Cognitive Neuroscience Commons^™

To Laugh Or Not To Laugh: That Is The Question Of Humor Techniques And Sex Differences, Yu-Chen Chan

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

A humor structure comprises two essential stages: the setup and the punch line. The punch line stage is to provide the incongruity resolution that creates amusement in humor. The current article aimed to look into how humor is amusing and how it differs between the sexes. Functional and effective connectivity analyses in cognitive and affective neuroscience have facilitated the implications of humor comprehension, appreciation, and laughter responses. The processing of incongruity-resolution humor revealed effective connectivity from the amygdala to the precuneus (amygdala → precuneus). Conversely, the processing of nonsense humor demonstrated effective connectivity from the amygdala to the inferior frontal …

Cue Reactivity In Electronic Cigarette Users With Sign-Tracking Or Goal-Tracking Behaviors, Polina Krom

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Polina Krom

Cue reactivity is an important predictor of addiction course and relapse. However, cue reactivity is only observed after an addiction develops. As such, it is unclear to what degree cue reactivity represents a state stemming from the addiction process versus a trait-like propensity towards developing cue-reward associations. Work in animal models has pointed to important individual differences in trait-like inclination to attribute incentive salience to reward-predictive cues that is associated with addiction-relevant behavioral and neurobiological features. These individual differences manifest as sign-tracking (ST) and goal-tracking (GT) behaviors during Pavlovian conditioning. Little research has attempted to translate ST and …

Sex Differences In Endothelial Function, Metabolism, And Sleep: Responses To Disrupted Circadian Rhythms, Olga Hecmarie Meléndez-Fernández

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Circadian rhythms are endogenous cycles that recur approximately every 24 h, and manifest in virtually every physiological and behavioral process among the vast majority of organisms. These rhythms, sustained by the central circadian clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus, allow for optimal timing of biological processes that ensure organisms’ homeostasis, and are entrained to precisely 24 h by daily exposure to light. Disruption of the molecular mechanisms that drive these rhythms have negative consequences on physiology and behavior that may impair survival. The molecular mechanisms that underlie these effects are widely studied and linked to multiple diseases and …

Effect Of Menstrual Cycle Phase On The Rewarding Properties Of Alcohol In Women, Annie K. Griffith

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Compared with men, women are disproportionately affected by alcohol, including greater risks of behavioral impairment and relapse. One likely mechanism underlying this disparity is fluctuations of ovarian hormones, particularly estradiol (E2), across phases of the menstrual cycle. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have shown that higher E2 levels correlate with heavier patterns of alcohol consumption, suggesting E2 may modulate drinking. This relationship is thought to be mediated by the rewarding properties of alcohol. The present thesis tested the hypothesis that elevated E2 during the late follicular phase would increase the rewarding properties of alcohol. Fifty young-adult women participated in a within-subjects …

The Effects Of Extended Fructose Access On Relative Value And Demand For Fructose, Saccharin, And Ventral Tegmental Stimulation, Megan Halloran

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Globally, food addiction (FA) is a growing area of research and is largely attributed to the availability of foods that are both energy dense and high in fats and sugars. Further, it has been suggested, that sugar and fat, when consumed frequently, have properties similar to drugs of abuse. While the validity of FA is questioned, researchers have drawn parallels between substance use disorder (SUD) and FA. For example, sugar binge models emphasize craving, withdrawal and binging as primary components of FA, which are also hallmarks of SUD. Additionally, both natural rewards, like sugars, and drug rewards act on the …

Neural Systems Underlying Rdoc Social Constructs: An Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-Analysis, Rosario Pintos Lobo, Katherine L. Bottenhorn, Michael C. Riedel, Afra I. Toma, Megan M. Hare, Donisha D. Smith, Alexandra C. Moor, Isis K. Cowan, Javier A. Valdes, Jessica E. Bartley, Taylor Salo, Emily R. Boeving, Brianna Pankey, Matthew T. Sutherland, Erica D. Musser, Angela R. Laird

Psychology Faculty Publications

Neuroscientists have sought to identify the underlying neural systems supporting social processing that allow interaction and communication, forming social relationships, and navigating the social world. Through the use of NIMH’s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, we evaluated consensus among studies that examined brain activity during social tasks to elucidate regions comprising the “social brain”. We examined convergence across tasks corresponding to the four RDoC social constructs, including Affiliation and Attachment, Social Communication, Perception and Understanding of Self, and Perception and Understanding of Others. We performed a series of coordinate-based meta-analyses using the activation likelihood estimate (ALE) method. Meta-analysis was performed …

Defining And Exploring Animal Sentience, Andrew N. Rowan, Joyce M. D'Silva Mrs, Ian J.H. Duncan, Nicholas Palmer

Animal Sentience

One of the commentaries on the target article notes that "animal sentience" is difficult to define operationally. This response to the commentaries develops a working, usable definition of animal sentience and examines the relationships between animal emotions and sentience.

