Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Behavioral Context Affects Social Signal Representations Within Single Primate Prefrontal Cortex Neurons, Vladimir Jovanovic, Adam R. Fishbein, Lisa A. De La Mothe, Kuo-Fen Lee, Cory T. Miller

Psychology Faculty Research

We tested whether social signal processing in more traditional, head-restrained contexts is representative of the putative natural analog – social communication – by comparing responses to vocalizations within individual neurons in marmoset prefrontal cortex (PFC) across a series of behavioral contexts ranging from traditional to naturalistic. Although vocalization responsive neurons were evident in all contexts, cross-context consistency was notably limited. A response to these social signals when subjects were head-restrained was not predictive of a comparable neural response to the identical vocalizations during natural communication, even within the same neuron. Neural activity at the population level followed a similar pattern, …

Methodological Issues With Coding Participants In Anonymous Psychological Longitudinal Studies, Lillian M. Audette, Marie S. Hammond, Natalie K. Rochester

Psychology Faculty Research

Longitudinal studies are commonly used in the social and behavioral sciences to answer a wide variety of research questions. Longitudinal researchers often collect data anonymously from participants when studying sensitive topics to ensure that accurate information is provided. One difficulty gathering longitudinal anonymous data is that of correctly matching participants across waves of data collection. A number of methods have been proposed for using nonidentifying codes to match anonymous participants; however, currently there is no consensus on the most effective method. This article reviews and analyzes the literature on nonidentifying codes and provides recommendations for researchers interested in using these …

The Emergence Of Top-Down, Sensory Prediction During Learning In Infancy: A Comparison Of Full-Term And Preterm Infants, Alex M. Boldin, Romin Geiger, Lauren L. Emberson

Psychology Student Research

Prematurity alters developmental trajectories in preterm infants even in the absence of medical complications. Here, we use fNIRS and learning tasks to probe the nature of the developmental differences between preterm and full-term born infants. Our recent work has found that prematurity disrupts the ability to engage in top-down sensory prediction after learning. We now examine the neural changes during the learning that precede prediction. In full-terms, we found modulation of all cortical regions examined during learning (temporal, frontal, and occipital). By contrast, preterm infants had no evidence of neural changes in the occipital lobe selectively. This is striking as …

Social Context-Dependent Activity In Marmoset Frontal Cortex Populations During Natural Conversations, Samuel U. Nummela, Vladimir Jovanovic, Lisa De La Mothe, Cory T. Miller

Psychology Faculty Research

Communication is an inherently interactive process that weaves together the fabric of both human and nonhuman primate societies. To investigate the properties of the primate brain during active social signaling, we recorded the responses of frontal cortex neurons as freely moving marmosets engaged in conversational exchanges with a visually occluded virtual marmoset. We found that small changes in firing rate (∼1 Hz) occurred across a broadly distributed population of frontal cortex neurons when marmosets heard a conspecific vocalization, and that these changes corresponded to subjects' likelihood of producing or withholding a vocal reply. Although the contributions of individual neurons were …

Smoking, Depression, And Hospital Costs Of Respiratory Cancers: Examining Race And Sex Variation, Baqar A. Husaini, Robert S. Levine, Phillip Lammers, Pam Hull, Meggan Novotny, Majaz Moonis

Center for Prevention Research Publications

Objective To investigate the effect of smoking and depression on hospital costs for lung cancer (LC).

Methods We extracted data on depression, smoking history, demographics, and hospital charges for patients with respiratory cancers (ICD-9 codes 161–163, 165) from the 2008 Tennessee Hospital Discharge Data System. The sample (n=6665) was mostly white (86%) and male (57%). Age-adjusted rates were developed in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention methods, and hospital costs were compared for patients with LC with versus without depression and a smoking history.

Results Three findings (P<0.001) emerged: (1) the LC rate was higher among blacks than among whites, and higher among men than among women; (2) while 66% of LC patients smoked (more men than women without racial variation), 24% had depression (more females and whites were depressed); (3) the LC hospital cost was 54% higher than the non-LC hospital cost, and this cost doubled for patients with LC with depression and smoking versus those without such characteristics.

Conclusion While LC is more prevalent among …

Psychosocial Concerns And Needs Of Cancer Survivors Treated At A Comprehensive Cancer Center And A Community Safety Net Hospital, Rebecca Selove, Maya Foster, Debra Wujcik, Maureen Sanderson, Pamela C. Hull, David Shen-Miller, Steven Wolff, Debra Friedman

Center for Prevention Research Publications

The number of cancer survivors in the United States is expected to grow to 18 million by 2020 because of improved cancer treatment outcomes and the aging of the population.[1] Many cancer survivors are at increased risk for cancer recurrence and other adverse long-term physical and psychosocial conditions.[2-5] Disparities in survival are associated with inadequate or no health insurance coverage because individuals are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at later stages,[6] and higher incidence for some cancers among African Americans.[7] Few studies have examined psychosocial health disparities during …

Responses Of Primate Frontal Cortex Neurons During Natural Vocal Communication, Cory T. Miller, A. Wren Thomas, Samuel U. Nummela, Lisa A. De La Mothe

Psychology Faculty Research

The role of primate frontal cortex in vocal communication and its significance in language evolution have a controversial history. While evidence indicates that vocalization processing occurs in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex neurons, vocal-motor activity has been conjectured to be primarily subcortical and suggestive of a distinctly different neural architecture from humans. Direct evidence of neural activity during natural vocal communication is limited, as previous studies were performed in chair-restrained animals. Here we recorded the activity of single neurons across multiple regions of prefrontal and premotor cortex while freely moving marmosets engaged in a natural vocal behavior known as antiphonal calling. Our …

Feedforward And Feedback Projections Of Caudal Belt And Parabelt Areas Of Auditory Cortex: Refining The Hierarchical Model, Troy A. Hackett, Lisa A. De La Mothe, Corrie R. Camalier, Arnaud Falchier, Peter Lakatos, Yoshinao Kajikawa, Charles E. Schroeder

Psychology Faculty Research

Our working model of the primate auditory cortex recognizes three major regions (core, belt, parabelt), subdivided into thirteen areas. The connections between areas are topographically ordered in a manner consistent with information flow along two major anatomical axes: core-belt-parabelt and caudal-rostral. Remarkably, most of the connections supporting this model were revealed using retrograde tracing techniques. Little is known about laminar circuitry, as anterograde tracing of axon terminations has rarely been used. The purpose of the present study was to examine the laminar projections of three areas of auditory cortex, pursuant to analysis of all areas. The selected areas were: middle …