Biological Psychology Commons^™

A Model For Preventing Anorexia In College Students, Laura Ann Negin

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The prevalence of anorexia nervosa in the general population is relatively low, but anorexia is at the forefront of health concerns because of its seriousness. Unhealthy weight loss has numerous physical, psychological, and social consequences. Most seriously, the mortality rate for people with eating disorders is the highest of all the major psychiatric disorders.

This dissertation presents a model for preventing anorexia nervosa in a population of college students that includes a comprehensive institutional approach, psychoeducational software, a high-risk population, a holistic approach that identifies an individual’s personal risk factors and protective factors, and individual therapy.

The model is built …

Predictors Of Emotional Reactions In Women Treated For Breast Cancer, Erin E. Ramirez

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Breast cancer can be a devastating disease that impacts a woman in all spheres of her life (Ingram, 1989). Previous studies have examined the impact of breast cancer on body satisfaction, as well as the impact on emotional well-being. Studies have also examined the role of the coping style that a woman engages in response to the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in the woman's psychological adjustment to the disease. However, to date, no research has introduced and tested a multifaceted model.

The purpose of this study was to develop a model predicting psychological maladjustment in women treated for …

Evaluation Of A School-Based Program Targeting Pediatric Asthma Self-Management Skills In An Urban Population, Dawn J. Dore-Stites

Dissertations

Asthma is the most commonly diagnosed chronic disorder in childhood and is linked with several problematic outcomes including frequent school absences, increased hospitalizations and decreased quality of life. Further, urban populations struggling with low socioeconomic status are disproportionately represented in prevalence statistics and suffer from increased functional morbidity relative to other children with asthma. These findings exist in the midst of largely effective pharmacological interventions.

Asthma self-management programs (SMPs) target several behaviors linked to improved outcomes and are often used as an adjunct to medication management. SMPs have been employed using a variety of techniques and treatment targets in a …

Brainstem Cholinergic Modulation Of Muscle Tone In Infant Rats, Andrew J. Gall, Amy Poremba, Mark S. Blumberg

Faculty Publications

In week-old rats, lesions of the dorsolateral pontine tegmentum (DLPT) and nucleus pontis oralis (PnO) have opposing effects on nuchal muscle tone. Specifically, pups with DLPT lesions exhibit prolonged bouts of nuchal muscle atonia (indicative of sleep) and pups with PnO lesions exhibit prolonged bouts of high nuchal muscle tone (indicative of wakefulness). Here we test the hypothesis that nuchal muscle tone is modulated, at least in part, by cholinergically mediated interactions between these two regions. First, in unanesthetized pups, we found that chemical infusion of the cholinergic agonist carbachol (22 mM, 0.1 µL) within the DLPT produced high muscle …

Electromagnetic Differences In The Brain During Memory Retrieval, Warren Scott Merrifield

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The primary objectives for this experiment were to analyze the neuroanatomical correlates of autobiographical, episodic and semantic memory, use a different paradigm to promote episodic memory retrieval, and employ a different analysis technique to understand retrieval processes. Autobiographical and episodic memories are personal memories from the past. Autobiographical is more general (e.g. a street name of a house growing up) and episodic is more specific to time (e.g. 13th birthday party that took place on a street). For autobiographical and episodic memory retrieval operations, there is no general consensus as to the localization of function, but bilateral activation of the …

The Influence Of College Students’ Perception Of Parental (Or Primary Caregiver) Expectations On Coping Behavior And Adjustment In Early Adulthood, Jessica Smith

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

While some research has examined how parental expectations affect educational achievement, there is very little known about how parental expectations affect the development of coping skills and adaptive and maladaptive psychosocial functions. Participants were asked to complete a measure of their abilities in academics, sports, leadership, honesty, responsibilities, among other things. Then, they completed a measure of what they perceived their parents’ expectations of those areas were. Lastly, they completed the Behavioral Assessment System for Children-College Self Report of Personality form as a measure of adaptive and maladaptive functioning. The goals of this study are to investigate 1) if participants' …

The Effects Of Acute Posttraining Injections Of Cocaine On Spatial Memory In C57bl/6 Mice, Sergio Diaz IñIguez

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cocaine on spatial memory consolidation using the Morris water maze. Specifically, male and female C57BL/6 mice were trained on a spatial water task, and then administered a single posttraining injection of saline or cocaine (1.25, 2.5, 5.0, or 20.0 mg/kg).