Mapping The Malleable Self: How Self-Views Are Represented And Learned Within The Social Brain, Sasha Carmela Brietzke

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Humans possess a unique and wide-ranging ability to self-reflect that takes center stage in our everyday cognition. While many people believe their own self to be immutable, different contexts may warp how we perceive the self. The goal of this dissertation is to investigate two lenses through which we may view the self: (1) across time in the past and future, and (2) through the eyes of others via evaluative feedback. In Studies 1-3, I demonstrate that people’s ratings of their own personality become increasingly less differentiated as they consider more distant past and future selves. This effect was preferential …

Plant Sentience? Between Romanticism And Denial: Science, Miguel Segundo-Ortin, Paco Calvo

Animal Sentience

A growing number of non-human animal species are being seriously considered as candidates for sentience, but plants are either forgotten or explicitly excluded from these debates. In our view, this is based on the belief that plant behavior is hardwired and inflexible and on an underestimation of the role of plant electrophysiology. We weigh such assumptions against the evidence to suggest that it is time to take seriously the hypothesis that plants, too, might be sentient. We hope this target article will serve as an invitation to investigate sentience in plants with the same rigor as in non-human animals.

Social Cognitive Processes Explain Bias In Juror Decisions, Jaime J. Castrellon, Shabnam Hakimi, Jacob M. Parelman, Lun Yin, Jonathan R. Law, Jesse A.G. Skene, David A. Ball, Artemis Malekpour, Donald H. Beskind, Neil Vidmar, John M. Pearson, J. H. Pate Skene, R. Mckell Carter

Faculty Scholarship

Jury decisions are among the most consequential social decisions in which bias plays a notable role. While courts take measures to reduce the influence of non-evidentiary factors, jurors may still incorporate biases into their decisions. One common bias, crime-type bias, is the extent to which the perceived strength of a prosecutor’s case depends on the severity of the crime. Moral judgment, affect and social cognition have been proposed as core processes underlying this and other biases. Behavioral evidence alone has been insufficient to distinguish these explanations. To identify the mechanism underlying crime-type bias, we collected functional magnetic resonance imaging patterns …

Minding Rights: Mapping Ethical And Legal Foundations Of ‘Neurorights’, Sjors Ligthart, Marcello Ienca, Gerben Meynen, Fruzsina Molnar-Gabor, Roberto Andorno, Christoph Bublitz, Paul Catley, Lisa Claydon, Thomas Douglas, Nita A. Farahany, Joseph J. Fins, Sara Goering, Pim Haselager, Fabrice Jotterand, Andrea Lavazza, Allan Mccay, Abel Wajnerman Paz, Stephen Rainey, Jesper Ryberg, Philipp Kellmeyer

Faculty Scholarship

The rise of neurotechnologies, especially in combination with artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods for brain data analytics, has given rise to concerns around the protection of mental privacy, mental integrity and cognitive liberty – often framed as “neurorights” in ethical, legal, and policy discussions. Several states are now looking at including neurorights into their constitutional legal frameworks, and international institutions and organizations, such as UNESCO and the Council of Europe, are taking an active interest in developing international policy and governance guidelines on this issue. However, in many discussions of neurorights the philosophical assumptions, ethical frames of reference and legal interpretation …

Eeg-Based Spanish Language Proficiency Classification: An Eeg Power Spectrum And Cross-Spectrum Analysis, Blaise Xavier O'Mara, Skyler Baumer

Honors Theses and Capstones

Second language proficiency may be predicted with electrophysiological techniques. In a machine learning application, this electrophysiological data may be used for language instructors and language students to assess their language learning. This study identifies how electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectrum and cross spectrum data of the brain cortex relates to Spanish second language (L2) proficiency of 20 Spanish language students of varying proficiency levels at the University of New Hampshire. The two metrics for assessing cortical power and processing were event-related desynchronization (ERD)—a measure of relative change in power—of the alpha (8-12 Hz) brain frequency band, and alpha and beta (13-30Hz) …

