2018 Creative Collaborations

EDWARD FISHER, AIMEE STEEN, LINDA LEIJA and Jena Hales

The medial temporal lobes (MTL) are critical for the formation and retrieval of episodic memories, which have both spatial and temporal components. The hippocampus and medial entorhinal cortex, two structures within the MTL, have well characterized spatial processing abilities, with place cells and grid cells, and are both involved in spatial memory (O'Keefe and Dostrovsky, 1971; Hafting et al., 2005; Steffenach, et al. 2005; Hales et al. 2014). The hippocampus has also shown evidence of temporal processing, containing "time cells" (MacDonald, 2011), and is involved in temporal aspects of memory (Fortin, 2002). Unlike the well studied spatial contributions made by the MEC, the temporal functions of this structure are poorly understood. Recent work suggests involvement of the MEC in temporal organization of hippocampal firing patterns, indicating a role for the MEC in hippocampus-dependent temporal processing (Schlesinger et al., 2015). However, the precise role of the MEC in temporal aspects of memory is unclear. In order to examine this question, we developed a temporal object sequence learning task. Rats were presented with a sequence of objects. After a brief delay, rats were given a sequential order probe to test memory for which of two objects was presented earlier in the sequence, followed by an item memory probe to test object recognition memory. Preliminary results from this pilot task contribute to previous data examining temporal memory contributions of the medial entorhinal cortex.

ALEXIS NACHT, DANIEL KURZWEIL, HAILEY SACHS, CASEY LOPES-SCERER and Veronica Galvan

At the University of San Diego we have a large military student population that consists of over 750 students. Unfortunately, we have little information on our military student population, including basic demographic information. With the growing population of military students at our university we want to learn more about how to enhance their college experience. Military students differ from non-military students in a variety of ways and this often makes it more difficult for them to graduate. We will be surveying military students in comparison to non military students and be studying them in three specific areas that may pose challenges: their transition period, academic experience, and social involvement. Once gathered, the survey information will provide crucial information pertaining to the well-being of our military student population which can be used to offer more specific programs to these students and make USD's campus better suited for the military student community.

ELIZABETH BADER, KEELEY COPELAND, JUJU LUCENA, ELLE JONHSONG, and Veronica Galvan

Smartphone applications and websites like Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook have the ability to connect us to our surrounding world, but can also impair our interactions with others. In our current technologically-driven society, an overdependence on our electronic devices and their associated social media applications can negatively affect our attention and focus (Ward et al., 2017). One recent study has shown that 75% of teenagers use the internet daily, and 41% do it for three or more hours per day (Ferreira et al., 2017). Additionally, Ferreira et al. also found that 19% of adolescents have an internet dependence. Knowing that social media use can have such large effects on young students, it is important to learn more about the social media habits of members of the USD community. We are currently surveying USD Psychology 101 students to learn how often they use various social media applications, and how their social media use may affect academic performance and social interactions. With the information gathered, we can learn more about how to use social media as a resource for students, while also learning about the negative impacts it may have on academic and social experiences.

ALEXIS POSADAS and Rebekah Wanic

Previous research has evaluated the influence of power and perceptions of power on many outcomes. For example, numerous studies have demonstrated that power manipulations are capable of influencing perspective taking (Galinsky et al., 2006) as well as creating an illusion of personal control in decision making (Fast et al., 2009). Specifically, participants who were exposed to a manipulation of high power were more likely to take positions of self-interest (Galinsky et al., 2003) and less likely to adopt another individual's perspective as well as less likely to recognize that other individuals do not possess the knowledge they do (Galinsky et al., 2006). Similarly, researchers have shown that empathy manipulations are capable of influencing behavioral outcomes thus altering decision making (Finlay & Stephan, 2000). For example, increasing empathy through manipulations has led to increased understanding toward disadvantaged groups (Finlay & Stephan, 2000). As yet, little research has explored either of these variables or the possible connection between the two in the context healthcare beliefs and attitudes. Thus, the aim of the present study is to experimentally manipulation power and empathy to determine whether either or both might impact participants' self-reported beliefs about government provision of healthcare services. Results and future directions will be discussed.