Adolescent Nicotine Exposure Produces Less Affective Measures Of Withdrawal Relative To Adult Nicotine Exposure In Male Rats, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Crf–Crf1 System Activation Mediates Withdrawal-Induced Increases In Nicotine Self-Administration In Nicotine-Dependent Rats., Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Diminished Nicotine Withdrawal In Adolescent Rats: Implications For Vulnerability To Addiction, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

“Nicotine Deprivation Effect” In Rats With Intermittent 23-Hour Access To Intravenous Nicotine Self-Administration, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Viral Vector-Induced Amygdala Npy Overexpression Reverses Increased Alcohol Intake Caused By Repeated Deprivations In Wistar Rats, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

A Meeting Of East And West: Can Eastern-Influenced Therapies Be Effective In The Treatment Of Stress And Mood Disorders?, Paula Pelavin

Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS)

Given that the human brain is plastic and that structural alterations have been seen in monks who meditate on a regular basis, the question arises of whether these two facts are actually related. Furthermore, if this is in fact the case, would it be possible to apply these findings to the public? In this paper I will present the different conditions that induce neuroplasticity as well as give an overview of meditation and the ways that it is practiced nowadays. To this end I will argue that if monks are able to alter the structure of their brains and the …

Crf–Crf1 System Activation Mediates Withdrawal-Induced Increases In Nicotine Self-Administration In Nicotine-Dependent Rats., Laura O'Dell

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

Adolescent Nicotine Exposure Produces Less Affective Measures Of Withdrawal Relative To Adult Nicotine Exposure In Male Rats, Laura O'Dell

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

Viral Vector-Induced Amygdala Npy Overexpression Reverses Increased Alcohol Intake Caused By Repeated Deprivations In Wistar Rats, Laura O'Dell

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

Predictors Of Middle School Girls' Engagement In Suspendable School Offenses., Barbara Harlow Cavanaugh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite research evidence that social context and personal characteristics are related to girls' violent behavior, little is known about the relative contribution of such antecedents. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the relative strength of predictors of school violence among a sample of middle school girls. Of special interest were the intervening variables, because knowledge of their relative strength could enable schools to design targeted interventions to reduce school violence. Social learning theory formed the theoretical foundation for the study. A four-part survey consisting of sociodemographic items, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, an amended version of the Attitudes …

“Nicotine Deprivation Effect” In Rats With Intermittent 23-Hour Access To Intravenous Nicotine Self-Administration, Laura O'Dell

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

Observations Of Rough-Toothed Dolphins (Steno Bredanensis) Off The Coast Of Utila, Honduras, Stan A. Kuczaj Ii, Deirdre Yeater

Psychology Faculty Publications

Local dive shop operators and fishermen report that rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) are frequently encountered off the coast of Utila, Honduras, (16°05'46.5"N 86°55'47.8"W). Our observations suggest that at least some of these animals may constitute a resident population, although the extent of the resident group’s home range has not been determined. Twenty-eight rough-toothed dolphins were identified using photoidentification techniques, 15 of which were re-sighted on two or more occasions. The 12 animals that were re-sighted four or more times were typically seen together, suggesting that they constitute a stable social group. At least one of these dolphins is …

Comparative Perspectives On The Functions Of Sleep, John A. Lesku

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous comparative studies of sleep identified relationships between sleep and constitutive and ecological variables. Results from these studies helped shape early hypotheses for the function of sleep; however, all were conducted without an explicit phylogenetic or theoretic framework and focused exclusively on mammals. Hence, the validity of their results and applicability to other taxa is unclear. We ( 1) reviewed the literature on sleep in animals, (2) updated and reanalyzed the mammalian dataset using independent contrasts and (3) multivariate path analysis, and ( 4) presented the first quantitative analysis of sleep in a non-mammalian taxon: birds. Following previous mammalian analyses, …

Biological Psychiatry: A Practice In Search Of A Science, W. Joseph Wyatt, Donna M. Midkiff

Psychology Faculty Research

The rise of the biological causation model in the past thirty years is traced to psychiatry’s efforts to regain lost status and to protect itself from intrusions by non-medical practitioners, as well as to the pharmaceutical industry’s drive for profits. Evidence in support of the model, including studies of identical twins and of brain structure and function, are less revealing than was earlier thought, due to problems in methodology and interpretation. Organized psychiatry, when challenged in 2003, was unable to provide compelling evidence for biological causation of most mental and behavioral disorders. A paradigm shift away from biological causation and …

Six-To-One Gets The Job Done: Comments On The Reviews, W. Joseph Wyatt, Donna M. Midkiff

Psychology Faculty Research

We are pleased to note that six of the seven responses to our article were marked by approval, and/or thoughtful contemplation, regarding our central theses—that the research said to support biological causation of mental disorders is relatively weak, and that the claims of drug effectiveness are often overstated.