The Role Of Dha In The Impact Of Trem2 On Microglia Activation And Alzheimer’S Disease, Michael A. Palmieri Iii

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurological disease that is associated with microglia activation. An important receptor involved in microglia activation is Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2). Recent studies suggest that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) could reduce the neuroinflammation that is associated with microglia activation. We hypothesized that when DHA concentration was increased, TREM2 expression would decrease, microglia activity would be inhibited, and a resulting decrease in neuroinflammation would be observed. We examined peer-reviewed journal articles from 2017-2022 that investigated the relationship between TREM2 activation and severity of AD symptoms, the protective properties of DHA against AD, and the …

Analyzing Hippocampus Based Behavior In Model Mice, Tiria Carr

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

Model organism must discern between familiar and novel stimuli after delay. Hippocampal dependent processes involved in spatial pattern recognition. Latency in trial responses and reward collection is measured, as well as trial accuracy.

Musicality, Misophonia Sensitivity, And Responsiveness To Misophonia Videos, Alexis Rice, Jennifer Hsu, Kaela Omengan, Sivan Barashy

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Misophonia sensitivity as measured by the A-MISO-S predicts emotional responses to misophonia trigger videos, but musical sophistication (Gold MSI scores) did not. A measure of real-time responses to videos can capture a meaningful aspect of misophonic experience in the general population. Future research should investigate whether more direct measures of musicality such as perceptual tasks will show a relationship between musicality and misophonic reactions.

Investigating The Impact Of Dividing Attention On Auditory And Visual Object Memory, Sharica Lee, Alexa Salomon, Laura L.S. Werner, Kevin D. Mohawk, Maggie Mcmullin

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Recently, we found that dividing attention reduced recollection and familiarity for visual objects, but a different pattern emerged for auditory object memory: auditory object recollection was not affected by dividing attention. This could be attributable to differing levels of baseline performance with visual memory far exceeding auditory memory. Thus, we attempted to equate baseline performance in both modalities in order to adequately investigate the previous findings.

The Stability Of The Speech-To-Song Illusion, Jennifer Hsu, Brooke Booth, Jordyn Karns, Rodica R. Constantine

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

The Speech-to-Song (STS) illusion: when a listener is presented with multiple repetitions of a spoken phrase and begins to hear it as increasingly song-like. In the present study, we aim to verify anecdotal evidence that suggests the STS illusion is temporally stable and replicate existing evidence that excerpts transform to song by the third or fourth repetition and perhaps faster upon future encounters.

Probing The Boundaries Of Human Agency, Sook Mun Wong

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

In this dissertation, I aim to advance our understanding of human agency and how it is computed. First, I probe the limits of what behavior we can and cannot produce agentically. Secondly, I explore microdosing with psychedelic drugs as a method of perturbing and studying changes to the sense of agency. Thirdly, I use transcranial magnetic stimulation to induce body movements and investigate how the sense of agency is affected. Finally, I summarise my findings and synthesize insights to further our understanding human agency.

Causal Inference In Psychology And Neuroscience: From Association To Causation, Dehua Liang

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

In psychology and neuroscience, inferring causality in non-experimental studies is almost taboo, because data in these studies, e.g., survey data and resting-state neuroimaging data, are often contaminated by unmeasured confounders. Psychologists and neuroscientists are often cautious about their results, and reluctant to make false claims about causality in non-experimental studies. Therefore, they adopt less stringent statistical analysis techniques that can only infer associational relations. However, the ambiguity about causality in traditional statistical analysis creates much confusion in interpreting analytical results - some studies make implicit causal claims about their results using words such as “impacts”, “lead to” and “affects”. This …

Rapamycin Inhibits Light-Induced Necrosome Activation Occurring In Wild-Type, But Not Rpe65-Null, Mouse Retina, Chunfeng Lu, Songhua Li, Minghao Jin

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

PURPOSE. Both photodamage and aberrant visual cycle contribute to disease progress of many retinal degenerative disorders, whereas the signaling pathways causing photoreceptor death remain unclear. Here we investigated the effects of intense photo-stress on (1) necrosome activation in wild-type and RPE65-null mice, (2) interaction of p62/Sequestosome-1 with the necrosome proteins, and (3) the effects of rapamycin on photodamage-induced necrosome activation and retinal degeneration in wild-type mice. METHODS. Dark-adapted rd12 mice and 129S2/Sv mice with or without rapamycin treatment were exposed to 15,000 lux light for different times. Expression levels and subcellular localization of proteins were determined through immunoblot and immunohistochemical …