about the need for assessment of sleep duration in community and clinical settings, the use of questionnaire-based tools may be fraught with reporter bias. Conversely, actigraphy provides objective assessments of sleep patterns. In this study, we aimed to determine the potential discrepancies between parentally-based sleep logs and concurrent actigraphic recordings in children over a one-week period.

Methods: We studied 327 children aged 3–10 years, and included otherwise healthy, nonsnoring children from the community who were reported by their parents to be nonsnorers and had normal polysomnography, habitually-snoring children from the community …

Minimal Information For Neural Electromagnetic Ontologies (Minemo): A Standards-Compliant Method For Analysis And Integration Of Event-Related Potentials (Erp) Data, Gwen Frishkoff, Jason Sydes, Kurt Mueller, Tim Curran, John F. Connolly, Kerry Kilborn, Dennis L. Molfese, Charles Perfetti, Allen D. Malony

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

We present MINEMO (Minimal Information for Neural ElectroMagnetic Ontologies), a checklist for the description of event-related potentials (ERP) studies. MINEMO extends MINI (Minimal Information for Neuroscience Investigations)to the ERP domain. Checklist terms are explicated in NEMO, a formal ontology that is designed to support ERP data sharing and integration. MINEMO is also linked to an ERP database and web application (the NEMO portal). Users upload their data and enter MINEMO information through the portal. The database then stores these entries in RDF (Resource Description Framework), along with summary metrics, i.e., spatial and temporal metadata. Together these spatial, temporal, and functional …

Orbitofrontal Cortex Provides Cross-Modal Valuation Of Self-Generated Stimuli, William A. Cunningham, Ingrid J. Haas, Ashley S. Waggoner

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

Prior research has shown that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays an important role in the representation of the evaluation of stimuli, regardless of stimulus modality. Based on these findings, researchers have proposed that the OFC serves a common currency function, allowing for the direct comparison of different types of perceptual stimuli (e.g. food, drink, money). The present study was designed to extend this research and investigate whether these same regions of OFC that have been identified in previous research are involved in evaluating imagined stimuli. Specifically, we asked participants to draw on prior attitudinal knowledge to generate internal representations of …

Neural Substrates Of Reliability-Weighted Visual-Tactile Multisensory Integration, Michael S. Beauchamp, Siavash Pasalar, Tony Ro

Publications and Research

As sensory systems deteriorate in aging or disease, the brain must relearn the appropriate weights to assign each modality during multisensory integration. Using blood-oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging of human subjects, we tested a model for the neural mechanisms of sensory weighting, termed “weighted connections.” This model holds that the connection weights between early and late areas vary depending on the reliability of the modality, independent of the level of early sensory cortex activity. When subjects detected viewed and felt touches to the hand, a network of brain areas was active, including visual areas in lateral occipital cortex, …

Eye Movement Measures Of Cognitive Control In Children With To Urette Syndrome, Cameron B. Jeter

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Tourette Syndrome begins in childhood and is characterized by uncontrollable repetitive actions like neck craning or hopping and noises such as sniffing or chirping. Worst in early adolescence, these tics wax and wane in severity and occur in bouts unpredictably, often drawing unwanted attention from bystanders. Making matters worse, over half of children with Tourette Syndrome also suffer from comorbid, or concurrent, disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). These disorders introduce anxious thoughts, impulsivity, inattention, and mood variability that further disrupt children with Tourette Syndrome from focusing and performing well at school and home. …

Functionality, Parsimony, Discovery, Avoiding Hamartia: How Evolutionary Perspectives Are Changing Psychology, Brooke N. Jenkins, Aaron T. Goetz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Evolutionary psychology offers an important perspective to scientific psychology. Evolutionary psychology, in its short existence, has added an abundance of knowledge to the social sciences, let alone psychology. The study of human cognition and behavior remains incomplete without an evolutionary perspective. Here, we argue that evolutionary psychology uniquely provides a complete understanding of scientific psychology because it explains the functions of our psychological traits, provides us with the most parsimonious explanation of many psychological phenomena, predicts undocumented phenomena, and possibly allows us to avoid the downfalls of some of our contemptible evolved psychological mechanisms.

