Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Combined Mnemonic Strategy Training And High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation For Memory Deficits In Mild Cognitive Impairment, Benjamin M. Hampstead, Krishnankutty Sathian, Marom Bikson, Anthony Y. Stringer

Publications and Research

Introduction: Memory deficits characterize Alzheimer’s dementia and the clinical precursor stage known as mild cognitive impairment. Nonpharmacologic interventions hold promise for enhancing functioning in these patients, potentially delaying functional impairment that denotes transition to dementia. Previous findings revealed that mnemonic strategy training (MST) enhances long-term retention of trained stimuli and is accompanied by increased blood oxygen level–dependent signal in the lateral frontal and parietal cortices as well as in the hippocampus. The present study was designed to enhance MST generalization, and the range of patients who benefit, via concurrent delivery of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Methods: This protocol describes …

A Behavioral And Neuroimmune System Model Of The Effects Of Chronic Low-Level Lead Exposure In Young Male C57bl/6j Mice, Mayra Gisel Flores-Montoya

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chronic low-level lead exposure reduces memory in children however the brain mechanisms mediating these effects are not known. In previous studies we showed that early lead exposure reduced olfactory memory and exploratory behavior in young mice, and reduced microglia cell density in hippocampus/dentate gyrus. The present studies aimed to identify additional behavioral tests that were sensitive to early low-level lead exposure in young mice; and to examine whether microglia upregulated factors known to promote cell migration. Seventy-two C57BL/6J male mice were exposed to 0 ppm (controls), 30 ppm (low-dose), or 430 ppm (high-dose) of lead acetate via dams' milk from …

Learning, Memory, Cognition, And The Question Of Sentience In Fish, Robert Gerlai

Animal Sentience

Evolutionarily conserved features have been demonstrated at many levels of biological organization across a variety of species. Evolutionary conservation may apply to complex behavioral phenomena too. It is thus not inconceivable that a form of sentience does exist even in the lowest order vertebrate taxon, the teleosts. How similar it is to human sentience in its level of complexity or in its multidimensional features is a difficult question, especially from an experimental standpoint, given that even the definition of human sentience is debated. Woodruff attempts a Turing-like test of fish sentience, and lists numerous neuroanatomic, neurophysiological and behavioral similarities between …

Protein Kinase Mzeta (Pkm-Ζ) Regulates Kv1.2 Dependent Cerebellar Eyeblink Classical Conditioning, Kutibh Chihabi

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Learning and memory has been a topic that has captured the attention of the scientific and public communities since the dawn of scientific discovery. Without the faculty of memory, mammals cannot experience nor function in the world; among homosapiens specifically, language, relationships, and personal identity cannot be developed (Eysenck, 2012). After all, some philosophers such as John Locke argued we are nothing but a collection of past memories in which we have developed and improved upon (Nimbalkar, 2011).

Understanding the cellular mechanisms behind learning, and the subsequent formation of memory, has been a topic that has garnered scientific interest for …

Perceiving Oldness In Parietal Cortex: Fmri Characterization Of A Parietal Memory Network, Adrian Gilmore

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The manner in which the human brain recognizes certain stimuli as novel or familiar is a matter of ongoing investigation. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to improve our understanding of how this may be accomplished. More specifically, work contained herein focuses on a recently described "parietal memory network" (PMN; Gilmore et al., 2015) that shows opposite patterns of activity when perceiving novel or familiar stimuli: deactivating in response to novelty, and activating in response to familiarity. Critically, our understanding of this network is based on explicit memory tasks, in which subjects are deliberately instructed to learn or remember …

The Mechanisms Underlying Cocaine-Induced Overexpression Of Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (Bfgf, Fgf2), An Effect Reversed By Extinction, Madalyn Hafenbreidel

Theses and Dissertations

Drug addiction is characterized by compulsive drug use and chronic relapse despite negative consequences. Drug-induced structural and functional changes in the brain are thought to underlie these characteristics. One mechanism that may mediate these characteristics are growth factors, such as basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF or FGF2), as they are necessary for cellular growth, survival, differentiation, and have roles in memory, mood, and anxiety disorders. bFGF mRNA and protein expression is increased following stimulant administration and is necessary for stimulant-induced changes in dendrites and behavioral sensitization. Moreover, addiction is maintained by cues associated with the drug, as they can can …

