Biological Psychology Commons^™

Mate Guarding Against Strong Men Displaying Affiliative And Aggressive Humor, Jacob Pauley

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mate retention behaviors serve to discourage partner defection from a current pairbond. Such behaviors are oftentimes more prevalent toward intrasexual rivals exhibiting physical and behavioral cues implicating that rival as an optimal mate. Among these features in men are their upper body strength, a feature diagnostic of heritable fitness, and men's ability to produce humor, a cue to their social competence. This study considered the intersection of these desirable features in shaping men's mate retention behavior toward an intrasexual rival. After learning of a hypothetical interloper exhibiting high or low upper body strength while similarly using humor in an affiliative …

Examining The Effects Of Menstrual Cycle Phase And Hormonal Contraceptive Use On Women's Sleep, Charles Ethan Coombs

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Women overrepresent men for sub-optimal sleep, a consequence of hormone fluctuation in the menstrual cycle affecting sleep regulatory pathways. While research has examined the prevalence of sub-optimal sleep through cycle phases, little research has examined how hormonal contraceptives (HC’s) could similarly affect women’s sleep, while also neglecting to utilize subjective sleep measures. In this study, we examine subjective sleep quality among naturally cycling (NC) women, women using different HC types, and between active and inactive phase pill users by subjecting 463 women to a subjective sleep battery. We hypothesized that HC users would report more sub-optimal sleep than NC women. …

Proteomic Profiles Of Cytokines And Chemokines In Moderate To Severe Depression: Implications For Comorbidities And Biomarker Discovery, Kathleen T. Watson, Jennifer Keller, Caleb M. Spiro, Isaac B. Satz, Samantha V. Goncalves, Heather Pankow, Idit Kosti, Benoit Lehallier, Adolfo Sequeira, William E. Bunney, Natalie L. Rasgon, Alan F. Schatzberg

Psychology Division Scholarship

Objective: This study assessed the proteomic profiles of cytokines and chemokines in individuals with moderate to severe depression, with or without comorbid medical disorders, compared to healthy controls. Two proteomic multiplex platforms were employed for this purpose. Metods: An immunofluorescent multiplex platform and an aptamer-based method were used to evaluate 32 protein analytes from 153 individuals with moderate to severe major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy controls (HCs). The study focused on determining the level of agreement between the two platforms and evaluating the ability of individual analytes and principal components (PCs) to differentiate between the MDD and HC groups. …

Repeated Treatment With 5-Ht1a And 5-Ht1b Receptor Agonists: Evidence Of Tolerance And Behavioral Sensitization, Jordan Taylor

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Serotonin has been found to regulate several cognitive and physiological functions, and its role in depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders has been a focus of research. More specifically, a wealth of research regarding serotonin focuses on serotonergic medications in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety, and stimulates the 5-HT_1A and 5-HT_1B receptors. Within the last decade, there has been an increase in prescriptions of psychotropic medication for children, however, the efficacy and adverse effects of these drugs have not been evaluated in younger populations. While antidepressants reduce symptoms of depression in adults, they are …

Sex Differences In Stress Reactivity And Responses To Novelty In The Gray Short-Tailed Opossum (Monodelphis Domestica), Esperanza I. Alaniz, Nicole Altamirano, Joseph Rafac, Katelynn Renteria, John L. Vandeberg, Mario Gil

Research Colloquium

Introduction: Investigating how exposures to stress and novel environments influence behavior is important for translational research that aims to improve mental health. Previous studies have focused on reactions to novelty and revealed changes in defense reactions and exploratory behavior. (Pisula et al., 2012).

Objective: The focus of the present study is to investigate sex differences in behavioral responses to novel environments and restraint stress in the gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica). Using the Monodelphis is innovative because it is a non-traditional animal model that is ideal for developmental research.

Methods: Using AnyMaze video tracking software, animals’ behaviors (6 males, 6 …

The Impact Of Biological Sex On Motor Function And Responses To Novel Environments In The Gray Short-Tailed Opossum (Monodelphis Domestica), Esperanza I. Alaniz, Ismael Perez, Sasawan Heingraj, Katelynn Renteria, Cristian M. Botello, Joseph C. Cantu, John L. Vandeberg, Mario Gil

Research Symposium

Background: Understanding the different stress reactions in different environments can help us understand stress factors. Studying animal behavior is important for translational research for mental health improvement.

Previous literature has shown that stress is a risk factor for higher cancer incidence and poorer cancer survival. (Klejbor & Turlejski., 2012), as well as mental health outcomes. Understanding of how stress is related to cancer can help improve therapeutic outcomes as preventive measures (Glaser et al., 1987).