Motivational Profiles And Their Associations With Achievement Outcomes, Bo Shen, Nate Mccaughtry, Jeffrey J. Martin, Mariane Fahlman

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

With the belief that theoretical integration in motivation may help us better understand motivational behavior, we designed this study to explore adolescents’ motivational profiles and their associations with knowledge acquisition, leisure-time exercise behaviors, and cardiorespiratory fitness. Middle school students from a large urban inner-city school district (N = 603, ages 12–14) completed questionnaires assessing motivational constructs and leisure-time exercise behavior. Knowledge and cardiorespiratory fitness were also assessed with a knowledge test and the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test, respectively. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, we found that students’ motivation in physical education could be explained from a multi-theoretical …

Sleep-Disordered Breathing Affects Auditory Processing In 5–7 Year-Old Children: Evidence From Brain Recordings, Alexandra P.F. Key, Dennis L. Molfese, Louise O’Brien, David Gozal

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Poor sleep in children is associated with lower neurocognitive functioning and increased maladaptive behaviors. The current study examined the impact of snoring (the most common manifestation of sleep-disordered breathing) on cognitive and brain functioning in a sample of 35 asymptomatic children ages 5–7 years identified in the community as having habitual snoring (SDB). All participants completed polysomnographic, neurocognitive (NEPSY) and psychophysiological (ERPs to speech sounds) assessments. The results indicated that sub-clinical levels of SDB may not necessarily lead to reduced performance on standardized behavioral measures of attention and memory. However, brain indices of speech perception and discrimination (N1/P2) are sensitive …

Cognitive Inference And Resulting Behaviors In Response To Ambiguous Threat In The Coyote, Canis Latrans, Sarah Shawnee Dawson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While antipredator strategies have been a focus of behavioral research for decades, scientists generally study the responses of prey toward overt, explicit threat. However, risk can also be significant when a threat is covert, such as when an ambush predator may be nearby or a secondary threat remains after a predator's departure. Little is known about the mechanism that prey use to assess risk in a predator's absence. Tests were conducted to determine the manner in which coyotes respond to these ambiguous threats. Specifically, I tested whether coyotes respond to prior anthropogenic activity that has occurred near their only food …

Frequency And Spatial Characteristics Of Highfrequency Neuromagnetic Signals In Childhood Epilepsy, Jing Xiang, Yang Liu, Yingying Wang, Elijah G. Kirtman, Cincinnati Children’S Hospital Medical Center Kotecha, Yangmei Chen, Xiaolin Huo, Hisako Fujiwara, Nat Hemasilpin, Ki Lee, Francesco T. Mangano, James Leach, Blaise Jones, Ton Degrauw, Douglas Rose

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Purpose. Invasive intracranial recordings have suggested that high-frequency oscillation is involved in epileptogenesis and is highly localized to epileptogenic zones. The aim of the present study is to characterize the frequency and spatial patterns of high-frequency brain signals in childhood epilepsy using a non-invasive technology. Methods. Thirty children with clinically diagnosed epilepsy were studied using a whole head magnetoencephalography (MEG) system. MEG data were digitized at 4 000 Hz. The frequency and spatial characteristics of high-frequency neuromagnetic signals were analyzed using continuous wavelet transform and beamformer. Threedimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was obtained for each patient to localize magnetic sources. …

Revisiting The Mind- Body Paradox: Can Brain Functioning Explain Moral Reasoning?, Brianna Mahan

Honors Projects in Science and Technology

With this paper, I attempt to explore possible neural correlates of morality. We define morality as the one part, structure, or process of the brain that could be linked to an innate ability to understand and determine right versus wrong. An understanding of right of right and wrong can provide us with a sense of guilt and empathy for an action or another person. Right and wrong will be defined through a primarily Judeo-Christian perspective, as it was the principle respondent among our questionnaire. There is a possibility for differences among other religions. For that reason, we expect the neural …

