Biological Psychology Commons^™

Contraceptive Hormone Influences On The Role Of Primary Reinforcement And Reinforcer-Enhancement In Nicotine Self-Administration, Kathleen Robin Mcnealy

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Hormonal contraceptives contain a synthetic estrogen (e.g., ethinyl estradiol/EE) and/or a synthetic progestin (e.g., levonorgestrel/LEVO) and can exacerbate nicotine intake. However, whether altered intake reflects changes in nicotine reinforcement or enhancement by nicotine of co-occurring reinforcers is unknown. This reinforcer-enhancement effect is evidenced in rats when nicotine self-administration is increased by the presence of a visual stimulus (VS) reinforcer. This dissertation examined the effects of EE and LEVO on nicotine reinforcement and reinforcer-enhancement in ovary-intact female Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were implanted with a jugular catheter and assigned to receive daily injections of EE (Vehicle, 0.125 [Low], or 0.18 [High] μg/day; …

Excitation And Polarization Of Isolated Neurons By High-Frequency Sine Waves For Temporal Interference Stimulation, Iurii Semenov, Vitalii Kim, Giedre Silkuniene, Andrei G. Pakhomov

Bioelectrics Publications

The capacity of temporal interference (TI) stimulation to target deep brain regions without affecting nearby surface electrodes remains uncertain. Using artifact-free optical recording, we compare excitation patterns and thresholds in hippocampal neurons stimulated by “pure” and amplitude-modulated sine waves, representing TI waveforms near electrodes and at the target, respectively. We show that pure 2- and 20-kHz sine waves induce repetitive firing at rates that increase up to 60–90 Hz with stronger electric fields. Beyond this limit, action potentials merge into sustained depolarization, resulting in an excitation block. Modulating the sine waves at 20 Hz aligns firing with amplitude “beats” and …

Igf-1 As A Biomarker For Symptom Severity In Adult Traumatic Brain Injury: Evidence From An Observational Study, Justin Weppner, Kimberly Rosenthal, Jennifer Bath, Tonja Locklear, Melissa Martinez

Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Faculty Publications

Traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related growth hormone deficiency is often undertreated, despite documented physical, metabolic, and neuropsychiatric effects. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), with neuroreceptors located in brain regions responsible for learning, memory, and mood, regulates cerebral blood flow, neurogenesis, and neuroplasticity. The aim of this study was to determine associations between IGF-1 levels and post-TBI symptom severity, anxiety, and depression. This retrospective observational study at an Academic Brain Injury Center included participants evaluated 3-12 months post-TBI with available IGF-1 values and complete Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ-13), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) responses. Patients under 18 or …

Resilience And Reality: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of People Living With Hiv In Texas During The Covid-19 Pandemic – A Qualitative Study., Ahmed F. Alanazi

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

This study investigated the lived experiences of individuals living with HIV (PLWH) in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area of Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic, using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) framework. The research examined the intersection of health, social dynamics, and psychological resilience among PLWH, who faced compounded vulnerabilities due to systemic inequities and the dual public health crises of HIV and COVID-19. Through semi-structured interviews with ten participants from diverse backgrounds, the study captured the profound impacts of disrupted healthcare systems, heightened stigma, and social isolation on this marginalized population. The findings reveal that the pandemic exacerbated existing inequities …

Can Dyslexia Diagnosis Induce A Stereotype Threat Effect? A Literature Review And Research Proposal, David H. Harris

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Dyslexia is a recognized psychiatric diagnosis in the DSM-5, categorized as a specific language disorder. Dyslexia is a hidden disability that affects how individuals process auditory and visual information. Many people have heard of dyslexia but it is largely misunderstood, even by educational professionals, and its general association with learning disability can be the basis for negative stereotyping and discrimination of people with dyslexia. The ‘Stereotype threat effect’ is a term from social psychology research referring to situations where one’s performance on a task is influenced by their identification with a social group that has a well-known stereotype about their …

Testosterone Reactivity And Parental Care Motivation In Men As A Function Of Parental Status, Nathan Boone

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Paternal investment and caregiving quality have lasting impacts on children's well-being. Children with sensitive, involved fathers typically develop more secure attachments and have fewer behavioral and psychological problems than children with less sensitive and involved fathers. While the importance of fathers’ engagement with their children is well established, the biological mechanisms that underpin paternal behavior are not fully understood. Previous research has found that baseline testosterone levels and testosterone reactivity to infant stimuli are both relevant predictors of paternal sensitivity. Short-term decreases in testosterone in nurturant contexts, and short-term increases in testosterone in challenging contexts have both been linked to …

A Comparative Analysis Of Perineuronal Nets In Trout And Zebrafish Models, Adnan Alyan

