Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder in which individuals experience challenges with their behavior, social skills, and communication. There is a significant disparity between the numbers of males and females diagnosed with ASD; males are 4x more likely to receive a diagnosis, and it has been suggested that females with ASD are less likely to receive a diagnosis because they may “mask” their symptoms. Females with equally-high levels of autistic traits are less likely than males to be diagnosed with ASD, and females with ASD demonstrate enhanced social skills and higher levels of social motivation compared to males. Additionally, research by Parish-Morris shows that school-aged ASD females had stronger pragmatic language ability than ASD males. Pragmatic language is an individual’s ability to communicate verbally and nonverbally, understand and reciprocate social cues, and express appropriate social behavior. If females with ASD have stronger pragmatic language skills, it may serve as a linguistic camouflage and contribute to their ability to conform. The goal of this project is to examine sex differences in pragmatic language in children with ASD and explore what factors are related social communication differences between males and females with ASD. 15 male and 15 female participants with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD between the ages of 8 and 17 participated in this study. All participants completed a recorded conversational interview with a clinician. Videotapes were then rated by coders using the Pragmatic Rating Scale-Modified (PRS-M). First, we evaluated sex differences in PRS-M scores. We predicted that females with ASD will be rated as having better pragmatic language than males with ASD. Second, we investigated whether IQ, Age, and Autism Severity predicts PRS scores, and if Sex moderates these relationships. The results of this study shed light on sex differences in social communication in autistic children.

This work replicates previous research used to criticize the use of principle component (PCA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Factor analysis is often used when research is being conducted in a new area and there is limited background knowledge about what one might expect to find. It’s useful because of its ability to reduce the number of variables in a dataset by examining the correlations between items and identifying latent dimensions that account for measured item variance and covariation. A criticism of this method is that it detects patterns in random data where there is no underlying structure. We tested this criticism by replicating the methods in a 1981 paper by Robert Vierra and David Carlson. We generated random data in R Studio and looked at the variance accounted for by the factors identified by EFA and PCA. We also examined the Type I error rate in sample correlation matrices tested with Bartlett's test. Additionally, we have begun a literature review looking at the modern methods similar to exploratory factor analysis, including machine learning, in order to understand how these criticisms have been addressed by these modern approaches.

 Domestic dogs express individual differences in personality and perception, affecting their behavior towards objects they encounter in the world. One of these differences is a form of cognitive bias called judgement bias. Dogs that approach an ambiguous stimulus at a rate closer to that of approach towards a rewarded stimulus demonstrate a positive judgement bias. Likewise, dogs who approach at a rate closer to that of a non-rewarded (or aversive) stimulus have a negative judgement bias. Some dogs refuse to approach the non-rewarding stimulus entirely, which can be defined as refusal behavior. We analyzed whether refusal behavior was related to companion dogs’ judgement bias and general fear and anxiety. Dog owners completed the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), a previously validated questionnaire measuring a variety of individual differences in dog behavior, and, most importantly, fear and anxiety. Afterwards, dogs were brought in for in-person testing. We measured each dog’s latency to approach ambiguous stimuli and compared this to their latency when approaching rewarded versus non-rewarded stimuli. We would expect that dogs who refuse to approach ambiguous stimuli will also exhibit higher C-BARQ scores in fear and anxiety than dogs who do approach ambiguous stimuli. Refusing to approach may also suggest a negative judgement bias. These findings are extremely useful to not only further understand canine behavior and cognition, as refusal to engage with a stimulus may be a future tool to define a canine’s perception of ambiguous stimuli. They also have practical implications for both animal welfare and training efficacy, as individual cognitive differences among dogs may impact how they will respond in behavioral tests and training regimes.

Abstinence-based treatment has long been considered the standard of care for people with alcohol use disorders (AUD). However, abstinence-based treatment fails to engage severely affected populations (e.g., homeless people affected by AUD) because many are not yet ready, willing or able to stop drinking. A recent randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of a lower-barrier harm-reduction treatment for alcohol (HaRT-A), in which participants could define their own harm-reduction and quality-of-life (QoL) goals. The aim of this present secondary study was to describe participants’ own harm-reduction and QoL goals and document their achievement of these goals over the course of HaRT-A. Participants were people currently experiencing homelessness and AUD (N = 86) who attended the 4-session HaRT-A, during which interventionists elicited participants’ own harm-reduction and QoL goals. The Safer-drinking and Harm Reduction Efforts (SHaRE) form was administered to elicit and record participant-generated harm reduction goals, which were entirely participant-driven with no suggestions from study interventionists for any specific drinking-related goals. Directed content analysis was performed to classify participant-generated treatment goals. Results indicated that goals fell into 7 primary categories, the top 3 being drinking-related goals, quality of life goals, and health-related goals. These findings suggest that a client-driven, goals-setting approach could inform accessible and appropriate treatment and QoL-enhancing interventions for people experiencing homelessness and AUD.