AMANDA NGUYEN, ROXANNE MOGHADAM, and Divya Sitaraman

Octopamine (OA), the invertebrate homolog of norepinephrine, has been implicated in multiple behaviors in Drosophila such as feeding, sleep, and aggression. The precise circuit mechanisms by which octopamine regulates these behaviors remains largely unexplored. Using a high resolution neurogenetic screening we have identified a subset of octopamine neurons (VPM 4,5) that suppresses sleep and increases wakefulness. Neuroanatomical analysis reveals that these neurons, auditory and visual presentation in the evocation of empathy, with the expectation that auditory information would evoke higher somatic empathy compared to visual. College students (N = 125) were exposed to a 40-second audio, video, or audio-video file presenting an elderly man suffering from a painful kidney stone. Participants indicated his perceived pain and level of danger and whether they experienced any physical sensations. The results were consistent with hypothesis for both pain and danger. Future research directions are discussed. Key Words: Empathy, Auditory Sensory System, Visual System Physical Sensation, Pain Perception, vicarious pain, Social Cognition of Empathy, and Neurocognition of somatic empathy

CAILEY BENARD and BRITTANY HUNT LE'STRANGE and Michael Ichiyama

In the present study we explored the effects of gender and neuroticism on heavy drinking. Participants were 640 undergraduate students attending a university in Southern California who completed an online survey that included measures of heavy drinking and neuroticism group levels (high vs. low). A 2x2 (gender x neuroticism group) univariate analysis of variance was computed with a composite measure of heavy drinking serving as the dependent variable. Significant main effects for gender and neuroticism group were found along with a significant interaction effect. It was found that males engage in more heavy drinking than females, and participants with low neuroticism scores engaged in less heavy drinking than those with high neuroticism scores. In addition, males high in neuroticism engaged in less heavy drinking than the females in our sample and the males low in neuroticism. These findings may contribute to the literature involving personality variables as potential predictive factors for heavy drinking among college students.

MAUREEN COBILE, DESIREE JOCSON and Rebekah Wanic

Partners often have various levels of power in their romantic relationship. In this study, we refer to relationship partners varying in power as the dominant and the less dominant partners in a relationship. Based on past research, the less dominant partner, typically a woman in a heterosexual relationship, is more likely to experience physical and mental health risks in comparison to dominant partners. In addition, women who identify with the LGBTQ community are also at higher risk of experiencing mental health issues. Because little research has evaluated power dynamics in non-heterosexual relationships, the purpose of this study is to evaluate if surveyors can perceive that less dominant partners (varying in gender and sexual orientation) are at higher risk of experiencing mental health issues. The surveyors will be randomly given one of the following scenarios in which the partners vary in power: dominant male/less dominant female, dominant female/less dominant female, dominant female/less dominant male. A questionnaire is currently being distributed online and is accessible to students. Results and conclusions will be formed by mid to end of March.

SEPIDEH AGAHI and Rebekah Wanic

Abstract Empathy is important in human social interactions, facilitating altruism and survival and its lack has been implicated in mental disorders such as psychopathy, autism, and personality disorders. Experiencing empathy is connected in part to the activity of aMCC-dACC-SMS, bilateral AI and mirror neurons, which can cause virtual pain sensations when exposed to an individual in pain. Neurocognitive and social-cognitive evidence supports the role of both auditory and visual stimuli in evocation of empathy, but no research has explored the relative effectiveness of each. The present study compared auditory and visual presentation in the evocation of empathy, with the expectation that auditory information would evoke higher somatic empathy compared to visual. College students (N = 125) were exposed to a 40-second audio, video, or audio-video file presenting an elderly man suffering from a painful kidney stone. Participants indicated his perceived pain and level of danger and whether they experienced any physical sensations. The results were consistent with hypothesis for both pain and danger. Future research directions are discussed. Key Words: Empathy, Auditory Sensory System, Visual System Physical Sensation, Pain Perception, vicarious pain, Social Cognition of Empathy, and Neurocognition of somatic empathy. 