Methods: Using the Rota Rod apparatus, 12 animals (3 males, 9 females) were tested at 36 rpm for a maximum of 400 seconds (Madroñal et …

You Hurt My Feelings: Autonomic And Behavioral Responses To Social Exclusion And The Moderating Effect Of Psychopathic Traits, Liat Kofler

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Humans have a fundamental need to form and maintain social connections, and thus experiencing social exclusion is extremely distressing as it threatens this basic human need. Individuals who are socially excluded often respond aggressively, not only towards their ostracizers but also towards innocent bystanders, with ostracism being implicated in extreme acts of violence such as school shootings. However, individual differences in behavior exist within the context of social exclusion as not everyone responds aggressively after being ostracized. Identifying risk factors for retaliatory aggressive behavior following experiences of social exclusion may facilitate the development of targeted interventions aimed at mitigating such …

Comparison Between The Effects Of Acute Physical And Psychosocial Stress On Feedback-Based Learning, Xiao Yang, Brittany Nackley, Bruce H. Friedman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Stress modulates feedback-based learning, a process that has been implicated in declining mental function in aging and mental disorders. While acute physical and psychosocial stressors have been used interchangeably in studies on feedback-based learning, the two types of stressors involve distinct physiological and psychological processes. Whether the two types of stressors differentially influence feedback processing remains unclear. The present study compared the effects of physical and psychosocial stressors on feedback-based learning. Ninety-six subjects (Mage = 19.11 years; 50 female) completed either a cold pressor task (CPT) or mental arithmetic task (MAT), as the physical or psychosocial stressor, while electrocardiography and …

Local Field Potentials In The Male Rat Nucleus Accumbens During Effort-Based Behavior, Celine Aliko, John Salamone, Alev Ecevitoglu

Honors Scholar Theses

Major depression is a devastating disorder that consists of multiple symptoms such as low mood and motivational dysfunction. It has been shown that motivational dysfunction can be studied in animal models by using effort-based choice paradigms, which vary in their response requirements. It has been reported that dopamine depletion in the nucleus accumbens decreases ratio-scheduled lever-pressing in a manner related to the size of the ratio requirement. One dopamine depleting agent is tetrabenazine (TBZ), which has been shown to decrease lever-pressing and induce low-effort bias. The current study aims to investigate behavioral and electrophysiological changes that occur with animals performing …

Sucrose Demand And Essential Value In Mice With Early-Life Exposure To Risperidone, Megan Federoff

LSU Master's Theses

Second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), such as risperidone, are widely prescribed to children, but the long-term effects of SGA treatment are not well understood. This study investigated the impact of early-life risperidone treatment on sucrose demand in mice in adulthood. Mice were administered risperidone or vehicle from postnatal day (PND) 33 to 60 and trained in adulthood (>PND 120) to nose poke for a sucrose solution reinforcer. The fixed ratio (FR) value (the number of responses required to produce sucrose delivery; the “price” of sucrose) was varied from 1 to 45, and the resulting consumption versus FR value data were analyzed …

Trait Sadism In Bdsm Practitioners And Non-Practitioners, Marley Russell

Psychology ETDs

Sadism is an elusive construct within psychology. Multiple types are studied without clear psychometric or theoretical distinctions, and operationalizations of these respective sub-constructs lack validity. This study explores the empirical distinction between two sadism types: consensual sexual sadism (i.e. in the context of BDSM) and trait sadism. Trait sadism is widely synonymized with “everyday sadism”, but here conceptualized as a higher-order construct encompassing both everyday and a novel “prosocial sadism”. I develop and pilot the BDSM Identities and Behaviors (BIB) checklist in a sample of BDSM practitioners. I then compare those practitioners to non-practitioners on trait sadism and dark triad …