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are specialized extracellular matrix structures that surround certain types of neurons in the central nervous system. Research from the past few decades has cemented PNNs as an integral player in the closure and onset of critical periods, memory modulation, and neural plasticity. These effects are thought to occur when PNNs form around a neuron and structurally stabilize its synaptic connections. PNNs have been directly linked to behavioral changes, making them of interest to psychologists as well as neuroscientists. Several PNN components, such as Hapln1 and aggrecan such as have been found in zebrafish, a teleost fish (Kang …

Racial Health Disparities Among Pregnant Women Of Color In New York City: Biological And Systemic Impacts, Kaylin Peña

Pitzer Senior Theses

Racial Health Disparities Among Pregnant Women of Color in New York City: Biological and Systemic Impacts

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore how racial health disparities, underrepresentation in gynecology, and socioeconomic barriers contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes among women of color in New York City. Through an interdisciplinary approach that combines resources from medical anthropology and human biology, this research will examine the biological implications of chronic stress, specifically HPA axis dysregulation, and its role in maternal health outcomes. With the idea of intersectionality, as conceptualized by Kimberlé Crenshaw, the study analyzes the various effects of systemic inequities and social …

The Menstrual Cycle, Dual-Hormone Hypothesis, And Competition: Implications For Athletic Performance, Camille Burns

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Female athletes perceive that the fluctuating hormones of the menstrual cycle affect their performance. However, research on objective performance is inconclusive, partly due to a lack of studies conducted in real-world competitive contexts. Testosterone is often seen to be elevated near ovulation and is related to social competitiveness. Under the dual-hormone hypothesis, testosterone only predicts competitive behavior when cortisol is low. The current study had two goals: (1) to test whether the dual-hormone hypothesis applied to competitive drive and objective athletic performance, and (2) to examine whether competitiveness and the intensity of one’s response to competition varied across the menstrual …

Exploring The Placebo Effect On The Cortisol Stress Response, Povheng Yam

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The placebo effect is well-studied on pain perception and is often observed to have a pain-reducing effect in patients. A few studies suggest that the placebo effect can influence physiological changes in people. To date, not many studies have examined the placebo effect on stress; thus, the current study explored the placebo effect on participants’ cortisol stress response and self-reported stress while undergoing a modified acute stress task, the Sing-a-Song Stress Test (SSST). The current study includes 44 participants (22 in the control group and 22 in the treatment group). A deceptive stress-reducing tincture (filled with water) was used as …

Neurobiological Variables Mediating The Relationship Between Breast Cancer And Sleep Disruption, Brittany Domenique Elliott

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Neurobiological Variables Mediating the Relationship between

Breast Cancer and Sleep Disruption

Brittany D. Elliott, MS

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in women, with more than two million new cases diagnosed world-wide each year. Improvements in screening technology and diagnostics have increased survival rates, but cancer-associated sleep disruptions persist for the majority of breast cancer survivors well beyond the treatment period. In addition to reducing quality of life, reduced sleep quality is associated with greater incidences of affective dysfunction, reduced treatment efficiency, aggressive cancer progression, increased symptom severity, and increased mortality by all causes. Thus, identifying the variables …

Traditional And Non-Traditional Behavioral Tests Demonstrate The Attenuation Of Cognitive Deficits By Therapeutic Hypothermia In A Rat Model Of Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy, Angela Saadat, Cortney Kaszowski, Haree Pallera, Frank Lattanzio, Richard A. Britten, Asna Sulaiman, Stephanie Newman, Alireza Hosseini, Tushar Shah

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Introduction: Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is neurological disease caused by the deprivation of oxygen and blood flow to the brain during the developmentally-critical perinatal period. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is the standard of care treatment for HIE, though cognitive deficits can persistent throughout life despite treatment. The nature of these deficits, and the impacts of TH and sex are not well understood, and this presents a key barrier in the development of novel therapeutics.

Methods: The goal of this study was to enhance the characterization and measurement of cognitive outcomes with tasks that measure spontaneous behaviors in a rodent models of …

A Decision-Space Model Explains Context-Specific Decision Making, Dirk W. Beck, Cory N. Heaton, Luis D. Davila, Lara I. Rakocevic, Sabrina M. Drammis, Danil Tyulmankov, Atanu Giri, Shreeya Umashankar Beck, Qingyang Zhang, Michael Pokojovy, Kenichiro Negishi, Alexis A. Salcido, Neftali F. Reyes, Andrea Y. Macias, Serina A. Batson, Paulina Vara, Raquel J. Ibáñez Alcalá, Safa B. Hossain, Graham L. Waller, Laura E. O'Dell, Travis M. Moschak, Ki A. Goosens, Alexander Friedman

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Optimal decision-making requires consideration of internal and external contexts. Biased decision-making is a transdiagnostic symptom of neuropsychiatric disorders. We created a computational model demonstrating how the striosome compartment of the striatum constructs a context-dependent mathematical space for decision-making computations, and how the matrix compartment uses this space to define action value. The model explains multiple experimental results and unifies other theories like reward prediction error, roles of the direct versus indirect pathways, and roles of the striosome versus matrix, under one framework. We also found, through new analyses, that striosome and matrix neurons increase their synchrony during difficult tasks, caused …