The basal ganglia, evolutionarily old subcortical brain structures, are not commonly considered to be part of the 'language network' despite mounting evidence of their involvement. The current experiment explores two existing hypothesised roles for the basal ganglia in language, based on their known neurocomputations. These hypotheses characterize basal ganglia function as "control" - (prioritization of competing, stable-valued responses), or as "anticipitory" - (ongoing semantical organization based upon syntactic rules). The current experiment aims to adjudicate between these hypotheses by investigating the role of the basal ganglia using an individual differences approach. We utilize two neuroimaging paradigms targeting these hypotheses via lexical-semantic selection under uncertainty and sentence comprehension under varying syntactic complexities, completed by the same subjects. By correlating the neural responses to these tasks with individual differences in vocabulary and working memory capacity, we will explore the predictions made by two hypotheses. Specifically, if the basal ganglia nuclei are involved in controlling compteting linguistic responses, we expect to see greater levels of activation in the left caudate head when subjects are prompted with ambiguous lexical-semantic word choices, as well as 'spillover' activation in the right caudate nucleus negatively correlated with vocabulary percentile and accuracy; if the basal ganglia nuclei are involved in anticipating meaning via syntactic cues, we anticipate higher levels of activation in the left caudate with more syntactically complex sentences in lower-working-memory-capacity readers.

Methodological advances have made it possible to generate predictions of brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for cognitive architectures, such as Adaptive Control of Thought—Rational (ACT-R), thus expanding the range of model predictions and making it possible to distinguish between alternative models that produce otherwise identical behavioral patterns. However, for tasks associated with relatively brief response times, fMRI predictions are often not sufficient to compare alternative models. Presently, we outline a method based on effective connectivity, which significantly augments the amount of information that can be extracted from fMRI data to distinguish between models. We show the application of this method in the case of two competing ACT-R models of the Stroop task. Although the models make, predictably, identical behavioral and fMRI predictions, patterns of functional connectivity favor one model over the other. Finally, we show that the same data indicates, provided reasonable task constraints, that we may be able to automatically generate modifications to our models using measures of effective connectivity, further increasing the validity of our models and opening new avenues for model development. We see this an exciting opportunity for future research.

Previous research has found descriptive drinking norms (i.e., how much someone thinks others drink) are associated with increased risky drinking and intentions to drink among college students. However, this research has mostly focused on self-reports of typical drinking, whereas some students report low levels of drinking except on specific high-risk events such as birthdays. This study expands on previous research by examining how descriptive birthday drinking norms moderate the relationship between drinking on a previous birthday and intentions to drink on an upcoming birthday. We hypothesized a positive relationship between previous birthday drinking and intentions to drink that would be more pronounced in students with increased norms. A total of 248 University of Washington students (aged 18-24) who reported at least one heavy episodic drinking event (5+/4+ drinks for Males/Females) and three alcohol-related consequences in the past month were assessed. Participants reported the number of alcoholic beverages they drank on their most recent birthday, how much they intended to drink on their upcoming birthday, and the number of drinks they thought a typical University of Washington student drinks on their birthday. Results from moderated linear regression demonstrated both previous birthday drinking and birthday norms were positively associated with intended birthday drinking (b = 0.477, SE = 0.063, p < 0.001; b = 0.189, SE = 0.054, p = 0.001, respectively). The cross-product of birthday norms and intended birthday drinking also had a significant effect (b = -0.036, SE = 0.013, p = 0.005), such that the effect between previous birthday drinking and intended birthday drinking was strengthened in those with higher norms, supporting our hypothesis. This research contributes to critical literature addressing high-risk alcohol use among students and helps to better understand the role of norms and high-risk drinking events, such as birthdays, in research.

Magnetic fields (MFs) and cosmic rays (CRs) are decidely important aspects of galactic disk and halo evolution, however, their precise roles are not yet completely understood. While there are many simulations studying galactic evolution, few have deeply explored the exact impact of CRs and MFs in the evolutionary process. The current goal of our research is to learn more about how CRs and MFs contribute to the evolutionary process by looking at how MFs grow and change in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) under the influences of CRs. Using a suite of simulated, isolated disk galaxies, we investigated the role of CRs in MF growth and galaxy evolution by comparing different galactic models, each possessing slightly varied CR physics. We present the role of CR transport on the geometry, strength, and growth rate of MFs in these simulated galactic halos.

