Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), the use of electromagnetic induction to generate an electrical current beneath a conductive coil, has proven to be a non-invasive technique that can be applied to cortical areas in the brain to produce evoked action potentials. The behavioral effects of TMS are subject to the frequency, duration, and intensity of the magnetic stimulus being applied, and either long-term potentiation or long-term depression of neurons can be produced. Low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) employs the use of repeated stimulation at 1 Hz, and has been shown to cause a short-term depression of cells. A newly developed protocol, continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS), applies three pulses (50Hz) in bursts of triplets, and has been reported to produce stronger long-term depressive effects than low-frequency rTMS. While the effects of both low-frequency rTMS and cTBS have been extensively studied in regards to their effect on motor cortex function, few analyses have been conducted on their effect on language. In the current experiment, we compare the effects of cTBS and low-frequency rTMS on two tests of language comprehension abilities including a sentence comprehension task and a naming task. If language processing can be modified using TMS, one would predict that the response times for the tests of language comprehension would increase, with greater response time increases following cTBS than following low-frequency rTMS. Initial results from this experiment show that pre-post TMS response times for a sentence-comprehension task after low-frequency rTMS is applied to their left hemisphere is decreased, but is increased after cTBS is administered. Opposite results are produced when applied to the right hemisphere, with rTMS increasing response time, and cTBS decreasing it, respectively. Although data collection is still under way, our goal is to determine whether rTMS and cTBS produce significantly different effects on sentence reading and word naming paradigms.

In the United States, there are approximately 50,000 people newly infected with HIV each year. Fear of rejection and other factors related to stigma affect how and when people communicate their HIV status. Research has shown that HIV disclosure through non-face-to-face modes, for example with e-mail and chat, afford benefits that include helping both parties control and process emotions and lessening the chance of violence. To help facilitate the process of an HIV-positive person communicating her or his HIV status in an effective, informative, and non-face-to-face manner, we designed an e-disclosure service called PositiveMagnetism. PositiveMagnetism is a web-supported animated e-card service, allowing the sender to input personalized text and video to convey a message to the recipient. The personalized message is incorporated into an educational video of evidence-based facts and preventative tips regarding HIV - all conveyed in an animated info-graphic form. PositiveMagnetism consists of three parts: a website allowing a person to upload or webcam a personalized video message; an animated e-card video incorporating HIV facts and prevention strategies with the personalized video message; and an invitational e-mail welcoming the recipient of the e-card to view the e-card video. We assembled and collaborated with an advisory board consisting of HIV/AIDS researchers, people living with HIV, and other related professionals to help us throughout the design process. In addition, we conducted two surveys targeting participants who have experienced HIV disclosure. The contributions of this work are design artifacts consisting of a service website, an animated infographic of core supportive information, and a video prototype demonstrating two users (sender and receiver) interacting and utilizing the PositiveMagnetism service. This work contributes to increasing knowledge, awareness, and education regarding HIV to help facilitate HIV disclosure between potential serodiscordant partners.

Bilinguals outperform monolinguals in a number of tasks involving executive functions or higher-order thinking processes. For bilinguals, the everyday use of more than one language creates increased demands for language selection, inhibition, and switching. Little is known, however, about which facet of the bilingual experience shapes the brain in a way that gives rise to these improvements in executive functions. Previous research on this topic has primarily focused on increased inhibitory control, but the evidence has not been consistent. To explore the possibility that the switching component of executive functions is improved in bilinguals, an fMRI task-switching paradigm, with four experimental conditions (non-switch, language-switch, semantic task-switch, and double-switch), was created. This task allows for the comparison of the neural circuits involved in language switching and task switching in bilinguals. Specifically, this research tests the hypothesis that increased practice with coordinating and executing rules in two languages shapes the general task shifting sub-component of executive functions in bilinguals. Preliminary analysis of the data suggests that behaviorally, for bilinguals, the language-switch condition was significantly easier than the task-switch condition, although the double-switch condition was not significantly more difficult than the task-switch-alone condition. Neurally, the task-switching condition recruited more parietal and inferior frontal regions, whereas, language switching involved more medial frontal regions. All switching conditions recruited the basal ganglia though. Lastly, a comparison between the double-switch condition and the combination of the two single-switch conditions showed that classic working memory regions are recruited when executing a double-switch. By understanding which of the many unique facets of the bilinguals experience shapes the brain to give rise to improved executive functions, we can simultaneously better understand the bilingual brain and gain insight into how executive function might be improved in other populations.