Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Comparing Levels Of Situational Empathy Based On Medium Of Exposure To Covid-19 Mortality Information And Proximity To Others, Beth Durkin

Honors Projects

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people expressed a lax attitude to the policies put in place to keep the public safe despite the high risk of infection and its devastating effects on health across the United States. It is possible that this response may be partially due to a “numbness to numbers,” a phenomenon that describes diminished empathy for a large group of people experiencing a negative event (eg. COVID-19). The present study explored the relationship between levels of situational empathy and the medium of exposure to COVID-19 mortality information (eg. personal story or fact sheet) in an …

Social Attention And Autism Spectrum Disorder Phenotypes, Charlotte Martin

The Agora

Studies on social attention and motivation related to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have found that when presented with social and non-social stimuli, neurotypical individuals tend to pay more attention to the former, while individuals with ASD tend to do the inverse. In an effort to add to existing literature, we had participants complete an autism phenotype measure as well as a social attention measure. Contrary to expectations, we found no correlation between autism phenotypes and social attention behaviors. This study was limited by its sample size and diversity as well as the validity of the social attention measures used.

Awareness And Implementation Of Tobacco Control Practices In Rural Louisiana Federally Qualified Health Centers, Michael D. Celestin, Runet Bryant, Tung-Sung Tseng, Krysten Jones-Winn, Qingzhao Yu

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Association for Clinical and Translational Science, ACTS 2023, April 18 - 20, 2023, Washington DC

Low-Dose Psilocybin Enhances Novel Object Recognition But Not Inhibitory Avoidance In Adult Rats, Claire E. Miller, Colin R. Del Valle, Margaret M. Naylor, Heather R. Sparkman, Connor M. Cruea, Rachel E. Rice, Brooke E. Bramlage, Lillianna P. Puppel, Madison L. Brown, Aleece K. Al-Olimat, Elizabeth S. Dietz, Phillip R. Zoladz

ONU Student Research Colloquium

Given the recently renewed interest in using psychedelics to aid in the treatment of psychological disorders, we aimed to examine the impact of psilocybin, a 5-HT_2A agonist, on learning and memory in rodents. Previous work has demonstrated that psilocybin and other 5-HT_2A agonists can enhance fear conditioning, fear extinction, and novel object recognition (NOR). Thus, we predicted that low doses of psilocybin would enhance inhibitory avoidance (IA) and NOR memory. In the first experiment, adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats underwent step-through IA training (involving 0.45, 0.65, or 1 mA scrambled footshock) and were injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with …

Tunnel Vision, False Memories, And Intrusive Memories Following Exposure To The Trier Social Stress Test, Chloe N. Cordes, Cassidy L. Pfister, Kayla M. Boaz, Taylor D. Niese, Sydney L. Parker, Kristen E. Long, Mercedes L. Stanek, Matthew S. Risner, John G. Blasco, Koen N. Suzelis, Kelsey M. Siereveld, Shannon B. Carnes, Boyd R. Rorabaugh, Phillip R. Zoladz

ONU Student Research Colloquium

Most research examining the impact of stress on learning and memory has exposed participants to a stressor and measured how it affects learning and memory for unrelated material (e.g., list of words). Such work has been helpful, but it has not been the most translational to the human condition. When considering phenomena such as intrusive memories in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or an eyewitness's memory for a crime, it is most useful to know what an individual remembers about the stress experience itself, not unrelated information. In prior work, investigators used a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test …

Impact Of Acute Stress, Sex, And Childhood Maltreatment On Fear Learning And Fear Generalization In A Fear-Potentiated Startle Paradigm, Kayla M. Boaz, Chloe N. Cordes, Cassidy L. Pfister, Taylor D. Niese, Sydney L. Parker, Kristen E. Long, Mercedes L. Stanek, Boyd R. Rorabaugh, Seth D. Norrholm, Phillip R. Zoladz

ONU Student Research Colloquium

Many researchers approach the etiology of trauma-, stressor-, and anxiety-related mental disorders from the perspective of classical conditioning processes gone awry. According to this view, abnormal associative relationships between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli may underlie pathological anxiety and result in unusually intense fear memories or fear memories that cannot be properly extinguished. Recent work has expanded on this view by showing that many psychological disorders involving pathological anxiety are associated with an exaggerated form of stimulus generalization, leading individuals with such disorders to respond with fear and anxiety to a variety of contexts and cues that should not be threatening. …

Psilocybin Prevents Symptoms Of Hyperarousal And Enhances Novel Object Recognition In Rats Exposed To The Single Prolonged Stress Paradigm, Colin R. Del Valle, Heather R. Sparkman, Margaret M. Naylor, Connor M. Cruea, Rachel E. Rice, Claire E. Miller, Brooke E. Bramlage, Lillianna P. Puppel, Madison L. Brown, Aleece K. Al-Olimat, Elizabeth S. Dietz, Phillip R. Zoladz