GRANT GILBRETH, HANNAH GILLILAND, and Rebekah Wanic

An individual's identity involves membership in various groups, such as gender or race. Previous research on stereotyping has shown that while groups are often attributed with both positive and negative characteristics, certain groups are overall viewed more negatively. For example, past research regarding race has found overwhelming support for pro-White attitudes and more negative attitudes associated with minority groups. Religion is a group which may form part of the basis for one's identity and research has shown generally positive attitudes associated with religion and those affiliated with various religions, with negative Muslim-associated biases standing as the primary and consistent exception. Finally, because individuals strive to maintain a positive self-view, research has shown that they tend to rate their in-group more positively. The current study seeks to explore the relationship between race and religious affiliation on person perception. Specifically, members of a primarily White, Catholic, private university were shown images of either a White or Middle Eastern individual and half in each condition were also provided with a manipulation of religious affiliation as either Catholic or Muslim (consistent with race). It was expected that the White Catholic participants would rate the White Catholic man most positively and the Middle Eastern Muslim man the least positively, however the data were inconsistent with this prediction. Specifically, the Middle Eastern individual was rated more positively than the White individual, and the non-religious Middle Eastern individual was rated higher than both the White conditions. Potential reasons for this surprising result are discussed along with limitations and future directions.

JESSICA PAUL, Gequasha Collins, Kiran Long-Iyer, Elizabeth Petty and Rachel Blaser and Jena Hales

The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is an optimization problem in which the subject attempts to find the shortest possible route that passes through a set of fixed locations exactly once. The TSP is used in cognitive and behavioral research to study problem solving and spatial navigation. While the TSP has been studied in some depth from this perspective, the biological mechanisms underlying the behavior have not yet been explored. The hippocampus is a structure in the brain that is known to be used for tasks that require spatial memory. Because the TSP requires spatial problem solving, we designed the current study to determine whether rats use their hippocampus when producing solutions to the TSP, and if so, what role the hippocampus serves. The rats were pretrained on the TSP, which involved learning to retrieve bait from targets in a variety of spatial configurations. Matched for performance, rats were then divided into two groups, receiving either a partial hippocampal lesion or a control sham surgery. After recovering from surgery, the rats were tested on eight new configurations. A variety of behavioral measures were recorded, including distance traveled, number of revisits, span, and latency. The results showed that the sham group outperformed the lesion group on most of these measures, with the lesion group demonstrating more pronounced impairment on the more complex configurations. Based on histological tissue analysis of each group, we determined that the hippocampus appears to be involved in finding efficient routes, particularly in complex versions of the TSP.

MARGARET DRISCOLL, VICTORIA COLEMAN and Divya Sitaraman

Neuromodulators such as serotonin and dopamine (DA) have previously been implicated in behaviors such as sleep and feeding across vertebrates and invertebrates. The majority of the dopaminergic neurons in the fly brain project to an associative learning network called the mushroom body (MB), modulating the synaptic strength of connections within. The MB has been implicated in many motivated behaviors, including decision-making and sleep. Approximately 2,000 kenyon cells (KCs) make up the lobes of the MB and synapse onto MB output neurons (MBONs). Transgenic activation of clusters of DA neurons has been found to result in significant sleep deficits in Drosophila melanogaster. In order to ascertain whether the observed sleep deficits resulting from DA neuron activation resulted from dopaminergic regulation of a drive to forage for food, a comprehensive screen of all MB DANs and MBONs was conducted. To this end, Split GAL4 driver lines, specifying the targeted dopamine neuron clusters previously tested for sleep phenotypes, were crossed with UAS-dTRPA1 lines. Progeny, now expressing dTRPA1 channels in these targeted dopamine neuron clusters, were collected and tested with half of the male progeny on blue food at 21°C and the other half at 29°C, in which the selected neuron cluster was activated. Feeding levels resulting from activation of all MB DA neuron clusters were compared spectrophotometrically and found to be unaffected by this activation, despite their sleep phenotypes. These data indicate that sleep modulating dopaminergic neurons may comprise a circuit modulating homeostatic control of sleep independent from circuits controlling feeding. These results may help to explain the way in which DA influences sleep suppression and behavioral arousal, but further investigation is required to understand their circuitry and mechanism.