Recognition Training For Faces Across Age Gaps, William Blake Erickson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Face recognition is a problem that has theoretical and applied value. However, the fact of facial aging is rarely addressed in research and unmentioned in the major theories of face recognition. Facial aging also has ramifications for missing persons and fugitive cases, confounding attempts by law enforcement to recover these people whose last known images are years or decades out of date. This dissertation reports three studies aimed at measuring baseline age-gap recognition ability and testing various training regimens designed to increase accuracy rates for this unique kind of recognition task.

The Effects Of Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Neuroinflammation On Learning And Forgetting In Juvenile Rats, Michele Barry

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The inability to remember events experienced very early in life is referred to as Infantile Amnesia (IA) and has been observed in both humans and animals. Over the years interest in the phenomenon waned, but has recently increased with the discovery of new neurobiological methods to study brain function (e.g., Callaghan, Li & Richardson, 2014). The neurobiological mechanism behind IA has yet to be determined, but several innovative theories have been developed with these new research methods. The neurogenesis hypothesis theorizes that increased neurogenesis during early development disrupts previously established memories. The hippocampus, an area that mediates both the memory …

Eye Movement Effects In Simulated Object Recognition Memory Impairment, Dmitriy Kazakov

Theses and Dissertations

Malingering is the purposeful fabrication of symptoms for secondary gain. Memory problems are the most reported symptom, and object recognition tests are often used in clinical settings to evaluate these claims. Past research has shown that eye movements can indirectly index memory, in that greater viewing is directed at studied stimuli 500-750 ms after display onset. The present study evaluated eye movements as a potential method of detecting feigned memory impairment. Forty-eight participants, half simulators, studied standardized images and took a memory test. Several levels of analysis were used to detect broad trends and brief effects. Simulators performed significantly worse …

The Effects Of Cognitive Rehabilitation For Improving Prospective Memory In Acquired Brain Injury, Emily M. Aiken

Masters Theses

Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) includes any damage to the brain resulting from traumatic (e.g. motor vehicle accident) or non-traumatic (e.g. stroke) incidence, that occurs after birth and is not resulting from genetic or congenital factors. Individuals with ABI report that prospective memory (PM) deficits are the most detrimental cognitive impairment following injury, persistently and negatively impacting their ability to function properly in everyday life. PM refers to the ability to remember to carry out intended tasks in the future, including the recall of both time and event regulated intentions. Using neuropsychological assessments to produce patient deficit profiles, this study examines …

Reflections Of The Social Environment In Chimpanzee Memory: Applying Rational Analysis Beyond Humans, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Julian N. Marewski, Lael J. Schooler, Ian C. Gilby

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

In cognitive science, the rational analysis framework allows modelling of how physical and social environments impose information-processing demands onto cognitive systems. In humans, for example, past social contact among individuals predicts their future contact with linear and power functions. These features of the human environment constrain the optimal way to remember information and probably shape how memory records are retained and retrieved. We offer a primer on how biologists can apply rational analysis to study animal behaviour. Using chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as a case study, we modelled 19 years of observational data on their social contact patterns. Much …

Reduced Conscious Recollection And Its Detection In Three Performance Validity Tests : A Dual Task Interference Investigation, Graham Michael Silk-Eglit

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Performance validity is an essential component of neuropsychological assessment. Research suggests that examinees with specific neurological conditions cannot successfully complete certain performance validity tests (PVTs). However, very little basic research has explored the information processing underlying performance on PVTs that might explain why these examinees fail certain PVTs. The current study used a dual task interference paradigm to isolate the impact of reducing conscious recollection on the performance of three PVTs, the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), Victoria Symptom Validity Test (VSVT), and Word Memory Test (WMT). One-hundred-and-twenty-six non-clinical undergraduate research participants were administered these three PVTs as part of …