ONU Student Research Colloquium

Pharmacotherapy for stress-related psychological disorders remains inadequate. Patients who are treated with conventional pharmacological agents frequently report negligeable symptom reduction, and, in most cases, less than 50% experience full remission. Clearly, there is a need for additional pharmaceutical research into both established and novel approaches to alleviate these conditions. Over the past several years, there has been a renewed interest in the use of psychedelics to aid in the treatment of psychological disorders. Several studies have reported promising results in patients with major depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following treatment with psychedelic agents such as lysergic acid …

Case Series: Continued Remission Of Ptsd Symptoms After Discontinuation Of Prazosin, Christie Richardson, Jonathan Yuh, Jing Su, Martin Forsberg

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a debilitating chronic illness that affects 6 out of 100 adults after a severe trauma. The alpha-adrenergic antagonist prazosin, which is prescribed off-label for flashbacks and nightmares due to trauma, is often continued indefinitely due to reports of symptoms returning upon discontinuation. There is no standard guidance for a trial of discontinuation of prazosin due to intolerance or side effects. In this case series, three patients are started on prazosin leading to remission of trauma-related symptoms, and symptoms continue to remit after treatment for an average of about 2 years followed by discontinuation of the medication. …

Cost Effectiveness Of Buprenorphine When Used Long Term Versus Short Term Use, Ty Hudgens

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Since 1999, nearly 841,000 people have died from a drug overdose (CDC, 2022), and substance use disorder (SUD) continues to be a crisis that faces communities across the country. As the crisis continues across communities, the need for medication-assisted opioid use disorder (MOUD) therapy continues to surge.

This was a retrospective analysis of archival data from large national data sources. We constructed well-matched cohorts of patients with short and long-term use of MOUD using propensity score matching of 3 months of baseline data. To measure the cost effectiveness of short-term buprenorphine use verse long-term buprenorphine use.

Mixed Depression In The Post-Covid-19 Syndrome: Correlation Between Excitatory Symptoms In Depression And Physical Burden After Covid-19, Alessio Simonetti, Evelina Bernardi, Stella Margoni, Antonello Catinari, Antonio Restaino, Valentina Ieritano, Marta Palazzetti, Federico Mastrantonio, Delfina Janiri, Matteo Tosato, Francesco Landi, Gabriele Sani

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The relationship between depression and post-COVID-19 disease syndrome (post-COVID-19 syndrome) is established. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated the association between post-COVID-19 syndrome and mixed depression, i.e., a specific sub-form of depression characterized by high level of excitatory symptoms. Aims of the present study are: (a) to compare the post-COVID-19 syndrome's burden in depressed and non-depressed patients, and (b) to investigate the correlation between post-COVID-19 syndrome's burden and the severity of mixed depression. One thousand and forty six (n = 1460) subjects with post-COVID-19 syndrome were assessed. Subjects were divided into those with (DEP) or without (CONT) depression. Sociodemographically, post-COVID-19 syndrome's …

The Motherhood Crusade: Rural Low-Income Mothers, Support, And Empowerment, Christina Castellano

Dissertations

Previous research has shown that postpartum women with untreated mental health conditions are more likely to fail to manage their own health, have inadequate nutrition, abuse substances, experience abuse, be less responsive to their baby’s needs, have fewer positive interactions with their baby, experience difficulties breastfeeding, and question their abilities as a mother. Rural culture plays a complex role in the transition to motherhood, influencing whether mothers seek out and use resources. While more is known about location and access issues, less is known about how rural culture and, more specifically, how empowerment and social support impact postpartum experience. The …

Sexual Education In Adolescence: Contraception Education For Adolescents Leads To Improved Sexual Practices, Marie Poellinger, Erica Jade Fong

Nursing | Student Research Posters

Adolescents of low socioeconomic status from 13-18 years of age face many challenges when it comes to maintaining safe sexual health practices, leading to unwanted pregnancies and exposure to sexually transmitted diseases (STI’s). Challenges include:

• economic barriers → limited access to health care or lack of health insurance

• lack of proper sex education and therefore limited knowledge around contraceptive

Addressing these challenges is crucial for better sexual health outcomes. The nurse’s role is essential in providing education about contraceptive options, access to local resources, and guidance pertaining to safe sexual health practices (Dixon, 2014)

The Effects Of School-Based Art Therapy On Depressed Adolescents, Jasmine Nicolas

Nursing | Student Research Posters

Depression in adolescents is associated with deficient behavioral and health outcomes (Fletcher, 2019). Art therapy has been shown to be effective in treating mental health condition such as depression. A student’s academic success heavily depends on treating their depression. Community health nurses can play a vital role in advocating for adequate mental health support to improve a student’s overall well-being and academic success. The literature review contains six articles on the prevalence and impact of depression among adolescents, art therapy as an intervention for improving psychological outcomes and resilience among adolescents, and experiences of adolescent clients in art therapy within …

The Relationship Of Trait-Like Compassion With Epigenetic Aging: The Population-Based Prospective Young Finns Study, Henrik Dobewall, Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen, Saara Marttila, Pashupati P. Mishra, Aino Saarinen, C. Robert Cloninger, Igor Zwir, Mika Kähönen, Mikko Hurme, Olli Raitakari, Terho Lehtimäki, Mirka Hintsanen

School of Medicine Publications

Introduction: Helping others within and beyond the family has been related to living a healthy and long life. Compassion is a prosocial personality trait characterized by concern for another person who is suffering and the motivation to help. The current study examines whether epigenetic aging is a potential biological mechanism that explains the link between prosociality and longevity.

