Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) is a classification for a group of neurogenetic diseases that cause affected individuals to have contractions and stiffness in the limb muscles. This group includes a wide range of disorders that vary in age of onset, rate of progression, and severity. The purpose of my project is to identify gene variants involved in HSP and their causal mechanisms. My lab acquired DNA samples from affected and unaffected members of a family with an unassigned autosomal dominant HSP. To begin my analysis, we obtained whole exome sequencing on DNA from three affected members. In a file containing all the variants (differences from a reference exome) detected in any of these three subjects, I looked for previously identified causal variants to ensure that the family did not have a known HSP subtype. Then I chose candidate variants by filtering for those that were heterozygous in all the exome sequences, and ranked them based on their absence from the Exome Aggregation Consortium database, predicted change in the protein, relevance of the gene function, absence from the UW Center for Precision Diagnostics database, and dbNSFP model predicted impact. I selected a total of 50 candidate variants and am in the process of analyzing them further. I have amplified and sequenced DNA from all the family members to determine whether certain selected candidate variants are present in all those who are affected and absent from those who are not affected, since this is the pattern expected for an autosomal dominant condition. I have currently eliminated five candidate variants and expect to soon identify the causal variant. My project will contribute to our understanding of the pathogenesis of HSP and improve clinical diagnostics for this disorder. The implications of my research could extend to other disorders if a novel mechanism was elucidated.

Previous research has found associations between alcohol consumption and male perpetration of sexual assault. About 50% of male adolescent and college age perpetrators report they were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. Additionally, research suggests that young adults who perceive same-sex peers as engaging in alcohol-related sexual behavior report elevated rates of risky alcohol-related sexual behavior. However, little is known about whether alcohol-related perpetration is associated with having favorable views toward the prototypes (i.e. images of the type of person who engages in a risk behavior) of alcohol-related sexual behavior. This study investigates whether favorable prototypes will have a positive association with participant’s identification as a perpetrator. We hypothesized that having more favorable prototypes, and feeling more similar to, typical males who engage in sexual behavior after drinking would be positively associated with perpetration. To test this, we utilized a data set comprised of a national sample of young males (n=463) ages 18-20 that completed a one-time online survey about health and risk behaviors. Participants were asked to report the number of times in the last 12 months they forced or attempted to force sexual contact on an individual who was too drunk or out of it to stop what was happening. Participants also reported on a 6 point scale how much the following words: "smart", "popular", "mature", "careless", "attractive", and "risky", describe their image of a typical male their age who has sex after 4/5 or more drinks. They rated how similar they are and how often they think about this typical male. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine the association of prototype favorability and alcohol-related sexual assault perpetration. Results from this study may provide insight about alcohol-related perpetration, which in turn could shape interventions.

Alcohol abuse is a major public health problem, particularly during adolescence given the propensity towards risky behavior during this time period. Throughout this developmental period, the brain is highly susceptible to environmental insults, including alcohol. Preclinical research has shown that alcohol intake in adolescent rats leads to risk preference and suboptimal decision making when tested later in adulthood. However, these experiments were carried out exclusively in male animals, therefore I decided to explore whether adolescent alcohol abuse induces deficits in risk-based decision-making in a sexually dimorphic manner. In order to test this question, I provided female rats with access to 10% ethanol in a gelatin matrix for 20 days. Following a prolonged period of abstinence from alcohol, I accessed the effects of the alcohol exposure using a probability-discounting task, which assesses risky decision-making. Briefly, this task involves the presentation of two levers, one of which is associated with a guaranteed low reward of 2 sucrose pellets, while the other represents a risky but high reward of 4 pellets. The riskiness associated with the high reward lever increased daily over a five day period beginning with 100% reward delivery and then decreasing by 25% each day until the high reward lever had a 0% chance of delivery of the 4 sucrose pellets. Compared with male rats that had previously undergone the same alcohol exposure paradigm, female rats consumed significantly more ethanol gelatin; furthermore, the female rats exposed to ethanol displayed reduced risky behavior compared to controls, unlike ethanol-exposed male rats who exhibited an increase in risky behavior. These data have broader implications for how we view the long terms effects of adolescent alcohol abuse in men and women in order to create more effective therapeutic treatments.