Echoes, Sarah Abigail Adleman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

When I was sixteen, my mother was killed one evening while running on the bayou behind our house in Houston. The man, who is now on Death Row in Texas, beat, raped, and then strangled her to death. Writer Mary Cappello says of Creative Nonfiction, to compose discursively requires that we turn in the direction of the discourses that have made us who we are rather than start from a place of what we think happened to us in the course of our lives. She goes on further to say, Creative nonfiction appreciates the power of prepositions. Instead of writing …

Contrasting Styles In Cognition And Behaviour In Bumblebees And Honeybees., David F Sherry, Caroline G Strang

Psychology Publications

Bumblebees and honeybees have been the subjects of a great deal of recent research in animal cognition. Many of the major topics in cognition, including memory, attention, concept learning, numerosity, spatial cognition, timing, social learning, and metacognition have been examined in bumblebees, honeybees, or both. Although bumblebees and honeybees are very closely related, they also differ in important ways, including social organization, development, and foraging behaviour. We examine whether differences between bumblebees and honeybees in cognitive processes are related to differences in their natural history and behaviour. There are differences in some cognitive traits, such as serial reversal learning and …

Verbal Learning And Memory In Adolescent Cannabis Users, Alcohol Users And Non-Users, Nadia Solowij, Katy A. Jones, Megan E. Rozman, Sasha M. Davis, Joseph Ciarrochi, Patrick C. L Heaven, Dan I. Lubman, Murat Yucel

joseph Ciarrochi

Rationale Long-term heavy cannabis use can result in memory impairment. Adolescent users may be especially vulnerable to the adverse neurocognitive effects of cannabis. Objectives and methods In a cross-sectional and prospective neuropsychological study of 181 adolescents aged 16–20 (mean 18.3 years), we compared performance indices from one of the most widely used measures of learning and memory—the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test—between cannabis users (n=52; mean 2.4 years of use, 14 days/month, median abstinence 20.3 h), alcohol users (n=67) and non-user controls (n=62) matched for age, education and premorbid intellectual ability (assessed prospectively), and alcohol consumption for cannabis and alcohol …

Regulation Of Mtor And Erk Signaling In The Amygdala Through Proteolytic Modulation Of Pp2a Activity Following Auditory Fear Learning, David Sylvan Reis

Theses and Dissertations

The consolidation of fear memories is known to depend on a number of critical cellular processes including de novo protein synthesis and 26S proteasome-dependent protein degradation following auditory fear conditioning (Jarome et al., 2011; Kwapis et al., 2011). Early work has suggested that protein degradation, mediated by the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS), may regulate the requirement for de novo protein synthesis during memory consolidation (Jarome & Helmstetter, 2014). However, the precise way in which the UPS is able to regulate mechanisms of protein synthesis remain unclear. In the present set of experiments, we investigated the role of the protein phosphatase …

Effect Of Sensory Cues On Hand Hygiene Habits Among A Diverse Workforce In Food Service, Robert Pellegrino

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poor hand hygiene is a leading cause of foodborne illnesses in the foodservice industry. A series of complex motivational interventions must be employed to permanently change the behavior of workers, to increase their compliance and sustain appropriate levels of proper hand hygiene. Unlike the healthcare industry, which uses large, costly multi-modal behavior modification strategies, the foodservice industry must deploy rapid, cost-efficient strategies that are focus on accommodating these goals with the constraints of high employee turnover rates and diverse demographics. This research was twofold, 1) examining differences in emotions and hand hygiene behavior among participants of two cultures when handling …

Effects Of 17Β-Estradiol On Learning And Memory And Strategy Use During A Hole Board Spatial Navigation Task In Aged Male Rats, Megan Berthiaume

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Treatment with 17β- estradiol has been shown to ameliorate age related deficits in spatial learning and memory as well as to promote the use of an allocentric strategy during spatial navigation. While the majority of research using 17β- estradiol has been done using females rodents, there have been studies showing an improvement in spatial learning and memory and promoted use of allocentric strategies in spatial navigation in males as well. In males testosterone (T) is metabolized into estradiol by aromatase. As circulating levels of T decline with aging there is less available T to be metabolized into estradiol. The current …