Methods: We used data from the Young Finns Study that follows six birth-cohorts from age 3–18 to 19–49. Trait-like compassion for others was measured with the Temperament and Character Inventory in the years 1997 and 2001. Epigenetic age acceleration and telomere …

A Pilot Investigation Of Differential Hydroxymethylation Levels In Patient-Derived Neural Stem Cells Implicates Altered Cortical Development In Bipolar Disorder, Ashish Kumar, Mark Z. Kos, Donna Roybal, Melanie A. Carless

School of Medicine Publications

Introduction: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic mental illness characterized by recurrent episodes of mania and depression and associated with social and cognitive disturbances. Environmental factors, such as maternal smoking and childhood trauma, are believed to modulate risk genotypes and contribute to the pathogenesis of BD, suggesting a key role in epigenetic regulation during neurodevelopment. 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) is an epigenetic variant of particular interest, as it is highly expressed in the brain and is implicated in neurodevelopment, and psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Methods: Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were generated from the white blood cells of two adolescent patients with …

Mechanisms Linking Threat- And Deprivation-Related Childhood Adversity And Depression: The Biopsychosocial Model, Cut N. Kemala, Marijtje L.A. Jongsma, Donny Hendrawan, Eni Becker

Psychological Research on Urban Society

Childhood adversity involves a wide range of negative experiences that pose a serious threat to a child’s wellbeing. It has been consistently shown to predict (chronic) depression in subsequent stages of development, but mechanisms underlying the relationship are still less clear. Moving from a cumulative approach of lumping heterogeneous categories of childhood adversity to a dimensional approach of classifying negative experiences into two major dimensions (threat and deprivation) has facilitated the identification of specific processes by which childhood adversity can predict depression. This review aims to provide an integrative overview of how childhood adversity increases the risk for depression using …

Brain Deficit Patterns Of Metabolic Illnesses Overlap With Those For Major Depressive Disorder: A New Metric Of Brain Metabolic Disease, Kathryn S Hatch, Si Gao, Yizhou Ma, Alessandro Russo, Neda Jahanshad, Paul M Thompson, Bhim M Adhikari, Heather Bruce, Andrew Van Der Vaart, Aristeidis Sotiras, Mark D Kvarta, Thomas E Nichols, Lianne Schmaal, L Elliot Hong, Peter Kochunov

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Metabolic illnesses (MET) are detrimental to brain integrity and are common comorbidities in patients with mental illnesses, including major depressive disorder (MDD). We quantified effects of MET on standard regional brain morphometric measures from 3D brain MRI as well as diffusion MRI in a large sample of UK BioBank participants. The pattern of regional effect sizes of MET in non-psychiatric UKBB subjects was significantly correlated with the spatial profile of regional effects reported by the largest meta-analyses in MDD but not in bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or Alzheimer's disease. We used a regional vulnerability index (RVI) for MET (RVI-MET) to measure …

Academic Impacts Of Later School Start Times, Nicole Swain, Tuyet Tran, Daphne Carrier

Quest

Literature Review

Research in progress for PSYC 2301: Honors General Psychology

Faculty Mentor: Jennifer L. O’Loughlin-Brooks

The following paper represents research produced by students in an Honors General Psychology course. The class assignment introduces students to scientific research and writing through a team-based approach. Each individual student team, composed of two or three members, conducts a comprehensive literature review on a specific psychology topic of their choosing. They summarize and evaluate at least seven pieces of scholarly work, discuss future areas of investigation for the field, and explain how this research might add qualitatively to the existing knowledge of the …

Oxytocin Receptor Binding In The Substantia Nigra In Schizophrenia, Ariel Snowden

Student Research Symposium

Schizophrenia is a chronic, psychiatric disorder characterized by hallucinations, delusions, cognitive deficits, and social cognitive impairments. Although antipsychotic drugs are typically effective in treating psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia, the social cognitive symptoms often persist. As social cognitive functioning is predictive of successful life outcomes in schizophrenia, there is a critical need to determine the biological basis of social cognitive impairments. Due to its ability to affect social behaviors in animals and humans, the oxytocin (OXT) system has become a therapeutic target of interest for schizophrenia. Although several studies examine the OXT system in schizophrenia in the periphery, it is currently …

Time Of Day Preferences And Daily Temporal Consistency For Predicting The Sustained Use Of A Commercial Meditation App: Longitudinal Observational Study, Vincent Berardi, Ryan Fowers, Gavriella Rubin, Chad Stecher

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background: The intensive data typically collected by mobile health (mHealth) apps allows factors associated with persistent use to be investigated, which is an important objective given users’ well-known struggles with sustaining healthy behavior.

Objective: Data from a commercial meditation app (n=14,879; 899,071 total app uses) were analyzed to assess the validity of commonly given habit formation advice to meditate at the same time every day, preferably in the morning.

Methods: First, the change in probability of meditating in 4 nonoverlapping time windows (morning, midday, evening, and late night) on a given day over the first 180 days …