The Future (Or Lack Of Future) Of Personalized Prescription In Psychiatry, Jose De Leon

Psychiatry Faculty Publications

Rapid technological advances in genetics have created conceptual chaos regarding the genetics of drug response. Terms for differing concepts are used interchangeably: pharmacogenetics with pharmacogenomics, personalized medicine with personalized prescription. Biomarker has many definitions. The author prefers the concept of personalized prescription and uses it with implications beyond pharmacogenetics by considering all scientific information valid for prescribing medication. Genetics may not be crucial for all drugs. In this comprehensive view, clinicians must consider genetic, environmental and personal variables when prescribing medication and incorporate some basic pharmacological principles: (1) safety and efficacy, (2) pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, (3) therapeutic window and prescriber's …

Impairments In Attention In Occasionally Snoring Children: An Event-Related Potential Study, Maria E. Barnes, Elizabeth A. Huss, Krista N. Garrod, Eric Van Raay, Ehab Dayyat, Dennis L. Molfese

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Objective—To determine whether minimal snoring is benign in children.

Procedure—22 rarely snoring children (mean age=6.9 years, 11 females) and age- and sexmatched controls participated in an auditory oddball task wearing 128-electrode nets. Parents completed Conner’s Parent Rating Scales-Revised Long (CPRS-R:L).

Results—Snorers scored significantly higher on 4 CPRS-R:L subscales. Stepwise regression indicated that two ERP variables from a region of the ERP that peaked at 844 ms post-stimulus onset predicted CPRS-R:L ADHD Index scores.

Conclusions—Occasional snorers according to parental report do exhibit ADHD-like behaviors. Basic sensory processing is longer than in controls, suggesting that delayed frontal activation requires more effort in …

The Relationship Between Rrequency Of Physical Activity And Stereotypical Behaviors Among Adolescents With Autism, Justin M. Keyes

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Possible Pre-Cognitive Advantages Of Bilingualism, Marisela Gutierrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Past research has suggested that second language acquisition has a beneficial effect on the development of inhibitory control processes in children and adults. This has been referred to as the "bilingual advantage" and is most commonly quantified using the Simon task. Whether the bilingual advantage extends to precognitive mechanisms has not yet been examined. The goals of this study were to examine the bilingual advantage in university students; and to examine whether the bilingual advantage extends to the precognitive filtering mechanism of sensorimotor gating. It was predicted that, as compared to monolinguals, bilingual university students would have greater inhibitory control, …

Resting State Default-Mode Network Connectivity In Early Depression Using A Seed Region-Of-Interest Analysis: Decreased Connectivity With Caudate Nucleus, Robyn Bluhm, Peter Williamson, Ruth Lanius, Jean Théberge, Maria Densmore, Robert Bartha, Richard Neufeld, Elizabeth Osuch

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Aim: Reports on resting brain activity in healthy controls have described a default-mode network (DMN) and important differences in DMN connectivity have emerged for several psychiatric conditions. No study to date, however, has investigated resting-state DMN in relatively early depression before years of medication treatment. The objective of the present study was, therefore, to investigate the DMN in patients seeking help from specialized mental health services for the first time for symptoms of depression.

Methods: Fourteen depressed subjects and 15 matched controls were scanned using 4-T functional magnetic resonance imaging while resting with eyes closed. All but one subject was …

Does Type Of Stimulus Influence Task-Irrelevant Evaluative Categorization Processes?, Guadalupe Corral

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The effect of stimulus type on task-irrelevant evaluative categorization was examined in two separate studies by using the P3 component from event-related brain potentials. The first study presented idiosyncratic stimuli consisting of individuals that were rated by participants as either positive or negative within sequences of pictorial and verbal stimuli. The second study presented sequences of novel and familiar stimuli consisting of previously normed unattractive and neutral individuals. It was hypothesized that pictures would elicit task-irrelevant evaluative categorization processes and so would novel stimuli (relative to words and familiar stimuli, respectively). Task-irrelevance was examined by assessing P3 peak amplitude to …