High rates of early dropout or premature termination in university psychology training clinics adversely affect both patients and clinicians. Prior research suggests that among clients seen at training clinics approximately 70% terminate prematurely and approximately 55% do not report reliable change at the conclusion of treatment. To help assess the generality of this issue, we are investigating the rate of premature termination in a university-based clinical psychology training clinic in the Northwest. Using the Reliable Change Index (RCI) as a marker of recovery, we calculated the RCI for 3 outcome measures: the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7), and the Brief Adjustment Scale-6 (BASE-6). Additionally, the training clinic in this study practices Measurement-Based Care (MBC) which involves the systematic administration of symptom rating scales known to increase treatment efficiency and effectiveness by assisting with clinical decision-making and informing patient progress. The hypothesis was that there would be a higher rate of reliable improvement and lower rate of deterioration at the end of treatment. Our examination of the test-retest reliability within 2 weeks of these outcome measures found the total scores of all three scales to perform adequately. Within the training clinic, 18.18% reliably improved using the GAD-7, 21.51% reliably improved using the PHQ-9, and 27.27% reliably improved using the BASE-6. These results did not support the hypothesis and instead found a lower rate of reliable improvement than the published norms. Potential reasons for the discrepancy will be discussed. This study will benefit those suffering from ineffective treatment outcomes and those struggling with untreated debilitating mental disorders. It will also add to the growing literature on the benefits and obstacles of MBC which has been gaining increasing recognition recently. 

Measurement in Psychology usually assumes continuous dimensions. Correspondingly, theoretical constructs are typically conceptualized as dimensions, meaning that observations differ in degree. However, theoretical constructs may also be categorical, i.e., rather than differing by degree, differing qualitatively. Different construct operationalization’s may lead to different scientific conclusions. Self esteem has long been of interest in Psychology. It has been conceptualized in various different ways, but always dimensional. Some self-esteem measures (for example, the The Rosenberg Self Esteem scale) seek to measure globally how much one values themselves as a person, without focusing on specific domains. On the other hand, other self-esteem measures (for example, the State self esteem scale) focus on perceived capabilities in specific domains, such as performance, social, and appearance. In the National Survey of Youth, participants rated themselves in specific areas, and then again as they would like to be. Using these data, we examined how different operationalization’s of self-esteem are associated with a few psychologically interesting outcomes such as drug use and crime. Specifically, we compared continuous and categorical representations of self-esteem. By examining the assumption of continuous latent variables, we shed light on how scientific conclusions differ based on construct operationalization.
 

Many children in the United States experience mental health issues that impact their performance in school. Evidence-based practices (EBP) have demonstrated effectiveness at improving student outcomes for students impacted by their mental health. However, many factors affect the successful implementation of these programs. Mental health services, particularly those for youths with the most mental health needs, typically involve multi-organizational processes to implement EBP. The Inter-Organizational Alignment study strives to examine these multi-organizational frameworks, and how they impact the school mental health services provided. The research study examined the association between race and the degree of inter-organizational alignment on climate for EBP implementation. Researchers surveyed 28 school mental health clinicians and 57 school staff in the states of Washington and Minnesota. The sample included 22 white or Caucasian participants and 14 non-white participants. Non-white participants were either American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black or African American, multiracial, or other. Implementation climate of EBP in school settings was rated on a Likert scale of 0 (not at all) to 3 (great extent) on a standard, multi-item scale. Researchers evaluated schools on a range from an open and positive implementation climate to a closed and negative implementation climate. The degree of alignment was determined between clinician and school staff scores, with misalignment defined as a difference of one standard deviation. Quantitative analysis of the results suggested more alignment in implementation climate between clinician and school staff of different races, which suggests that racial factors impact EBP implementation in racially diverse environments. An independent t-test determined that these differences were statistically significant. Consequently, these findings suggest that EBP may be impacted when implemented by more diverse organizations.

Glycans are ubiquitous in biology and play a crucial role in cell to cell signaling, immunity, and disease. The A, B, and O blood groups are differentiated by different glycan structures and linkage patterns presented on either glycoproteins or glycolipids. To date, the exact glycan structures that differentiate blood types remain unknown. A clear understanding of these structures would increase the success of transfusion procedures and reduce the risk of complications. Our lab is currently examining glycans from glycoproteins isolated from red blood cell membranes, however we do not have the enzymes needed to remove glycans from glycolipids. ECGase I is an enzyme that was recently shown to effectively cleave glycans from a wide range of glycolipids. We have cloned the gene for ECGase I into a GST fusion vector for recombinant bacterial expression. With this we have been able to generate high yields of purified ECGase I. The EGCase I produced was more active than commercially available product. The ability to grow EGCase I enables large scale investigation of glycolipids involved in the ABO blood group system.

Semantic ambiguity arises in language when a word or sentence can take on multiple meanings. The resolution process can not only greatly inform theories of language processing, but can also provide novel insights into human general cognitive abilities. There is evidence for basal ganglia (BG) involvement in semantic ambiguity resolution from a breadth of neuroimaging research and clinical populations. The current project focuses on bilingualism, which creates the higher cognitive demand of selecting, shifting, and inhibition information that is co-activated in two language systems. Our study tested 73 proficient bilinguals using a self-paced reading task that contained a lexical ambiguity manipulation. A probabilistic learning task was used as an index of BG functioning. We anticipate that bilinguals with a more balanced use of their two languages train their BG due to frequently managing interference between multiple languages, in comparison to bilinguals who have an imbalanced use of their languages. This should result in a better performance in resolving semantic ambiguities that arise due to low frequency word meanings. Specifically, we expect this better performance to result in smaller increases in reading speed, which reflect interference, for sentences containing low frequency word meanings, relative to control trials. Better understanding of the role of the BG in semantic ambiguity resolution in various bilingual populations will provide novel insights into the neurocognitive bases of human language processing and executive functioning. We see this as an exciting foundation for studies looking into bilingualism as a form of executive function training.