Hiv And Early Life Stress On Neuroimaging And Risky Behavior, Paola Garcia Egan

Dissertations

This study examined the interactive effects of early life stress (ELS) and HIV on brain morphometry, diffusion-basis-spectrum-imaging (DBSI), risky decision-making, and sex-risk behavior. 122 people with HIV (PWH) and 113 people without HIV (PWoH), free of major psychiatric illness and neurological confounds, were stratified into high (≥ 3 events) vs. low (< 3 events) ELS [PWoH/low ELS (n = 57), PWoH/high ELS (n =56), PWH/low ELS (n = 43), PWH/high ELS (n = 79)] and underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging, DBSI, neuropsychological, and risky-behavior assessment; all PWH were virologically controlled. Compared to PWoH, PWH had smaller orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), parietal lobes, insula, caudate and anterior cingulate. No ELS effects were detected in volumetric measures. Significant interactions were found between HIV serostatus and ELS on the OFC and on cellularity of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus after multiple comparisons adjustment. Specifically, PWH/high ELS exhibited significantly smaller OFC and PWoH/high ELS show significantly larger OFC than the other groups. PWoH/high ELS exhibited higher DBSI cellularity (neuroinflammation proxy) of the inferior-occipital-fasciculus compared to PWoH/high ELS. Regardless of HIV status, executive function moderated the relationship between the OFC and sex-risk behavior such that individuals within the sample who performed above average on a measure of executive function and had a larger OFC reported fewer sex partners in past six months than individuals with smaller volumes. No interaction was found between HIV serostatus and ELS on risky behavior measures. Clustering analyses defined ELS subgroups in PWH that were determined by demographic characteristics, duration of infection, recent CD4+ T-cell count, nadir CD4+ T-cell count and high/low ELS.Even in PWH that are virologically controlled, without major current psychiatric comorbidities, there is evidence of a synergistic impact of ELS and HIV on OFC volumes. Higher volumes in the OFC were detrimental when associated with lower executive function scores or advantageous when associated with higher executive function. Findings suggest that ELS is associated with different brain signatures among PWoH and virally suppressed PWH. However, ELS was not directly associated with risky behaviors, and subgroups in PWH were characterized by demographic variables, past substance use and HIV clinical variables.

Impact Of Adolescent Social Isolation On Adult, Binge-Like Ethanol Consumption And Plasma Corticosterone In High-Alcohol-Preferring Mice, Eva Cullins

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Adolescent stress exposure increases the likelihood of alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorder (AUD) in adulthood; however, it is not clear how genetic and environmental factors interact to increase risk. This study examined how adolescent social isolation affects adult binge-like ethanol drinking and levels of the stress hormone corticosterone in male and female mice with a genetic predisposition toward high alcohol preference (HAP). Twenty-eight HAP mice were separated into group-housed (GH) and socially isolated (SI) conditions (n = 13, 13). Binge drinking was assessed using a drinking in the dark (DID) procedure. Blood samples were taken before DID and after …

Event-Related Potentials Of Individuals With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Performing The Attention Network Task, P. Dennis Rodriguez, Justin E. Stauffacher

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The current study sought to investigate the neural basis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by examining the performance of individuals with ADHD on the Attentional Networks Test (ANT) by Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz, and Posner (2002), while recording electroencephalography (EEG) utilizing event-related potentials (ERP) methodology. Fifty-seven university students were divided into three groups: control, ADHD-inattentive subtype (ADHD-IA), and ADHD-combined/hyperactive impulsive subtype (ADHD-C/HI). The average peak amplitudes of the P300 waveform for each group were compared and analyzed for performance on each attention network measured by the ANT: the alerting network, the orienting network, and the executive control network. The average P3 …

Differential Neural Correlates Underlying Different Cognitive Control Strategies And Their Relationship With The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Carroll Bentley

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Impulsivity is defined as a rapid unplanned action to a stimulus, where the person does not consider the consequences of their actions (Moeller et al., 2001). Various measurement techniques exist in the study of impulsivity and include self-report, behavioral and physiological measures. This breadth of measurement techniques affords researchers the opportunity to understand what is likely a multifaceted nature of this construct. Previous literature shows mixed results between the relationship of the three measures. The present study seeks to add clarity between the three different modalities of measuring impulsivity. To address this relationship, an undergraduate sample (n = 171) completed …

Does Chronic Risperidone Administration Affect Food Reinforcement In Adulthood In Mice?, Francis Torres, Paul Soto

LSU Master's Theses

Second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) increase weight gain and food consumption in humans and non-human animals. It has been speculated that SGAs increase the reinforcing effects of food, which increases food consumption and drives weight gain. The current study evaluated the effects of risperidone on sucrose reinforcement in male and female C57BL/6J mice using economic demand assessments. Demand for sucrose was measured by varying the fixed ratio (FR) value required to produce sucrose delivery across experimental sessions using five FR values: 1, 5, 15, 30, and 45. The effects of acute risperidone administration on demand for sucrose were first assessed by orally …