2009- 2010 Unlv Mcnair Journal, Kathleen Bell, Danetta Bradley, Vacheral M. Carter, Nydia Diaz, Kathryn E. English, Sarah Harrison, Michelle Israel, Christina Macke, Erica Orozco, Pilar Palos, Sandra Ramos, Soraya A. Silverman, Susan Taylor, Sajar Camara, William Mccurdy, Yvonne C. Morris, Maxym V. Myroshnychenko, Ricardo Rios, Monique Sulls, Bremen Vance, Barbara Wallen

McNair Journal

Journal articles based on research conducted by undergraduate students in the McNair Scholars Program

Table of Contents

Biography of Dr. Ronald E. McNair

Statements:

Dr. Neal J. Smatresk, UNLV President

Dr. Juanita P. Fain, Vice President of Student Affairs

Dr. William W. Sullivan, Associate Vice President for Retention and Outreach

Mr. Keith Rogers, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach

McNair Scholars Institute Staff

Elucidating The Role Of The Α7 Nicotinic Receptor In The Etiology Of Schizophrenia., Michelle Johnson Chandley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The α7 subunit of the nicotinic receptor, a ligand gated ion channel with an affinity for nicotine, has long been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia due to the extremely high rate of smoking within the patient population. However, the exact role of the receptor has never fully been determined. In the following studies, various functions the receptor may assume in disease state are evaluated. There is a strong relationship between the immune system and schizophrenia, with the α7 subunit possibly serving as the link between the two. One of the following studies looks at the possibility of the receptor …

Eye Movement, Rem Sleep And Adhd: An Examination Of Eye Movement Patterns During Rem Sleep In Adhd Populations, Elin Marie Grissom

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigates differences in patterns of eye movement and sleep architecture during REM stage sleep in children with a diagnosis of ADHD, compared to those without the diagnosis. Existing studies have found differences in eye movement patterns during waking hours in these two groups (Munoz, Armstrong, Hampton, & Moore, 2003; O'Laughlin, Brubaker, Gay, Deans, & Aaron, 2006) as well as differences in patterns of REM sleep. The current study will focus on the fine structure of eye movement in REM in children with and without ADHD. Using pediatric polysomnographic recordings, the frequency, density, strength, and inferred direction of …

A Synaptic Basis For Auditory-Vocal Integration In The Songbird, Eric E. Bauer, Melissa J. Coleman, Todd F. Roberts, Arani Roy, Jonathan F. Prather, Richard Mooney

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

Songbirds learn to sing by memorizing a tutor song that they then vocally mimic using auditory feedback. This developmental sequence suggests that brain areas that encode auditory memories communicate with brain areas for learned vocal control. In the songbird, the secondary auditory telencephalic region caudal mesopallium (CM) contains neurons that encode aspects of auditory experience. We investigated whether CM is an important source of auditory input to two sensorimotor structures implicated in singing, the telencephalic song nucleus interface (NIf) and HVC. We used reversible inactivation methods to show that activity in CM is necessary for much of the auditory-evoked activity …

Of Mice And Men: A Comparative Study Assessing Behavioral Indicators Of Sugar Addiction In Mice And College Students, Kahlilia Morris

Capstone Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Smoking During Pregnancy Affects Speech-Processing Ability In Newborn Infants, Alexandra P.F. Key, Melissa Ferguson, Dennis L. Molfese, Kelley Peach, Victoria J. Molfese

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoking during pregnancy is known to adversely affect development of the central nervous system in babies of smoking mothers by restricting utero–placental blood flow and the amount of oxygen available to the fetus. Behavioral data associate maternal smoking with lower verbal scores and poorer performance on specific language/auditory tests.

OBJECTIVES: In the current study we examined the effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on newborns’ speech processing ability as measured by event-related potentials (ERPs).