Young adults are susceptible to a whole range of psychological disorders. Approximately 39.6% of young adults (ages: 18-25) in the United States have had a heavy drinking episode in the past year, and 9.6% of young adults have had a major depressive episode in the past year. Previous research has shown that young adult males tend to drink more alcohol, while females have higher rates of anxiety and depression. There is, however, limited research about the extent to which certain groups of young adults, based on living situation and college enrollment, may exhibit higher alcohol use and poorer mental health. The purpose of this research is to examine differences in alcohol use, alcohol-related consequences, and mental health by demographic characteristics (i.e. attending 4-year college or not, living with parents or not, biological sex) among a community sample of young adults (ages 18-23). Analyses use baseline data (N=764; 55.9% female, mean age 20.6 (SD = 1.72) from a larger longitudinal study on health behaviors. Outcomes will be alcohol use, alcohol consequences, depression, and anxiety. Separately for each outcome, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) will be conducted. The sample includes 352 4-year college students and 412 individuals not attending a 4-year college, 468 individuals not living with parents and 296 individuals living with parents, and 428 females and 336 males. We hypothesize that higher alcohol use and consequences will be found for males, individuals not living with parents, and individuals enrolled in a 4-year college. We also hypothesize poorer mental health for females, individuals not living with parents, and individuals enrolled in a 4-year college. Results from this study will provide a better understanding of which young adults are experiencing poorer mental health and higher alcohol use, thus providing valuable information to guide interventions.

Music, like language, is considered a human universal. However, like language, individuals learn particular genres of music based on their cultural exposure. Recent behavioral and neuroimaging research on music cognition has shown that individuals can more easily process and remember music that is culturally familiar to them than music that is culturally novel. The goal of this research is to investigate whether individual differences in the ability to learn novel musical structures (or music aptitude) relates to individual differences in the ability to learn new languages, or language aptitude. Our study includes 5 minute eyes-closed resting-state electroencephalography (EEG), language aptitude tests (LLAMA D&F) of phonological awareness (tests participants’ memory of a series of words in a foreign language) and grammatical inferencing (ability to extract underlying rules), and a music learning test in which participants learn a form of foreign music. We predict that phonological awareness will positively correlate with overall memory for foreign music, as it relates to the ability to remember sequences of sounds. In contrast, we predict that grammatical inferencing will positively correlate with the extent to which individuals learn to distinguish between different types of foreign music through statistical learning. This study provides evidence of the connection of individual differences in foreign music comprehension to individual differences in second language acquisition at both a behavioral and neurological level.

Worldwide, there are currently more than 50 million people living with dementia and this number is projected to exceed 135 million by 2050. Unfortunately, negative stereotypes and misconceptions about dementia continue to exist, which can result in harm, isolation, and stigma towards those living with dementia. Dementia Friends is an anti-stigma and educational campaign that trains volunteers called “champions” to host informational sessions out in the community. During these sessions, champions educate local community members about the impact of dementia and what they can do to help. These community members are known as a “dementia friend” and are encouraged to help those with dementia live welll. Although Washington state is the fourteenth state to adopt the Dementia Friends program from the United Kingdom, limited research is available about the effectiveness of the program. This study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of the Dementia Friends program in training the champions in Seattle and Yakima by comparing pre-training and post-training questionnaires. Results from this study will guide the expansion of the Dementia Friends program in other cities. Online questionnaires were distributed to 15 champions before and after the training session via RedCap. In order to assess the champions’ attitudes, perceptions, and experiences about dementia, participants were given 20 subjective statements about dementia and a 7-point Likert scale to assess the degree to which participants agree or disagree with each statement. We anticipate that Dementia Friends will be effective in educating community members and reducing misconceptions regarding dementia. If efficacious, we recommend Dementia Friends to be adopted across Washington to de-stigmatize dementia by educating community members.