Temperament And Character Correlates Of The Startle Reflex, Kristen Lee Godenick

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Some literature suggests that individual temperament traits can modulate the startle reflex. There is evidence supporting Cloninger’s concept of Harm Avoidance as being predictive of individual differences in reactivity to aversive stimuli. (Corr, 1997). Since this finding, a new version Cloninger’s measure includes character subscales that like temperament, have been proposed to modify the meaning of experiences, changing emotional reactions. High scorers on the character variables are less susceptible to excessive anxiety and tend to have neurochemical profiles that are not consistent with anxiety disorders (Gillespie, 2003; Tse & Bond, 2001; Peirson et al., 1999). It was thus hypothesized that …

A Biopsychosocial Perspective Of Gulf War Illness: A Structural Model, Katherine N. Nguyen

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Veterans deployed during the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991 report significantly more nonspecific symptoms and poorer health than their nondeployed peers. This amalgamation of chronic, multisymptom health complaints is commonly referred to as Gulf War Illness. There are two major theoretical models within the medical/health field that may help explain these symptoms: 1) the traditional biomedical model, and 2) the more recently evolved (late 1970’s) biopsychosocial model. Theorists have proposed two major causal pathways in studying the etiology of health complaints of Gulf War veterans, the physical pathway and the psychosocial pathway. In the present study, the biopsychosocial model was …

Pnes: Neuropsychological Impairments & Psychological Symptomatology, Adriana Macias

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The present study utilized a standardized neuropsychological evaluation and self report measures to compare 52 female patients, 18 years of age and older with a video-electroencephalogram (V-EEG) confirmed diagnosis of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) (n₁=29) to a group of left temporal lobe epilepsy (L-TLE) demographically matched patients (n₂=23). In an attempt to overcome methodological confounds of previously reported studies, participants were chosen based on stringent exclusion criteria, which barred mixed etiologies. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible differences in neuropsychological functioning, mood, and personality characteristics between individuals with PNES and those with L-TLE. …

Top-Down Modulation By Medial Prefrontal Cortex Of Basal Forebrain Activation Of Auditory Cortex During Learning, Candice Monique Chavez

Theses Digitization Project

The experiment tested the hypothesis that the acetylcholine (ACh) release in the rat auditory cortex is greater in rats undergoing auditory classical conditioning compared to rats in a truly random control paradigm where no associative learning takes place and that this is mediated by prefrontal afferent projections influencing the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM), which in turn modulates ACh release in neocortex. Rats with bilateral ibotenic acid lesions of medial prefrontal and agranular insular cortices were tested in an auditory classical conditioning task while ACh was collected from the primary auditory cortex. It was hypothesized that lesions of these prefrontal areas …

The Effects Of (Rs)-Mcpg On Amphetamine-Induced Sensitization In Neonatal Rats, Fiona Yeuk-Lun Choi

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR) in the ontogeny of amphetamine-induced behavioral sensitization. Eleven-day-old rat pups were given five daily bilateral infusions of the mGluR antagonist, (RS)-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG) followed by a systemic injection of amphetamine and locomotor activity was measured. It was hypothesized that rats receving amphetamine pretreatment and an amphetamine challenge would exhibit a significant increase in activity, indicating short-term behavioral sensitization. As predicted, repeated amphetamine administration during the pretreatment phase produced progressively enhanced locomotor activity, indicating the development of behavioral sensitization. The effect of MCPG on locomotor activity appears …

Behavioral And Neurochemical Responses To Cocaine In Periadolescent And Adult Rats, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Within The Central Nucleus Of The Amygdala Mediates Enhanced Ethanol Self-Administration In Ethanol-Dependent Rats During Withdrawal., Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Biphasic Alterations In Serotonin1b (5-Ht1b) Receptor Function During Abstinence From Extended Cocaine Self-Administration, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.