While the American juvenile justice system has undergone substantial alterations in the past few decades, some practices have yet to face revisions. In particular, girls on probation continue to be largely placed in programs developed to meet the needs of boys, despite facing significantly higher rates of mental health issues and histories of sexual abuse than their male counterparts. Girls Only Active Learning (GOAL) is a new rehabilitative program that focuses on building strengths in areas found to particularly affect adolescent female risky behaviors. The impact of GOAL was measured using a series of three surveys, administered at the beginning, middle, and end of the program. The data was quantified for analysis using nominal levels of measurement—qualitative responses were given quantitative values. The findings suggest that over the course of the program, girls who improved their emotional coping skills also had lower levels of drug and alcohol use at the end of the observation period. Additionally, focus groups conducted with girls who had completed GOAL indicate a high level of satisfaction with the program. Our research supports ongoing revisions to the current state of the juvenile justice system to discourage youth from recidivism, and from later adult incarceration.

The lateral habenula (LHb) is a structure in the epithalamus that encodes aversive states and accumulating evidence indicates that the LHb exhibits hyperactivity during depressive-like states. Previously, we have shown that inhibition of the LHb using Gi-coupled designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDS; hM4Di) can produce antidepressant effects. The LHb is known to project to several midbrain nuclei, including the ventral tegmental area (VTA), the rostral medial tegmental nucleus (RMTG) and the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN). In this study, we seek to determine which lateral habenula output pathway may give rise to the previously observed antidepressant effect in rats. We are separately testing inhibition of the three output pathways of the LHb to the VTA, RMTG and DRN, using intersectional expression of a floxed hM4Di-DREADD in LHb neurons that project exclusively to these target regions. Using stereotaxic surgery, an AAV viral vector containing floxed-hM4Di is infused into the lateral habenula of a rat, while CAV2-CRE is injected into the respective target region. CAV2-CRE travels retrograde up the axons of neurons and produces the CRE-enzyme, allowing DREADD expression to be restricted to neurons that project from the LHb to each respective target region. After a recovery period, rats are either administered Clozapine-N-Oxide (CNO), which activates the DREADDS, or a control vehicle, and then undergo the modified forced swim test (FST), which is a validated behavioral measure of antidepressant effects in rats. High escape behavior in the FST indicates anti-depressant effects. After experimental testing, the rats are sacrificed and their brains examined histologically to confirm expression of the DREADDs within each pathway. By identifying which LHb pathways confer an antidepressant effect, this research could lead to future treatments of depression that act directly on those pathways.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition marked by deficits in social communication. According to DSM-V, these deficits are characterized by lack of coordination between verbal and nonverbal language. Studies have shown that typically developing (TD) children with siblings display greater pro-social behavior and language development by forming close peer relationships with each other. In this study, we use Electroencephalogram (EEG) to explore how the presence of a TD sibling affects the sibling with ASD’s language learning system. EEG is a technique used to measure electrical activity in the brain. The N400 is a negative going ERP component that occurs 300-500ms after an auditory stimulus. The N400 is sensitive to the context of the word and is more negative to unexpected words compared to expected words. In our study, 60 ASD individuals with a TD sibling (n=30) and without (n=30) between the age of 8 and 17 completed a two-part EEG task. During the “learning” phase, the individuals listened to a robot speak a nonsense-language which consisted of a string of non-parsed syllables that were systematically ordered so that 3 sets of 12 phonemes statistically co-occur at a higher rate to create 4 words (e.g., “Pa-bi-ku”). In the test phase, EEG was measured as the individuals were exposed to the same words that should have been implicitly learned in the previous phase, as well as non-words (e.g., “Ku-do-ra”). We expect that children with ASD who have TD siblings will show a smaller average amplitude N400 to the learned words compared to non-words, indicating language learning occurred during the task. We also hypothesize that the difference in amplitude between the two conditions will be greater for individuals with siblings. This will provide evidence that sibling relationships may have a positive impact on the individual with ASD’s language learning skills.

In individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), social motivation often undergoes atypical development, with individuals reporting less pleasure from friendships and collaborative engagements. Because the severity of ASD can differ depending on various genetic and environmental factors, non-diagnosed individuals may exhibit traits similar to milder variants of those of ASD known as Broad Autism Phenotype (BAP) traits. These traits are found to be of high heritability in autism families. The goal of this study is to examine social motivation in individuals with ASD and their family members. First, we will analyze social motivation in children with ASD compared to children with neurotypical (NT) development (age- and sex-matched). Second, compare BAP traits of parents of children with ASD compared to parents of children with NT. Third, we compare the relationship between social motivation in children with ASD and BAP traits in parents. Children with ASD (n = 64) and with neurotypical development (n = 64) participated in this study. To measure ASD traits, the parents of the children filled out the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) questionnaire for both their child (SRS-2) and their significant other (if applicable; SRS-Adult), as well as a Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ) for themselves. We expect that: (1) children with ASD will exhibit more autism traits and lower social motivation than children with NT; (2) parents of children with ASD will exhibit more autism traits and lower social motivation than parents of children with NT; and (3) there will be a significant positive correlation between children with ASD and parents’ report of autism symptoms. Understanding the relationship between BAP traits in parents and ASD symptoms in children allows us to further understand the neurological diversity of ASD; Specifically, how ASD characteristics and traits may co-occur in both individuals diagnosed with the disorder and unaffected family members.

The lateral habenula (LHb) in the brain is an important regulator of midbrain dopaminergic systems that are known to be involved in the reinforcing properties of cocaine. We have previously determined that activation of LHb neurons using Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drug (DREADD) technology decreases cocaine-induced locomotor activity, cocaine self-administration and relapse in rats. To determine whether these effects were due to an increase in anxiety, here, we examined the effect of activation of LHb neurons using the Gq-coupled DREADD (hM3Dq) on anxiety-like behavior in an open-field test. Male Long-Evans rats underwent survival surgery and were injected with hM3Dq bilaterally into the LHb. They then participated in an open field test where their behaviors were observed and recorded. Before the test, the rats were injected with 1 or 3 mg/kg i.p. clozapine-N-oxide, which is the inert ligand that activates DREADD receptors. Twenty minutes elapsed before the test was performed. During the experiment, the amount of movement and location of the rat in the open field was assessed, with no movement and amount of time spent against the periphery of the field, indicating anxiety-like behaviors. I hypothesized that activating the LHb via DREADD viruses would result in subsequent anxiety-like behavior observations.

Over the past few years, marijuana use has been on the rise in colleges, with 5.7% of college students saying that they smoke marijuana daily or almost daily according to a study done by the University of Michigan. Although this shows that daily marijuana use has increased, it does not explore the relationship between living situations and how much marijuana college students smoke. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine living situations, specifically college students who live in fraternity/sorority housing, in residence halls, or in off-campus apartments/townhouses, and marijuana use among college students during a year. It is hypothesized that students who live in fraternity/sorority houses will have smoked more marijuana than students who live in apartments/townhouses and residence halls, respectively. The sample is comprised of three groups who attend four-year universities: 25 participants were Greek members, 634 participants lived in off-campus housing, and 121 participants lived in residence halls. Study participants were Washington State emerging adults (18-25) who completed the current measures as part of a larger assessment in 2016. A chi-squared test was conducted and it was seen that 44% of the Greek members, 15.77% of off-campus housing members, and 4.96% of residence hall members smoked marijuana at least 2-3 times per month. Preliminary findings support the hypothesis, showing that Greek members smoked the most out of all three groups and further analysis will be done to show whether these findings are significant.

The objective of this study is to explore the television viewing behavior of preschool-aged children (24-59 months) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Data regarding television viewing behavior was constructed and collected via retrospective visual media diaries of television consumption reported by parents regarding duration, percentage focused, method of access, concurrent social interaction, and the presence of commercials. Comparisons will be made to a neurotypical control group along these dimensions in addition to between group comparisons made among participants in high and low severity ASD groups. I predict less variation in the content of programs consumed by children with ASD than their neurotypical counterparts (duration of a single program divided by total duration), in addition to a greater frequency of noncommercial television viewing. I anticipate that children with mild cases of ASD will demonstrate greater variation in the types of programs they watch, more frequent concurrent social initiation, more frequent viewing of live television versus recorded, and lesser focus on television programming. Lastly, repetitive behaviors have been found to be characteristic of ASD and are also considered, such that I expect to find a positive correlation between program variation among subjects in ASD groups and various aspects of repetitive behavior centered around limited interests and/or inflexibility of a routine. If correlations exist, I then further predict that parents will report these respective components of their child’s repetitive behavior as problematic.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder that includes impairments in social interaction, communication skills and presence of repetitive behaviors. The CDC estimates that rates of autism are almost five times higher in boys than among girls. Implicit learning tasks have demonstrated that ASD children have atypical neural responses to social rewards, and it seemed to negatively impact their implicit learning relative to typically developing (TD) children. TD boys are also more likely to learn faster and benefit more from implicit learning than girls, but this has not been examined in ASD. This study investigated whether the presence of social and non-social feedback can impact implicit learning in children with ASD, and whether there is a difference between genders. Forty children with ASD and forty children with TD between the ages of 8 and 17 completed an implicit learning task involving classification of visual shapes and provided positive and negative Social (happy or sad faces) or Nonsocial (symbols) performance feedback. We hypothesized that TD children will have better accuracy and faster reaction times to stimuli associated with social feedback compared to ASD children. We also hypothesized that within the ASD group, ASD boys will show enhanced implicit learning to social feedback compared to girls. The results of this study will provide insight into gender difference in implicit learning in autism.