Precise spatiotemporal control over biochemical cue presentation is necessary to mimic the complex, heterogenous environments found in biological systems. Achieving this level of control within engineered microenvironments would allow for the manipulation of cell growth and differentiation, which could be utilized in tissue engineering and drug delivery. To this end, we developed a method that utilizes fusion proteins made from a novel PhotoCleavable protein linker (PhoCl) and a protein of interest (POI). This method allows for spatiotemporal control of POI release from hydrogels in response to cytocompatible violet light (λ = 405). This system is flexible, as PhoCl can be conjugated to many different POIs, including fluorescent proteins, enzymes, and growth factors, and was found to not affect protein function. Additionally, PhoCl undergoes a green-to-red transition after photocleavage, allowing for real-time tracking and quantification of POI release. As PhoCl cleaves in response to visible light, which is less damaging to cell function and has a greater tissue penetration depth than the traditionally used UV light, PhoCl fusion proteins hold promise for use in vivo. To demonstrate the feasibility of this system, PhoCl fusion proteins were formed with several fluorescent proteins (e.g., mRuby, sfGFP, mCerulean). Conjugating these fusion proteins into gels and exposing them to patterned light produced spatiotemporal localized release of proteins with micron scale resolution, which was demonstrated through fluorescent imaging of the photopatterned gels. To support the potential in vivo applications of this system, PhoCl was also used in mammalian cell studies with epidermal growth factor (EGF). These studies showed the expected increased cell growth in response to photomediated EGF release. This illustrates the potential versatility of the PhoCl system in biological applications, thus supporting the relevance of this novel system to tissue engineering and drug delivery methods.

High psychological resilience has been significantly linked to better medical recoveries, psychological recoveries, and resistance to psychological deterioration. Currently, many African American grandmothers are engaged in emergent childcare due to serious family trauma. I have identified key aspects of the lives of these women which are relevant to their resilience through a literature review, personal cultural experience, and focused interviews. This preliminary research informed my creation of a theoretical model relating resilience to faith, music, and justice. Utilizing thoroughly tested psychological measures which correspond to each aspect of my theoretical model, I am performing a pilot study to determine the strength of the relationships between all four of these constructs. More frequent, and deeply shared, music experience within a family is anticipated to covary with higher scores of resilience. This is due to shared emotional experiences fostering positive attachment amongst the family members. Also, stronger perceptions of injustice as well as doubt in one’s faith are both expected to negatively correlate to one’s resilience. If a person expects the world to unjustly not return their efforts or expects their personal coping techniques to fail, they will be less likely to utilize these avenues. Immediately, I am returning my findings to support groups for grandmothers and, under the guidance of a psychiatric professor, also sharing general information about resilience. Findings from this pilot study will guide future experiments to determine how best to support grandmothers, concerning resilience. Information yielded by larger scale research of this type will inform the development of fast, inexpensive, culturally appropriate, and non-invasive techniques for detecting individuals with low resilience.

Individuals with ambivalent and avoidant adult attachment styles are more likely to use negative coping strategies such as denial and disengagement, while individuals with a secure adult attachment style are more likely to use positive coping strategies such as reappraisal and support seeking. Certain negative coping strategies are linked with mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Most research regarding the relationship between coping strategies and adult attachment style has been done on undergraduates and veterans. No research to date has examined gender as a moderator of the relationship between adult attachment style and coping strategies. However, research suggests that both coping strategies and adult attachment styles vary by gender. In the present study, a series of multivariate regression analyses were conducted to determine whether gender moderated the relationship between close, and anxious adult attachment styles and emotional support seeking, and substance abuse coping mechanisms. Participants (N=385) completed self-report measures of coping strategies and adult attachment styles online. This project may reveal that gender changes the relationship between adult attachment style and coping strategies. This information may help inform psychological interventions for individuals with maladaptive coping strategies and improve our ability to predict who might engage in maladaptive coping strategies.

Overdoses induced by fentanyl-laced cocaine are skyrocketing today. Meanwhile, in 2017, cocaine was reported as the fourth most prevalent substance used on college campuses. Even more alarming, research shows a modest decline in young people’s disapproval and perceived harmfulness of experimental cocaine use. Favorable depictions of cocaine use in the media contributes to these trends today: the entertainment industry continues to advertise cocaine as a drug of privilege, partying, and success. Conversely, studies investigating Adderall use found college students view cocaine use negatively. Students harshly judged their peers who exposed themselves to cocaine’s hazardous nature and high risks. This contradictory evidence makes it difficult to judge how problematic college students’ views on experimental cocaine use may be. This study aims at sorting this puzzle. The project tests the hypotheses that students think one-time use results in more benefits than risks to the individual. To assess this hypothesis, I use a web-based survey adapted from the so-called “prototype-willingness model” (PWM). The PWM is built on the idea that young people share very clear social images of risky behaviors. The favorability of these images is positively correlated with willingness to engage in risky behavior. Willingness, rather than planned intent, is the primary factor responsible for engaging in risky behaviors if presented with the opportunity. I examine the social image of experimental cocaine use and its favorability in order to predict willingness to use. Predicting how a college student may react when given the opportunity to use is crucial for future prevention planning, as cocaine use is a more pressing issue than ever.