Evaluation Of Hippocampal Allostatic Load-Associated Factors In Animal Models Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Relevance To Human Ptsd, Dennis Parker Kelley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with elevated allostatic load, nearly double the risk for metabolic syndrome, reduced hippocampal volume, and contextual memory processing deficits. Emerging evidence suggests that these stress effects may predispose individuals to the development of PTSD, and there is a known relationship between chronic stress and metabolic dysfunction. In this work, we utilized two rat models of PTSD to explore these connections. We used an acute predator odor stressor to investigate the relationship between PTSD-like behaviors and mitochondrial dysfunction in the hippocampus of rats, and we observed that conditioned place avoidance was associated with reduced mitochondrial …

Reiki For Recovery: Incorporating Japanese Health Practices To Increase Contemporary Resiliency In American Health, Leif Peterson

Master's Projects and Capstones

The Japanese health practice of Reiki attempts to maximize the latent ability of the human system to heal itself. The Reiki system, established over a century ago, combines multiple Asian health traditions, experimenting with practices that maximize the natural processes of the body to perform its own repairs. Reiki encourages healthy behaviors that balance the mind and body, return the human system to a lowered stress level, and allow for an optimal recovery state for the patient. This paper illustrates how this Japanese health-affirming method can be integrated and utilized within existing health and medical practices. An area that is …

Big Five Personality Traits And Political Orientation: An Inquiry Into Political Beliefs, Ian E. Phillips

The Downtown Review

Personality research centered on the Big Five personality traits has heavily impacted our understanding in regards to what forces orient a person on a political spectrum. Examining how personality differences interact with political orientation, this research seeks to provide information on what makes someone either more or less likely to be liberal or conservative based on their temperament. In this paper, previous personality research is synthesized into one discussion, centered on what the effects of each trait are and how they impact political orientation, the heritability of personality, and what implications there are for such research in the realm of …

Decreases In The Frontal Cortical Areas Following A Developmental Disruption Model Of Schizophrenia, Anna Healy

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Methylazoxmethanol Acetate (MAM) is a toxin that temporarily blocks mitosis in developing embryonic brains. Exposure in rats on embryonic day 17 (E17) selectively targets frontal and hippocampal regions of the brain and produces behavioral and anatomical effects strikingly similar to those seen in human patients with schizophrenia. While previous studies examining these induced neuroanatomical disruptions support E17 MAM exposure as an animal model of schizophrenia, the vast majority focused on male rats. However, there have been a dearth of studies specifically looking at female rats in this model. This is significant since there is evidence of sex differences in the …

Everyday Memory In People With Down Syndrome, Yingying Yang, Zachary M. Himmelberger, Trent Robinson, Megan Davis, Frances Conners, Edward Merrill

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Although memory functions in people with Down Syndrome (DS) have been studied extensively, how well people with DS remember things about everyday life is not well understood. In the current study, 31 adolescents/young adults with DS and 26 with intellectual disabilities (ID) of mixed etiology (not DS) participated. They completed an everyday memory questionnaire about personal facts and recent events (e.g., school name, breakfast). They also completed a standard laboratory task of verbal long-term memory (LTM) where they recalled a list of unrelated words over trials. Results did not indicate impaired everyday memory, but impaired verbal LTM, in people with …

Discriminative Stimulus Effects Of Cannabidiol Oil In Rats, Rebecca L. Chalme

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the major centrally active phytocannabinoid components of cannabis, and has been approved by the FDA only for the treatment of two rare seizure disorders. However, CBD has been touted as a potential treatment for anxiety in place of more traditional treatments like benzodiazepines. Although there is some evidence of anxiolytic effects of CBD, its suitability as a substitute for benzodiazepines is unknown. This experiment was designed to assess to what extent CBD shares interoceptive discriminative-stimulus properties with the anxiolytic chlordiazepoxide (CDP), a benzodiazepine. In the present experiment, a range of doses (0-333.3 mg/kg) of over-the-counter …

Pharmacokinetics And Reward-Related Behaviors Of Ethanol In Male And Female Japanese Quail (Coturnix Japonica), Shannon Eaton

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Ethanol is one of the most widely used and abused drugs. Problem use is associated with many different health problems and the economic burden is in the billions of dollars. Additionally, many people have difficulty controlling their ethanol consumption and about 5% of adults end up with an alcohol use disorder (AUD). Many people with an AUD often find themselves in a cycle of binge, remission, and relapse.