Serotonin is a key player in the regulation of anxiety, fear, and stress. While acute stress is associated with increased activity in serotonergic neurons, chronic stress is characterized by the transition to decreased serotonergic neuron activity, the desensitization of serotonin autoreceptors, and the development of maladaptive emotional behaviors. We hypothesize that chronic stress causes dysregulation of serotonergic neuron excitability, and that these adaptations affect emotional responses to future exposure to stressful and hedonic stimuli. The goal of this study is to determine if alterations to serotonergic neuron excitability can alter the effects of stress on subsequent emotional behavior. We predict that reducing or intensifying the excitability of serotoninergic neurons will decrease and increase maladaptive behavioral responses to chronic stress, respectively. We expose experimental groups of wild type and transgenic mice expressing either excitatory or inhibitory DREADDs (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) to chronic stress. The mice undergo 5 consecutive days of social defeat stress, during which they receive injections of saline or clozapine-N-oxide (the ligand for DREADDs). Following chronic exposure to stress, behavioral responses are measured through sucrose preference, social interaction, and immobility during forced swim tests. Mice expressing inhibitory DREADDs are anticipated to exhibit greater hedonic responses (increased sucrose preference), improved sociability, and decreased immobility during forced swim, compared to wild-type mice. Mice expressing excitatory DREADDS are anticipated to show decreased sucrose preference, decreased sociability, and increased mobility during forced swim. By altering the activity of serotonergic neurons, we can potentially modify the emotional and behavioral effects of stress. This study could provide new insight into the role of the serotonergic system in behavioral responses to chronic stress, and yield new therapeutic targets for conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder in which individuals experience significant problems with social skills, behavior, and communication. It is less clear if there are systematic impairments in executive function (EF), a set of mental processes that include working memory, mental flexibility, response inhibition, and planning/organizational skills. The prevalence of ASD is 1 in 68 children, with the diagnosis 4.5 times more prevalent among boys than girls. Impairment in EF may differ between genders with ASD, although previous findings suggest the magnitude and direction of the effect vary by age and EF subscale. For example, girls outperformed boys in multitasking and planning, adolescent girls compared to boys have been found to have poorer response inhibition, and adult males compared to females had better working memory and mental flexibility. The aim of this study was to further explore EF in individuals with ASD or neurotypical (NT) development, specifically comparing genders, age, and IQ and their role in the variability seen in EF. 50 boys and 50 girls age 8 to 17 years, with and without an ASD diagnosis, participated in this study. Parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) an 86-item questionnaire with 8 subscales. EF was compared between group (ASD/NT), sex (male/female), and IQ. We expect that ASD subjects will express greater deficits in EF when compared to NT subjects. Additionally, we expect that differences in EF will be present between boys and girls, but that the direction of these differences will vary by subscales. Lastly, we expect that a greater IQ will correlate to fewer EF deficits. This study will contribute to a greater understanding of the cognitive differences across genders that occur in ASD.

Atypical sensory behaviors have only recently been included as an explicit symptom of DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), despite a considerable history of anecdotal evidence. As a result, sensory behaviors are not well characterized in ASD research. In the current study, we aim to fill a gap in the literature by specifically investigating auditory processing in 143 children with ASD and/or a likely gene disrupting mutation (LGDM) associated with ASD. Participants’ parents completed the Sensory Profile Caregiver Questionnaire about their child and psychiatric symptoms were assessed via a comprehensive evaluation with a licensed clinical psychologist. We hypothesized that responses on the Sensory Profile would reflect either hypo- or hyper-sensitivity to auditory stimuli. We predicted that extreme hypo- or hyper-auditory responses would reflect separate deficits, rather than a continuum of auditory sensitivity. We also predicted that we would see unique auditory response profiles associated with LGDMs in particular gene groups. Our results will be discussed with regard to current theories and information about sensory abnormalities in children with ASD. The results and findings from this study could be used to help lay a foundation regarding sensory markers and auditory processing deficiencies in children with ASD, a topic that is fairly new and has not been thoroughly investigated.