Latent class models are frequently used to classify observations into homogeneous albeit qualitatively different sub-groups. Typically, these models are unrestricted, meaning there is no a priori structure or restrictions on model estimates. This approach is similar to many cluster analysis approaches. The study examines modeling conclusions when an unrestricted model is applied to data generated from a highly restrictive population model through a simulation study. We expect that a researcher will conclude fewer classes than the true number specified in the population. Simulated data for this work is based on a substance use example identified in other research. The population was generated based on six classes, but with a within class error rate fixed to 5%. Preliminary analyses indicate that commonly employed model selection criteria indicate that models with fewer than six classes are preferable. This is important because most analysts using latent class models use unrestricted models with little apparent consideration to what realistic error rates may be. In research domains where smaller error rates may be plausible, restrictive models of the sort used to generate the data for this study may be worth considering.

Diabetes and cardiovascular disease play a significant role in disease and mortality in the US, especially among underrepresented groups. Lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating can lead to cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, and other adverse health outcomes. This project will utilize community based participatory research to develop a wellness program from American Indians in San Diego County. This will be done through conducting focus groups, and interviews with community members and through conducting surveys on health and wellness. Further, a wellness program will be developed from community feedback. We expect to observe an increase of physical activity, better diet, and higher knowledge about healthy behaviors with the program.

The focus of this study is to examine the motivation behind organizing conservative and counter-conservative events and the meaning students attribute to their involvement. Furthermore, the study also addresses the extent to which such coordination is related to group influence. In other words, how do participant relations within and outside of their organization shape their decision to organize political events on campus? This study explores how students understand and interpret their actions. Data for this study will be collected by conducting structured interviews with 10 participants (n = 10). The intended population is college students from a Southern California college campus. Half the participants will identify or have identified with a conservative campus organization while the other half with a counter-conservative organization at the time of a campus political event. Convenience and snowball sampling will be used to recruit participants. This methodology follows what sociologist Max Weber (1914) referred to as,“Sociology is a science concerning itself with the interpretive understanding of social action and thereby with a causal explanation of its course and consequences.” An interpretive understanding of the meaning and drive behind the formation of these political events is crucial to developing an explanation for what triggers social action. By studying the dynamics by which the group members interact and interpret one another, we can understand the role of in-group cohesion and out-group bias in politically-related communication. My study aims to contribute to the following 1) increase our knowledge of the motivations and meanings college students place on organizing events with controversial speakers, as well as protesting them, 2) how students weigh the consequences of their actions, especially as it relates to social relations (stigma or approval), campus climate, safety and property damage, and economic costs (e.g. security, police, taxes).

Over 350 million people are affected by major depression on a global scale according to the World Health Organization with an increasing economic impact of over $210 billion annually with a growth of 21.5% since 2005. The ability to switch behaviors or strategies when faced with chronic stress is an important determinant to the susceptibility and longevity of depression within people, also referred to as cognitive flexibility. The objective of this proposed study is to analyze the effects of the endogenous cannabinoid (ECB) system on cognitive flexibility through the lateral habenula. Cannula implant surgeries will be conducted on rats to input antagonist or agonist drugs into the brain. Behavioral tests will be conducted on rats to examine whether these manipulations will promote or deter cognitive flexibility.

Detection of uncomplicated mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is difficult because there are no visible brain lesions that are often associated with more severe forms of TBI. New biomarkers would allow doctors to more sensitively screen for mTBI using neuroimaging methods. One promising biomarker technology is resting-state functional connectivity, which is brain activity measured at rest using functional magnetic resonance imaging. One particularly salient resting-state network is the Default Mode Network (DMN). Our research focused on identifying differences in resting-state functional connectivity between individuals diagnosed with mTBI and healthy controls. We examined mTBI in 254 U.S. military personnel deployed to a combat theatre in the Middle East from 2010-2013. Each subject underwent initial magnetic resonance imaging and screening for TBI following medical evacuation to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC), the primary triage center for all evacuated combat casualties, up to 30 days post-injury. We used four distinct groups for our analysis; Blast/Non-Blast (n=79, 44) TBI, and Blast/Non-Blast Control (n=35, 96) while covarying for age and gender. We hypothesized that resting-state networks will be disrupted in TBI and blast populations when compared to controls. We used two different methodologies; the first was a seed-based analysis examining group differences in the correlations from the Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC, a key hub within the DMN) to the whole brain. The second analysis used the Yeo Seven Network parcellation to compute correlations between all seven networks to the DMN. We were unable to distinguish any group from controls, suggesting that early differences in functional connectivity are not a robust biomarker of injury.

Autism Spectrum Disroder (ASD) occurs in one in every 59 children, yet the causal mechanisms remain widely unknown. Research is advancing through genetic testing as well through speculation of external environmental influences. Recent stuides have examined in greater depth gene by environment interactions and have found an impact on severity symptoms of ASD. This research follows the two-hit model of gene by enviornment effects and investigates the link of auoimmune disorders, specifically thyroid disfunction, Likely Gene Disrupting (LGD) mutations to genes related to ASD, and the relation to IQ and regression. Behavioral and cognitive data are collected using clinician-administered questionnaires and assessments. Those who carry an LGD mutation with exposure to maternal thyroid dysfunction lean towards a trend that show more severe behavioral phenotypes than those without an LGD mutation. These results spotlight the importance of gene by environment contributions in addition to mechanisms involved in the disorder. These findings may help improve future treatment and intervention for those with ASD. 