RACHEL CHARBONNET and Rachel Blaser

A common model of testing learning behaviors in animals is through fear conditioning, in which a neutral, Conditioned Stimulus is paired with a negative, Unconditioned Stimulus so that a fear response is shared for both. It is already known that zebrafish can be classically conditioned and that their fear response can be measured by rapid swim movements. What we do not know, however, is whether the behavior is learned in the same way as other model organisms or even humans. We are hoping to discover whether zebrafish exhibit the same time dependence as seen in model organisms. There are four distinct sessions that can be administered, varying in time between light flash (the Conditioned stimulus) and shock administered (the Unconditioned stimulus). The four sessions consist of the Delay Conditioning group, Trace Conditioning group, Unpaired group, or No Shock group, with the former two groups as experimental groups and the latter two as control groups in which little or no learning should occur. We expect that the zebrafish will be most strongly conditioned by the Delay Conditioning sessions and most weakly conditioned by the Unpaired sessions; no conditioning should occur in the No Shock group. If these proposed patterns are observed, we suggest that learning in zebrafish may have a common neurological mechanism to a variety of other vertebrates like rats and humans.

HALEY PUGH, REBECCA SIMPSON and Adriana Molitor

Autonomy support refers to a parent's attempts to encourage a child's initiative, interests and volitional functioning. In contrast, control refers to a parent's attempts to pressure, dominate or intrude on a child's behaviors and thoughts in order to get the child to meet a parent's demands or expectations. Past research from our USD toddler lab shows that parental autonomy support is important in getting young children to willingly cooperate with parental requests. It also predicts enhanced achievement in grade-school children and is correlated with increased socio-emotional skills later in life. Conversely, negative outcomes have been associated with controlling and intrusive parenting. For example, maternal overprotection and paternal critical-control predicted internalizing problems and anxiousness in preschoolers. Despite recent focus on the benefits of autonomy support, researchers are not in agreement as to how to operationalize the concept. The present study examines whether various forms of autonomy support and control should be distinguished or if they are all reflective of a shared concept. Specifically, mothers were rated on seven behaviors reflecting autonomy support and control while helping their 30-month-olds perform a compliance task, cleaning up toys, and two teaching tasks, board lacing and a multi-dimensional shape puzzle. Analyses examine the association between maternal behaviors within these contexts.

THALIA LUNA, LAUREN WOOD and Divya Sitaraman

The ability to forage and feed is crucial for meeting the energy needs of an organism. Hence, it is not surprising that hunger and food-seeking behaviors are controlled by complex neural circuit mechanisms. When food is not readily available animals respond by suppressing other behaviors like sleep, courtship, etc. in order to search for food. This starvation-induced suppression of other behaviors signifies a critical choice in organisms and likely involves complex interplay between circuits controlling individual behaviors. The goal of the PURE proposal was to identify and characterize the effects of hunger on neural circuits underlying courtship decision-making. To this end we chose Drosophila melanogaster, fruit fly, a widely used genetic model organism because of its experimental manipulability, ease of rearing, short life cycle, and ability to clearly observe behavioral choices. It is estimated that 75% of human disease genes have a homolog, or similar gene, in the fruit fly, justifying the importance of studying their genes as well. Many neurons involved in hunger signaling have been previously identified and the behavioral link between hunger and courtship can be studied at a level of individual neurons and circuits. Here we present data through bilateral controlled groups of satiation. The resulting behavior during courtship was observed and categorized to evaluate the nature of the relationship.

HANNAH CARTER and Jennifer Zwolinski

Numerous studies have shown that the pain of rejection yields similar outcomes to the pain of physical injury. This study examined how emotional and physical pain were related to rejection. Participants were 45 college students (32 females) randomly assigned to two groups of the Partial Future Life Alone Rejection paradigm (PFLA): non-rejection (n=22) and rejection (n=23). After all participants provided a baseline pain rating, they took a personality test as part of the PFLA. Participants were asked to think about the results of the test feedback presented on a computer screen. For both conditions, participants received accurate personality test feedback. Participants in the rejection condition received additional feedback that their future lives would be marked by social rejection. All participants were asked to consider their feedback for five minutes before undergoing a second pain rating. The Wagner FPX 50 Algometer was used to measure pain tolerance and threshold at baseline and after PFLA. The Aversive Impact Index was used to measure the validity of the social threat as well as belonging and emotional pain. Results showed a zero correlation between self-reported emotional pain and change in pain tolerance for both groups. Results also indicated a negative relationship between emotional pain and belonging in the rejection group (r =-.54, p =. 01), but no relationship in the non-rejection group (p >.05). This suggests that emotional pain following rejection is associated with belonging. This tendency may motivate rejected individuals to attend to their social injury by seeking out the company of others.