Navigating Online Dating: Exploring The Intersection Of Attachment Styles, Parental Attachments, And Sociosexuality In Online Dating Among College Students, Jensley Velez-Lozada

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The aim of this thesis is to explore the connection between attachment styles, parental attachment, and sociosexuality as predictors of online dating attitudes among college students. As society navigates this new digital era of online dating, how does it continue to transform young adults as they form romantic and sexual connections? It becomes increasingly important to understand the psychological mechanisms that influence these behaviors. This study examined how anxious and avoidant attachment styles, parental attachment, and sociosexuality may have contributed to online hookup attempts and outcomes behaviors. It also examined how these variables interacted and influenced both the likelihood of …

Neural Correlates Of Attentional Biases In Dietary Choice: Role Of Childhood Socioeconomic Status, Justine Jamie N. Gotico

CMC Senior Theses

Childhood poverty has been shown to increase adult risk for obesity above and beyond its direct effects on adult socioeconomic status (SES). One proposed mechanism of these effects is by shifting behavioral patterns of dietary consumption and choice, for example by increasing rapid attention to high-calorie unhealthy foods. Yet, whether such neural mechanisms can explain observed differences in dietary behavior based on childhood SES remains an open question. Here we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine early attentional correlates of low childhood SES during a dietary choice task, based on research suggesting that early attentional biases toward high-calorie foods emerge …

Money Matters: Investigating The Emotional, Cognitive, And Biological Pathways Connecting Maternal Early Life Financial Insecurity And Parenting Quality, Elise Power, Stacey N. Doan

CMC Senior Theses

Early life adversity has been shown to have a variety of negative effects on adult functioning, including parenting quality, with implications for child wellbeing. Adverse early life experiences including poverty have been linked to long-term disruptions in emotional, cognitive, and physiological functioning that compromise the ability to provide sensitive, nurturing care. The present study investigated whether emotional regulation difficulties, physiological regulation, and cognitive function mediate the relationship between early life financial insecurity and parenting quality. A sample of 132 mother-child dyads completed self-report measures, biological samples, and cognitive assessments. A multiple mediation model ran in SPSS, revealed a significant indirect …

The Abuse Liability Of Oral Nicotine Pouches In Electronic Cigarette Users, Jakob D. Bohland

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Oral nicotine pouches (ONPs) are products containing synthetic or tobacco derived nicotine in a cellulose pouch. While relatively novel in their current state, ONPs are increasing in popularity, with little known about their national level prevalence. Extant work has suggested that electronic cigarette (e-cig) users may be interested in ONPs; however, no abuse liability studies have been conducted comparing ONPs directly to e-cigs. In the few abuse liability studies that have been conducted, ONPs have been evaluated in comparison to combustible cigarettes or smokeless tobacco (SLT). These studies suggest ONPs may be less reinforcing than combustible cigarettes or SLT. Therefore, …

Nature, Nurture, And Serial Murder: A Biocriminological Analysis Of Jeffrey Dahmer And Aileen Wuornos, Dori W. Jal

Honors Thesis

In recent years, there has been an increase in public fascination with serial killers, however current criminological explanations continue to focus on social and psychological factors, lacking commentary on potential biological implications. This thesis addresses a gap in the literature by examining how biological processes, specifically epigenetic, neurobiological, and endocrinological mechanisms, interact with environmental stressors to shape serial homicidal behavior. The goal is to determine whether serial murder can be more effectively understood through a biosocial framework that integrates biological vulnerability with lived experience, rather than relying on singular explanatory models.

Using a qualitative multiple-case study methodology, this research analyzes …

Simulated Slot Machine Gambling In Relation To Sign-Tracking, Polina Krom

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The propensity to attribute incentive salience to reward-related cues, or sign-tracking (ST) has been linked to addiction in animal models and some initial human data. The current study explores the role of sign-tracking (ST), as a potential risk factor for problematic slot machine gambling, which abundantly features audiovisual reward-related cues, henceforth sensory features. A sample of healthy participants without gambling problems (n = 30) completed a Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer (PIT) paradigm to assess ST propensity and played on a realistic slot machine simulator consisting of two versions: with sensory features (SF+) and without (SF-). Each game version had fixed bet sizes, …

Effects Of Ethanol And Neuropeptide-Y Signaling On Neurogenic Markers In The Hippocampus, Cassidy Taylor Leibold

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

According to the National Survey of Drug Use and Health in 2023, 28.9 million people over the age of 12 in the United States meet criteria for an Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). AUDs result in a range of both social and behavioral consequences, caused by damage to the central nervous system. The hippocampus is a brain structure that undergoes cellular changes in the presence of ethanol, thus causing structural and functional damage. Impairments in neurogenesis, or the production of new neurons, due to ethanol exposure result in decreased plasticity and consequently memory impairments. The mechanisms of these ethanol-induced decreases in …