Hippocampal Volume And Auditory Attention On A Verbal Memory Task With Adult Survivors Of Pediatric Brain Tumor, Reema Jayakar, Tricia Z. King, Robin Morris, Sabrina Na

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: We examined the nature of verbal memory deficits and the possible hippocampal underpinnings in long-term adult survivors of childhood brain tumor. Method: 35 survivors (M=24.10±4.93 years at testing; 54% female), on average 15 years post-diagnosis, and 59 typically developing adults (M=22.40±4.35 years, 54% female) participated. Automated FMRIB Software Library (FSL) tools were used to measure hippocampal, putamen, and whole brain volumes. The California Verbal Learning Test – Second Edition (CVLT-II) was used to assess verbal memory. Results: Hippocampal (F(1,91)=4.06, η_p²=.04), putamen (F(1,91)=11.18, η_p²=.11), and whole brain (F(1,92)=18.51, …

Cortisol Levels And Voltage Conditions Of College Students, Adriana Steffens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a limited research base on low voltage brain conditions, which are characterized by electrical activity being measured at below 20 microvolts. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between saliva cortisol levels and voltage using an EGG in a college student population. Illuminating this relationship is important to inform how low voltage conditions can affect daily memory and cognitive functioning of undergraduate college students that may be a result of stress. The college student population may be vulnerable to the low voltage condition because of stress from the transition between teenage and adult life and …

The Role Of Napping On Memory Consolidation In Preschool Children, Laura Kurdziel

Doctoral Dissertations

Nocturnal sleep has been shown to benefit memory in adults and children. During the preschool age range (~3-5 years), the distribution of sleep across the 24-hour period changes dramatically. Children transition from biphasic sleep patterns (a nap in addition to overnight sleep) to a monophasic sleep pattern (only overnight sleep). In addition, early childhood is a time of neuronal plasticity and pronounced acquisition of new information. This dissertation sought to examine the relationship between daytime napping and memory consolidation in preschool-aged children during this transitional time. Children were taught either a declarative or an emotional task in the morning, and …

Experiencing The Ineffable, Joseph O'Brien

CrissCross

I can recall the first time I learned to take a fish off the hook after catching it. My grandfather and I were fishing in a river near my home in Connecticut, the sun shone off the yellow of a pumpkinseed sunfish's belly. After removing it from the hook, I put it in a five-gallon pail of water. Despite the clarity of the things I do recall, there are those elements of this memory that remain wholly inaccessible to me. I cannot remember whether it was late spring or early autumn, what color my rod was, or if there were …

Memory Retrieval Is Maintained By Intrinsic And Synaptic Plasticity In Prelimbic Cortex, James Otis

Theses and Dissertations

Abnormally strong memories underlie common disorders including addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Memory disruption would therefore be beneficial for treatment of these disorders. Evidence reveals that cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP) memories are susceptible to long-lasting disruption during memory retrieval. For example, inhibition of β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) activity within the prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex (PL-mPFC) prevents cocaine CPP memory retrieval, and this retrieval impairment is both long-lasting and prevents subsequent reinstatement of the CPP. Despite this, whether PL-mPFC β-AR activity is a fundamental mechanism required to maintain retrieval of other memories is unclear. Furthermore, how PL-mPFC β-AR activity maintains …

Spatial And Temporal Response Patterns On The Eight-Arm Radial Maze, Robert H.I. Dale

Robert H. I. Dale

Six maze-experienced hooded rats were timed during five trials on which they collected water from all arms of an eight-arm radial maze, then made five more choices. All subjects frequently exhibited a “task-completion pause:” The subjects rarely spent more than 1 sec in the center of the maze between choices until they had entered all eight arms, then stopped in the center of the maze. In contrast, the time spent in each arm gradually increased until all of the water had been obtained, then decreased slightly. Four subjects began every trial by choosing eight consecutive adjacent arms. The task-completion pause …