Despite their sophisticated visual system, convergent and comparable in complexity to that of vertebrates, Octopus rubescens is largely nocturnal and forages mostly at night. Without visual information, their primary means of gathering information from the environment is through the sophisticated chemotactile sensory system within their arms. Octopuses blinded from lesions to their optic nerves have been observed relying on chemotactile perception of their environment with their arms fully extended to maximize their sensory range. Such behavioral profiles optimizing the acquisition of one sensory modality in the absence of another would be critical for navigating and monitoring changes within their environment. Our intention is to characterize how Octopus rubescens modifies its chemotactile range after an acclimation period of either light or darkness, simulating a natural 24 hour light cycle, and then a rapid change to the opposite lighting condition. Using 3d tracking cameras we will be able to quantify the change in the range of arm extension and overall posture that accompanies locomotion during light and dark conditions.

Over the last few decades, there has been increasing interest worldwide in nature preschool programs, which provide young children the freedom to explore, discover, and construct knowledge from their direct experience with the natural environment. This research project investigates how the presence of nature provides affordances that lead to important developmental outcomes. Using a naturalistic observational methodology, I collected over 700 short videos of preschool children (18 months – 6 years old) interacting with nature in a leading nature preschool program in Hong Kong. Analyses draw on interaction pattern theory, wherein an interaction pattern is understood to characterize essential forms of human-nature interaction, specified abstractly enough such that many different instances of the same pattern can be enacted. Results are revealing 38 keystone interaction patterns, such as Cohabiting with Wild Animals, Immersing One’s Body in Water, Splashing in Mud Puddle, Climbing High in Small tree, Gathering Nature Items, etc. Based on this interaction pattern analysis, I am then testing a core hypothesis: that children enact more relational behavior in more wild parts of the outside nature, and more domination behavior over nature in more domestic parts of outside nature. If this hypothesis is supported, it will provide data that speaks to how interaction with more wild forms of nature can help move our world away from its largely domination-oriented sensibilities (human domination over nature and over other people) to those that are more relational.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) encompass medical conditions resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), including brain-based central nervous system deficits and physical impairments. Previously, FASD conditions that did not meet Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) diagnostic criteria were diagnosed as having Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE). Beginning in 1974, Ann Streissguth, Ph.D. and colleagues at UW led multiple studies on FAS and FAE. The primary investigation was conducted from 1992 to 1996 among over 400 diagnosed individuals age three to 51 years old, with the purpose of examining types and magnitudes of secondary disabilities, i.e., problems not present at birth but occurring across the lifespan as a consequence of PAE. In a study recently funded by NIH, UW researchers are recruiting prior study participants to ascertain current physical health, mental health, and functional status. During online searches for former subjects, researchers discovered that many with FAS or FAE were deceased. Among 438 diagnosed subjects, 23 (5.25%) were deceased (mean age at death 36.8 years), compared to one of 60 (1.67%) control subjects (age 35 years). Death certificates have been obtained for 18 individuals. Causes of death among the diagnosed included physical health conditions: heart-related (27.8%), cancer (16.7%), kidney-related (5.6%), liver-related (5.6%), diabetes (5.6%); and conditions related to mental health: alcohol and/or drug abuse (16.7%), accidents (11.1%), suicide (5.6%), and violence (5.6%). Cause of death for the control was cancer. These data indicate a three-fold greater proportion of deaths among FAS/FAE diagnosed individuals compared to controls in this study population. Death certificate information suggests a high proportion of FAS/FAE deaths were related to physical and mental health conditions known to be associated with PAE. Our findings speak to the importance of preventing PAE, early diagnosis among the exposed, and medical and social interventions to reduce risk factors associated with FASD.

The majority of research concerning the effect of intranasal oxytocin (inOT) on social cognition have used tasks that explicitly ask participants to focus on social information, such as identifying the emotion of face stimuli or interacting with other participants. As such, the variety of contexts from which data are derived are limited and have not examined the impact of inOT during tasks in which social information is available but not explicitly assessed by the participant. Here, we measured inOT’s effects on face processing with a novel task that does not require participants to explicitly assess social information, but instead relies on the uncanny valley effect. The uncanny valley describes how people tend to rate objects more favorably as they become more human-like until an object is nearly, but not completely human, at which point eeriness or repulsion is evoked. Participants viewed images of faces with varying degrees of human likeness and provided eeriness ratings while reaction time and eye-tracking data were collected. The results revealed that while inOT affected neither the magnitude of eeriness ratings nor eye movement patterns, inOT did decrease reaction times for providing eeriness ratings with the largest effect being for stimuli rated as being intermediately eerie. Thus, our results indicate that oxytocin can modulate the processing of social information in contexts other than explicit emotion recognition or social interaction tasks.