METHOD: High-density ERPs were recorded within 48 hr of birth in healthy newborn infants of smoking (n = 8) and nonsmoking …

The Effect Of Handling Time On Temporal Discounting In Two New World Primates, Alexandra G. Rosati, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Marc D. Hauser

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Foraging decisions in nonhuman animals often require choosing between small, immediate food rewards and larger, more delayed rewards. Faced with such choices, animals typically discount or devalue the future quite strongly. Although discounting studies often focus on delays to reward access, other temporal intervals contribute to foraging rate, and thus may potentially influence discounting levels. Here, we examine the effect of handling time, the time required to process and consume food, on discounting in cottontop tamarins, Saguinus oedipus, and common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus, two species that differ in levels of temporal discounting. We presented subjects with a discounting task under …

The Theory Of Planned Behavior: Predicting Physical Activity And Cardiorespiratory Fitness In African American Children, Jeffrey J. Martin, Pamela Hodges Kulinna, Nate Mccaughtry, Donetta Cothran, Joe Dake, Gail Frances Fahoome

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the ability of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to predict African American children’s moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and cardiorespiratory fitness. Children (N = 548, ages 9–12) completed questionnaires assessing the TPB constructs and MVPA and then had their cardiorespiratory fitness assessed with the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test. Commonly used Structural Equation Modeling fit indices suggested the model was an adequate representation for the relationships within the data. However, results also suggested an extended model which was examined and supported. Tests of direct paths from subjective …

Validation Of A Serotonin Depletion Checklist In Parkinson’S Disease, Kelly Diane Darby Holder

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The distinctive pathological marker of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the progressive death of neurons that produce dopamine; however, there are also major alterations in the production of quantities of other neurotransmitters, such as norepinephrine and serotonin that contribute to the signs, symptoms, neuropsychological manifestations of the diseases. PD patients can be divided into classes based on the manifestation of motor symptoms, type A, classified as tremor dominant, and type B PD, classified as akinetic. Type B PD patients, often manifest symptoms in which serotonin deficiency plays an important role, such as frontal cognitive impairments, which often includes a history of …

A Social Cognitive Perspective Of Physical-Activity-Related Behavior In Physical Education, Jeffrey J. Martin, Pamela Hodges Kulinna

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The purpose of the current study was to examine student and teacher physical-activity-related behavior using the theory of planned behavior and self-efficacy theory. Although teachers reported an overwhelmingly positive attitude toward teaching physical activity lessons to promote fitness development, they only devoted 4% of their class time to actually demonstrating and promoting fitness. Students were quite sedentary during class spending 61% of class time sitting, standing, or lying down. Using hierarchical regression analyses, teachers' attitudes toward teaching physically active physical education classes accounted for 50% of the variance in teachers' intention. Teachers who demonstrated/promoted fitness and who limited their general …

Economic Efficiency And Consumer Choice Theory In Nutritional Labeling, Michael Mccann

Law Faculty Scholarship

As more Americans consume fast food each year, more Americans are contracting serious diseases related to obesity. Considering that obesity ranks second behind tobacco use as the largest contributor to mortality rates in the United States, and also that it gives rise to greater publicly funded health care expenses than does tobacco, this phenomenon begs the obvious question: To what extent does the growing consumption of fast food contribute to the obesity epidemic and the incidence of disease? If the answer indicates a meaningful contribution, a natural follow-up question then emerges: In a sensible legal system, what instruments would best …

What It Is To Be A Dog: A Qualitative Method For The Study Of Animals Other Than Humans, Kenneth J. Shapiro

Experimentation Collection

No abstract provided.

Gender Differences In Gross And Fine Motor Abilities In Preschool Aged Children In West Virginia, Kelly R. Pennington

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences in gross and fine motor abilities in preschool aged children in West Virginia. Subjects consisted of 21 males and 16 females. Data was collected via the West Virginia Educare Initiative using the Carolina Curriculum for Preschoolers with Special Needs. Results of this study indicate that there are no significant gender differences in either gross motor or fine motor abilities in preschool aged children.