Studies have shown that alcohol consequences are associated with alcohol-related sexual consequences. Studies on young adults have found that alcohol use is linked to risky sexual behavior , and alcohol-related sexual consequences are common. Women absorb and metabolize alcohol differently than men, and literature has found gender differences in alcohol consequences. However, gender differences in alcohol-related sexual consequences and the association between alcohol consequences and alcohol-related sexual consequences have been understudied. The current study will examine (1) gender differences on subscales of alcohol consequences and alcohol-related sexual consequences and (2) associations among alcohol consequences and alcohol-related sexual consequences by gender. We hypothesize that women will exhibit higher scores than men on the subscales of academic/occupational consequences, blackout drinking, impaired control, risk behaviors, and self-care. Additionally, we hypothesize that women will exhibit higher scores than men on the subscales of disregard of personal boundaries, neglect to use birth control, and sex with someone they just met. The current study used baseline data from an intervention study focusing on drinking and sexual behavior among a national sample of young adults (N = 402), who completed an online survey. Participants reported if they experienced alcohol consequences (21 items), such as “While drinking, I have said or done embarrassing things.” Additionally, participants reported if they experienced alcohol-related sexual consequences (41 items), such as “I had digital sex I later regretted.” Regression analyses for count outcomes were conducted to test gender differences in alcohol consequences and alcohol-related sexual consequences, controlling for alcohol use and sexual behavior. Spearman correlations were also conducted. Results will provide a better understanding of the relation between alcohol and alcohol-related sexual consequences and help shape interventions for reducing behavioral risks.

Previous research has found that alcohol consumption among young adults is linked to an increased likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviors, including unprotected sex. When examining the likelihood of safe sex practices, additional research has found that having sex at a younger age (<14) is associated with a lower likelihood of using contraception. However, there is a gap in the literature around how number of sexual partners plays into this relationship. The current study aimed to investigate the association between age of first sex and number of lifetime sexual partners with condom use after alcohol consumption. We hypothesized age at first sexual experience would be positively correlated with condom use during penile-vaginal, anal, and oral sex while under the influence of alcohol in the past three months. Additionally, we hypothesized that the number of lifetime sexual partners would be negatively correlated with condom use in the past three months after alcohol consumption. To test these hypotheses, the present study (n = 1002) used data from a national sample of young adults, ages 18-20, who completed a one-time online survey. Participants were asked age at first penile-vaginal, anal, and oral sex as well as their number of lifetime sexual partners. Additionally, participants were asked number of times they had sex in the past three months after consuming alcohol and of those times, how often they used a condom. Regression analyses were conducted to determine the association between first age of sexual encounter and likelihood of using a condom, as well as number of lifetime partners and the likelihood of using a condom, both after consuming alcohol. Results from this study may help us understand how previous sexual experience is related to the likelihood of practicing safe sex after alcohol consumption.

Previous research has recognized a link between drinking alcohol and later negative consequences such as physical, legal, academic, interpersonal, and sexual problems. Despite the well-known risks linked to heavy drinking, young adults continue to engage in risky drinking behavior especially when they have positive attitudes about heavy drinking. However, little is known about why the relationship between alcohol-related consequences and drinking exists. We propose that attitudes act as a mediator between consequences and drinking. We hypothesize that the more alcohol-related consequences a young adult has experienced, the more favorable their attitudes will be towards drinking, which will ultimately lead to more drinking. To test our hypothesis, a national sample of 1002 young adults aged 18-20 were asked to complete an online survey on young adult health, including drinking attitudes and alcohol consequences. Participants reported the number of drinks they consume on a typical week, the frequency of drinking they consider acceptable, and the number of drinks they consider acceptable to consume in one sitting. Additionally, participants reported whether or not they experienced any alcohol-related consequences in the past 3 months, including but not limited to: “blacking out”, vomiting, a hangover, or driving a car while drunk. In order to test mediation, bootstrap estimation multiple mediation analysis (SPSS Process macro) will be used. Results of this study will provide a better understanding about young adults’ cognitions regarding alcohol-related consequences and may help shape interventions by allowing individuals to draw from their past experiences to guide their future decision-making.