MCKENNA WADE, Jackie Nguyen, Michael Gramlich, Leanne Chukoskie and Jena Hales

This case study investigated the effectiveness of video games developed for attention training as a vision therapy tool in Cerebral Palsy, with a secondary goal of improving quality of life. The subject is an adolescent with a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, and has limited verbal and physical ability. The video games used are gaze-contingent, designed to train the speed and accuracy of attention orienting and saccadic eye movement behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorder, typically played with a remote pupil tracker. In this case study, the game interface is adapted through a worn pupil tracker to fit the vision therapy sub-goals of reducing head-box size, attention orienting and training saccadic eye movement. The subject used an at-home setup of the video games and worn eye tracker, and played for a set amount of time each day. In-lab game play is used to establish pre-, mid- and post-intervention performance, and evaluated for changes in head-box size, attention orienting, and saccadic eye movement. The subject demonstrated a reduced head-box, improved attention orienting and saccadic eye movement after Phase II. These results are suggestive of improvement with regular gameplay, and that these games may be a viable vision therapy tool in Cerebral Palsy. Further, in a follow-up appointment, the subject demonstrated ability to successfully engage with a remote eye tracker, which was not the case prior to this study. This new capacity allows for the possibility of implementing a gaze-controlled digital speech system, improving the subject?s communication options.

MARY KUCKERTZ, Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Teresa Lind, Anna Lau and Kristen McCabe

Treatment engagement with parents and youth is a major predictor of client success in clinical settings and has been associated with various positive outcomes including reduced symptomatology and higher rates of program completion among children. Clients? negative attitudes toward treatment and socioeconomic variables are associated with reduced engagement whereas clients? positive perceptions of therapy are correlated with increased client engagement. Beyond these links between engagement and client factors, research examining the influence of specific therapy strategies on client engagement is limited. The current study examined session-level engagement challenges that are associated with 4 specific evidence-based strategies administered during that session. Survey data from 103 community mental health therapists and 274 clients across 696 therapy sessions in Los Angeles County were used within the context of a fiscally mandated multiple EBP implementation effort. Multilevel modeling analyses were employed to analyze the relationship between session-level engagement challenges (expressed and disengaged) and specific session-level therapy strategies (psychoeducation, assigning and reviewing homework, role play/practice, and trauma narrative) across six EBPs. Therapy sessions were recorded, and all items were coded by an independent observer. Results indicated that use of psychoeducation and assigning/reviewing homework were both associated with an increase in expressed but not disengaged client engagement challenges. Role play/ practice and trauma narrative on the other hand were not associated with expressed nor disengaged client engagement challenges. These findings are useful as they inform therapists who deliver these strategies in their work with youth and parents in clinical settings.

SARAH KHAN and Jena Hales

Our brains generate new neurons. This process of neurogenesis has been shown to occur even into adulthood. Although it has been identified, the complete understanding of the mechanisms and influencing factors on neurogenesis remain unclear. Emerging research states that neurogenesis supports brain plasticity and learning and memory, therefore being a critical element of brain health particularly in older age. While prior research has shown environmental factors? impact on neurogenesis, it has yet to fully establish the effects of nutrition. Several dietary factors have been demonstrated to be involved in the process, including regulation of the gut-microbiome, caloric consumption, food texture, and certain nutrients. These factors modulate the creation of new neurons through a variety of mechanisms, such as regulation of positive gene pathways, enhancing the production of progenitor cells, and elevation of vital chemicals like brain-derived neurotrophic factor. A growing amount of research is focused on investigating the influence of nutrition on brain health, including mood and cognitive function. By analyzing the current body of research and comparing methods of study, we can evaluate the possible implications of diet-mediated neurogenesis on neurological function. Connecting nutrition and neurogenesis offers promising evidence for potential therapeutic intervention and preventative measures to cognitive impairment associated with aging.