Is Contextual Cue Learning Flexible? An Eye-Movement Study Of The Contextual Cueing Task, Youcai Yang

Theses and Dissertations

Visual searching can be facilitated without awareness when the target is repeatedly presented in an invariant context in tasks such as contextual cueing (Chun & Jiang 1998). A behavioral cost (increased reaction time) was observed when the target was moved to a new location but no such cost was observed when the target returned to the initial location. The lack of cost for return suggests two possible explanations: One is that the learning can update the initial learning to acquire both target locations, which suggests the implicit learning is flexible. The other is that the contextual cue leaning cannot update …

Mediation Of Recurrent Hypoglycemia's Physiological And Behavioral Effects In The Hippocampus By Glucocorticoids, Danielle Osborne

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Recurrent hypoglycemia (RH) occurs with the over administration of insulin resulting in severe hypoglycemia on a repetitive basis. This occurs most commonly among Type I Diabetics who rely on exogenous insulin replacement for management of their disease; however it is becoming increasingly common among Type II Diabetics. Although cognitive deficits are reported during hypoglycemia, the period following restoration of euglycemia has been denoted by improved hippocampally-mediated short-term and working memory in humans and rodents, respectively. RH is also associated with an altered glucocorticoid secretion profile in response to hypoglycemia. In vitro and in vivo approaches were utilized with the goal …

The Role Of Igf-Ii In Memory Enhancement : Implications For Autism Spectrum Disorders, Amy S. Kohtz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Cognitive and memory impairments significantly affect multiple domains in life and play major roles in disease. Identifying critical mechanisms and factors that mediate memory consolidation and enhancement may represent an important approach for increasing cognition in normal adults and preventing or treating cognitive impairments. The expression of the C/EBP- target gene insulin-like growth factor 2, (IGF-II) is required for memory consolidation; furthermore, IGF-II administration during memory consolidation produces memory enhancement, increased memory persistence and prevents forgetting. In this thesis, I investigated the therapeutic potential of IGF-II to promote memory consolidation when administered systemically. In addition, I investigated one particularly interesting …

The Role Of A Camkii/Pka-Protein Degradation-Glur2 Pathway In The Control Of Memory Updating Following Retrieval, Timothy Jarome

Theses and Dissertations

Reconsolidation is thought to be a process whereby consolidated memories can be modified following retrieval. However, very little is known about the molecular mechanisms that regulate this reconsolidation process. In the present series of experiments we tested if memories "destabilize" or become labile following retrieval through a specific signaling pathway. We found that retrieval of a contextual fear memory differentially increased proteasome activity in the amygdala and hippocampus and resulted in unique changes in AMPA receptor subunit expression in these brain regions. These changes were dependent on CaMKII activity, which was required for increases in Rpt6-S120 phosphorylation, proteasome activity and …

Targeted Training Of The Decision Rule Benefits Rule-Guided Behavior In Parkinson’S Disease, Shawn W. Ell

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

The impact of Parkinson’s disease (PD) on rule-guided behavior has received considerable attention in cognitive neuroscience. The majority of research has used PD as a model of dysfunction in fronto-striatal networks, but very few attempts have been made to investigate the possibility of adapting common experimental techniques in an effort to identify the conditions that are most likely to facilitate successful performance. The present study investigated a targeted training paradigm designed to facilitate rule learning and application using rule-based categorization as a model task. Participants received targeted training in which there was no selective-attention demand (i.e., stimuli varied along a …

Changing Room Cues Reduces The Effects Of Proactive Interference In Clark’S Nutcrackers, Nucifraga Columbiana, Jody L. Lewis, Alan C. Kamil, Kate E. Webbink

Avian Cognition Papers

To determine what factors are important for minimizing interference effects in spatial memory, Clark’s Nutcrackers, Nucifraga columbiana were tested for their spatial memory for two serial lists of locations per day. In this experiment two unique landmark sets were either different between List 1 and List 2 or the same. We found that Nutcrackers were most susceptible to interference when the landmark sets were the same. This study suggests that repeatedly testing animal memory in the same room, with the same cues, can hamper recall due to interference.