 Housing First, also referred to as harm-reduction housing, is one approach to addressing the unique needs of chronically homeless people who are often multiply affected by psychiatric, medical and substance use disorders. Housing First entails the provision of immediate, permanent, low-barrier, housing that does not require sobriety. Beyond the provision of housing, low-barrier, client-centered supportive services are essential to the Housing First approach. The Life Enhancing Alcohol-management Program (LEAP) was a three-phase community based participatory research project designed to facilitate the codevelopment and evaluation of client-driven harm-reduction programming for a Housing First setting. This study describes the content of and attendance at activities that were designed within the LEAP project. Participants (n = 66) were residents in a single-site Housing First program who had lived experience of chronic homelessness and alcohol use disorders. LEAP activities were developed by residents, researchers, and agency management and staff in community advisory board meetings. LEAP activities included a) administrative leadership (e.g., Welcoming Committee, LEAP Advisory Board), b) meaningful activities (e.g., gardening, art hours), and c) pathways to recovery (e.g., talking circles, one-on-one and group harm-reduction treatment). Sociodemographic information on participants was gathered in one-on-one interviews. Attendance records were used to assess participation in LEAP activities during the 6-month follow up. Of LEAP study participants in the Housing First project, 86% reported engaging in at least one activity. On average, residents participated in 16.76 activities (SD= 2.99). Of those who attended activities, 95% of participants attended more than once. Low-barrier activities reached a sizeable proportion of Housing First residents, and residents often remained committed to attending activities over the longer term. Findings may help housing providers design meaningful activity programming for Housing First settings.

 In today’s children, the increased use of electronic devices during early stages of development is providing more audio and visual stimulation than ever before. At the same time, attentional deficits later in life are becoming significantly more common. This has lead us to hypothesize that excessive sensory stimulation (ESS), from media sources like TV, Smartphones, video games, etc., during development increases the risk of neurological disorders, most notably attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). Previous studies in our lab have found that mice subjected to a model of excessive sensory stimulation have damaged cognitive abilities, are less risk-averse, and display hyperactive behavior compared to controls. Our current study aims to build on this data and investigate the impacts of ESS on attention and impulsivity by using the Five Choice Serial Reaction Time Task (5CSRTT), a behavioral test in which mice nose poke a temporarily illuminated target in order to receive a food reward. CD-1 mice were subjected to ESS in the form of flashing lights and sounds for six hours per day for a total of 42 days and subsequently trained and tested on the 5CSRTT. While there was no difference in accuracy between groups, ESS mice displayed significantly increased premature responses in comparison to the controls indicating higher levels of impulsive behavior. These findings suggest a causal link between excessive sensory stimulation and impulsivity, and further illustrate the possible ramifications of the increased use of technology during development.

Cancer survivors often experience memory and thinking problems after treatment. Cognitive rehabilitation has been shown to improve function in head injury patients. This study examined behavioral and neural responses to a group-based cognitive training intervention in cancer survivors with cognitive symptoms. Gynecologic cancer survivors (n=23) were randomized to treatment group (15) or attention control (8). A subset of participants were eligible for scanning from the treatment (6) and control (5) groups. Both groups attended a 7-session, weekly group-based workshop. The treatment group received education and practice in skills (e.g. method of loci), and the attention control group received only education on cognition and information processing. Prior to and following the 7-session group-based workshops, participants were evaluated with a comprehensive cognitive battery along with an in-scanner verbal memory task where they studied word-pairs (e.g. star–couch) for later recall. During the test phase of the word-pairs task, participants were shown original word-pairs, novel word-pairs, shuffled (old and new) word-pairs, or recombined (two old words not previously paired) word-pairs. Recall during the test phase was assessed at an item level, where responses were yes/no to the query “both old?” or at the relational level, where responses were yes/no to the query “together previously?” Participants in the treatment group showed significant improvement for in-scanner responses in accuracy in the Relational condition, p < .04. Image analysis of group comparison at second level revealed decreased activation in one region in anterior cingulate for the treatment group for item recall. Cognitive training in cancer survivors can improve both attention and verbal memory. Pre to post change in the anterior cingulate for the treatment group suggests additional attention recruitment, consistent with improvements in attention observed with out-of-scanner tasks (e.g. digit span). Overall, cognitive training may be a useful treatment for cancer patients suffering from cognitive symptoms.