NICOLE REITZ, JONATHAN VINCZE, NINA TABRIZI, KIRAN LONG-IYER, MEGAN MIR and Jena Hales

There are multiple memory systems that work in our brain to form declarative and non-declarative memories. Each of these systems engages distinct brain structures. Declarative memories are encoded by the the hippocampus while nondeclarative memories are formed by other regions, including the striatum (Squire, 2004). Interestingly, studies have consistently shown that with enough training, rats with hippocampal lesions can eventually perform at a level comparable to controls, even on tasks considered to be hippocampus-dependent (Morris & Frey, 1997; Hales et al., 2014). This finding suggests involvement of an alternative memory system, and our study probes two possibilities for how these memory systems interact: 1) an alternative memory system using the striatum compensates for the damaged hippocampus only when the hippocampus is not functional, or 2) the striatum is always engaged but the more effective hippocampus masks its contribution. To examine these possibilities, we tested rats with bilateral excitotoxic hippocampal lesions and sham lesions on a hippocampus-dependent, delayed alternating T-maze task (Ainge et al., 2007). Upon reaching criterion performance, hippocampal- and sham-lesioned rats were immediately perfused and brain tissue was stained for c-Fos expression. Another group of sham rats were overtrained past criterion (reaching a number of training days similar to the hippocampal-lesioned rats). Overtrained rats were then perfused and brain tissue stained for c-Fos expression. The critical comparisons were the levels of c-Fos expression between the hippocampus of the overtrained and naive rats and the levels of c-Fos expression between the striatum of the overtrained and hippocampal-lesioned rats.

YESSICA GREEN ROSAS, CARLI PROCTOR, Raymond La, May Yeh, Argero Zerr, Erika Luis Sanchez, Mckenna Sakamoto, and Kristen McCabe

Few studies looked into parent-child cultural match and its relationship to parent-child differences in evaluating the child's functional impairment. Analyzing how parent-child cultural mismatch relates to different functional impairment evaluations can give insight into how cross-generational differences in cultural affiliation can lead to differences in the way in which parents and children view the child's mental health needs. The authors examined parent-child cultural affinity differences in a sample of service-using youth aged 12-18 (n = 269) to determine if this difference is associated with parentchild differences in evaluating functional impairment in three different domains. Cultural affinity was assessed using the Pan-Acculturation Scale (PAN). Functional impairment evaluations were measured using the Columbia Impairment Scale (CIS) and three domain subscales developed by Singer and others (2011): School, socialization, and home. We hypothesized that greater cultural mismatch would be associated with greater differences in functional impairment evaluations in total and across all three domains. Greater American cultural mismatch was associated with greater parent-child differences in evaluating school functional impairment (t(267) = 2.27, p = .024) but not in total impairment and in the social and home subscales. These findings suggest that greater American cultural mismatch only influences parent-child differences in evaluating functional impairment in the school domain. Cultural mismatch may only relate to parent-child impairment evaluation differences when they are not evaluating the domain with the same environmental context; parents may evaluate school-specific impairments using the context of their cultural affinity, since there is not a shared environmental context in this domain.

HEATHER KOVAR and Jena Hales

Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) is a universally fatal pediatric brain tumor arising in the pons. It is diagnosed in approximately 350 children a year in the United States, usually between the ages of six and seven. Surgical resection is not an option due to its location, chemotherapy has shown no significant benefit and radiation therapy is used as a means of palliative care resulting in a median survival outcome of nine to eleven months. One treatment starting to show promise in treating other brain tumors is immunotherapy due to its ability to specifically target tumor cells while leaving healthy cells intact. We know that the composition of the tumor immune microenvironment greatly influences the efficacy of said immunotherapies. Therefore, the goal of this project was to characterize the DIPG tumor immune microenvironment. We isolated RNA from DIPG patient tumor samples, various other brain tumors, and healthy brain tissue to quantify immune related gene expression. Subsequently, macrophages were co-cultured in DIPG and adult glioblastoma cell lines and analyzed using flow cytometry technology. This research has resulted in important preliminary findings that the DIPG microenvironment has relatively little macrophage infiltration, lower levels of immunosuppressive factors, and an inability to polarize macrophages to a pro-tumor like state. These findings are imperative to future development of effective immunotherapies to treat DIPG.