Following ethanol consumption ethanol enters the bloodstream from the small intestine where it gets distributed to peripheral tissues. Ethanol in the bloodstream is cleared from the system by the liver. The primary …

Frontal Alpha Wave Asymmetry In Regard To Affect, Monica Leigh Sewell

All Master's Theses

This study examines frontal alpha brain wave asymmetry (FAA) in relation to emotion processing. Previous research has shown that differences between left versus right FAA could exhibit a neurological marker for emotional intelligence (EI), mental health, and stress. Behavioral data were collected using Profile of Emotional Competence Questionnaire, Perceived Stress Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7. This was followed by a series of resting EEG recordings. This study hypothesizes that participants who are mentally healthy, have higher EI scores and lower stress will display greater left FAA. The hypothesis is partially supported; participants with depression had greater …

Assessment Of Dopaminergic And Serotonergic Receptor Antagonists In Male Rats Trained To Discriminate 4-Methylmethcathinone (Mephedrone), Rachel L. Burroughs

Masters Theses

Preclinical drug discrimination studies of the synthetic cathinone, 4-methylmethcathinone (mephedrone) have demonstrated its effects are comparable to those of other popular psychostimulant drugs. Few studies have directly examined the contribution of specific neurotransmitter receptors to mephedrone’s discriminative stimulus effects. The present study investigated the role of dopamine and serotonin receptors in these effects. Eight adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to discriminate 3.0 mg/kg mephedrone from saline. After dose-response curves were determined with mephedrone (0.375-3.0 mg/kg), a series of stimulus antagonism tests were conducted with dopamine antagonists (Sch 23390, haloperidol) and serotonin antagonists (WAY 100,635, MDL 100,907, pirenperone) administered as …

Assessing Sex Differences In The Effects Of Short-Term Rem Sleep On Anxiety- And Depressive-Like Behaviors In Rats, Nadia Meshkati

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Findings from both human and animal studies suggest rapid eye movement (REM) sleep disturbances following a traumatic event can lead to inability to extinguish the fear association, and eventually influence the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Additionally, research has demonstrated that sleep disruptions, including REM sleep deprivation (RSD), increases anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors and states in animals and people, with evidence of sex differences. Furthermore, it has yet to be determined whether short-term RSD, a more natural animal model of PTSD, can influence affective state of subjects. The present study applied short-term RSD to investigate sex differences in the …

Scope Of Attention Variation As A Function Of Anxiety And Depression, Kathleen O'Donnell

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

As a social species, correct emotional perception is so vital, that the human brain has evolved a mechanism to control attentional choices by exerting a narrowed field of perception during danger, called the scope of attention (SoA). The SoA determines what information will be focused on or ignored by blocking the perception of non-relevant items and increasing selective focus on danger; even if danger is merely a sad-face. The emotional items blocked from perception cannot be remembered because they were never perceived. But, attention-control to emotional stimuli also varies with mood, as seen in mood-disorders. A mood-disorder’s effect upon the …

The Role Of Dopamine In Decision Making Processes In Drosophila Melanogaster, Michelle C. Bowers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Understanding the neural processes that mediate decision making is a relatively new field of investigation in the scientific community. With the ultimate goal of understanding how humans decide between one path and another, simpler models such as Drosophila Melanogaster, the common fruit fly, are often utilized as a way of determining the neural circuits involved in these decision-making processes. One of the most important decisions flies make is the decision of where to lay their eggs (oviposit). Choosing the proper substrate upon which to lay eggs is a crucial decision that can ultimately impact their fecundity. This paper investigates the …

130— Reducing Stereotypic Behavior With A Ketogenic Diet, Anna Beltramini, Andrew Guido, Alicia Bauers, Joe Spano

GREAT Day Posters

Now a popular fad diet, the ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, low-carb diet that for decades has been used for treatment of intractable epilepsy. Recent therapeutic applications of KD in animal models include treatment of dementia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and autism. These disorders are associated with stereotypic behaviors (repetitive, invariant behaviors with no apparent function) that are life-impairing and stigmatizing. However, little is known about their underlying mechanisms and no effective pharmacological treatments are available. Here, we present a novel application of KD to reduce stereotypic behavior in an inbred strain of mice (FVBN/J) that displays a prominent repetitive circling …

Experience-Dependent Changes In Nucleus Accumbens Activity Predict Cued Approach Learning: Contribution Of Nmda Receptors, Mercedes Vega Villar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Animals learn associations between environmental cues and the natural rewards they predict (e.g., food, water, sex). As a result, reward-predictive cues come to trigger vigorous reward-seeking responses. Many neurons in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) become excited upon presentation of an already-learned reward-predictive cue. These NAc responses encode the motivational value of the cue and are necessary for the expression of the subsequent approach behavior. However, the precise temporal relationship between the emergence of cue-evoked excitations in the NAc and the acquisition of cued approach behavior remains unknown. In Experiment 1, NAc activity was recorded as rats learned to approach a …