Drug addiction is a serious public health problem in the United States that impacts our society on multiple levels. It is known that drug addiction has major effects on both cortex and striatum; however, the exact role of different corticostriatal pathways in drug addiction is not completely understood. Our recent projects aim to deconstruct these circuits by examining a major population of cortical neurons, PT-type neurons that project to the striatum and affect the rewarding properties of the drugs. For this current project, I selectively manipulated these PT neurons in rats by placing a designer receptor called a DREADD (Designer Receptor Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) and examining how it changes the behavioral expression of drug reward. Changes of the behavior to a drug’s rewarding properties are measured with a conditioning model called conditioned place preference (CPP). When rats are repeatedly given addictive drugs, such as cocaine, in a chamber with a specific environmental cue (walls with horizontal or vertical stripes), they learn to associate the cue with the rewarding properties of the drug. Rats will associate a specific chamber with either vertical or horizontal striped walls with the drug with or without PT-type neurons activation. Because of their projection patterns, I hypothesize that PT activation will decrease the rewarding effect of cocaine and thus the animals will spend less time in the chamber with PT neuron activation plus drug compared to the other chamber with the drug alone. This finding would be a major step towards disentangling the neural circuits underlying addiction, allowing development of new strategies for prevention and treatment.

Housing First, also referred to as harm reduction housing, entails the provision of immediate, permanent, low barrier, nonabstinence based housing to chronically homeless individuals. Beyond the provision of housing, supportive services are essential to the Housing First approach. This includes the provision of opportunities to engage in meaningful activities, such as artistic endeavors, outings, gardening, and talking circles. Participation in meaningful activity programming has been associated with positive outcomes, such as reductions in alcohol-related problems and overall alcohol use. However, no study to date has examined which characteristics are predictors of participation in meaningful activities. The objective of this study is to understand who is engaged by meaningful activities offered in a Housing First setting. To this end, we explored the association between participant characteristics (e.g., sociodemographic, substance use, community-orientation variables) and level of activity engagement. Participants (n = 66) in this secondary study were residents of a Housing First site. An enhanced intervention specialist worked with housing staff to track residents' involvement in programmed Life Enhancing Alcohol-management Program (LEAP) activities. Self-report data were collected to document participants’ baseline characteristics. Attendance sheets were used to track participation in meaningful activities. Bivariate correlations indicated that participation in meaningful activities was associated with female gender, greater community orientation, and unemployment. When these variables were tested in a multivariate model, only unemployment remained a statistically significant predictor of greater participation in meaningful activities. This study indicated that few sociodemographic, substance use and community orientation variables predicted differential participation in meaningful activities in a Housing First setting. Taking all potential factors into account, only one variable significantly predicted involvement—unemployment. In designing programming for Housing First, providers should take into account residents’ competing priorities (e.g., work) to give programming optimal reach.

Youth at risk of justice involvement often have histories of complex trauma. Complex trauma is exposure to traumatic stress at a critical age and is found to affect emotional self-regulation. Difficulties with self-regulation can lead to higher levels of aggression, which is associated with criminal behavior. Consequently, I am interested in how complex trauma affects overall aggression in youth. I used the results of a survey conducted by the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative to examine the relationships between items on the trauma inventory and levels of aggression. I hypothesized that multiple trauma exposures, a lack of normal emotion, and increased arousal and vigilance would be positively associated with aggression. I also hypothesized that re-experiencing trauma and avoiding trauma reminders would not be associated with aggression. I found that multiple trauma exposures and re-experiencing trauma were significantly and positively associated with aggression. Avoiding trauma reminders, lacking normal emotion, and increased arousal and vigilance were not significantly associated with aggression. These results support my hypothesis that multiple exposures to trauma is positively associated with aggression in youth, but the results do not support my hypotheses that lacking normal emotion and increased arousal and vigilance are positively associated with aggression in youth as well. The significance of positive associations between multiple exposures to trauma and aggression as well as re-experiencing trauma and aggression suggests that there is a relationship between complex trauma and aggression in youth, which may also be related to criminal behavior. This research suggests the importance of addressing trauma in aggressive youth before their behavior progresses in order to prevent youth from being involved involved in criminal behavior.