Sexual harassment is pervasive yet many people underestimate its prevalence or often do not believe victims when they come forward. The current research examines a potential source of this bias. Specifically, we theorize that people assume and misperceive victims of sexual harassment as prototypical women (i.e., those who fit the stereotypical, idealized image of women), and those who deviate from this prototypicality are less likely to be believed as victims. In this study, participants read a vignette describing a woman named Anna who was either sexually harassed by a male boss or not (control group). Importantly, we manipulated her prototypicality using photographs obtained from previous research. After reading the vignette, participants rate how likely they think Anna experienced sexual harassment. This is a 2 (prototypical vs non-prototypical images) x 2 (harassment vs control) between-subject design. We are primarily interested in the interaction between the two conditions. If the interaction is significant, then we will examine the non-prototypical vs prototypical within the harassment condition as well as in the control condition. We are trying to see how the interaction effect works for women who are prototypical or not when they have been harassed because we believe that prototypical women will be more likely to be believed than non-prototypical women. We do not expect this pattern to repeat in the control condition because prototypicality should not influence women who are not harassed. This research will allow us to understand how perception of harassment can be influenced by women’s resemblance to the prototypical image of womanhood.

Establish-Maintain-Restore (EMR) is a professional development training for teachers to strengthen their relationships with their students. Previous studies have shown that the strategies presented in the training have significantly improved academically engaged time and reduced disruptive behavior among elementary and middle school students. The proposed study will examine 9th grade high school student perceptions of the appropriateness and effectiveness of the EMR strategies to improve student-teacher relationships within the school context. Additionally, this study will analyze whether there is a significant difference in these perceptions between the genders of students. It is predicted that male students will tend to perceive the EMR strategies as less effective and appropriate in improving student-teacher relationships compared to their female peers. A focus group was held to present the EMR strategies to 9th grade students at a racially/ethnically diverse high school in the Pacific Northwest. After the strategies were presented, students were asked to provide ratings and comments regarding the appropriateness and effectiveness of each individual strategy. The students were asked about the following items for each of the EMR strategies: appropriateness for school context, appropriateness for both students and teachers, and effectiveness at improving relationships with high school students. Findings from this study will offer insight for improving student-teacher relationships with consideration for the students’ genders. Research has shown that strong student-teacher relationships can serve as a protective factor against high school dropout, and this study may help provide information about culturally responsive strategies to reduce the dropout rates among students of color and male students.

Exosomes are 40-50nm extracellular vesicles released by all cell types, and are involved in a variety of cellular mechanisms including modulation of immune response and cancer microenvironment. Exosomes embed proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids from the parent cells and circulate in abundance in human serum. Recently, exosomes have been shown to have potential application as cancer biomarkers with potentially increased sensitivity and specificity compared to traditional protein or nucleic acid markers. In cancer patients, exosomes are also shed in real time, allowing potential applications in directing therapy, monitoring treatment response, and surveying recurrent disease. Using a known tumor marker, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), we examined the role of CEA-specific exosomes as a colorectal cancer biomarker. To establish the methodology, we used CEA-secreting colorectal cancer cell lines LOVO and HT29. We compared exosome isolation methodologies and established an ultracentrifugation-based technique to maximize both purity and yield. Through this methodology, we isolated exosomes from cell-free media and demonstrated that CEA co-localizes with coxasackie-adenovirus receptor (CAR), a senescence-related marker of interest in our laboratory. This finding suggests that tumor-derived exosomes could be used to quantitatively define certain cellular events. We then used archival and fresh patient samples to examine whether the CEA-exosomes could be applied in disease monitoring in patients with metastatic colorectal cancers receiving chemotherapy. Efforts are ongoing to define whether CEA-specific exosomes are tumor specific, and whether exosome conjugate protein and nucleic acid can be further used as novel biomarkers in selective clinical situations.

It is an evitable instinct to develop snap judgements of people as we encounter them in passing; therefore, our experiment attempted to replicate this quick encounter and asked the question of whether one’s gender and race impacted how they perceive others’ friendliness. Our sample consisted of 35 males (27.1%) and 89 females (66.7%). 82 of our participants were Caucasian (63%), 25 Asian-American (19%), 4 African American (.03%), 1 Hawaiian (.007%), 20 Latino American (15%), 14 who identified as mixed race (10%); all an average age of 23 years (SD = 2.6). Participants were shown 8 photographs of White and Latino men and women smiling for 5 seconds each. They then had to rate the friendliness of each photo within 15 seconds of viewing. Our findings suggest that the intersectionality of race and gender play a role in how individuals perceive men and white men. Implications of these findings suggest that a holistic view of a person’s identity will give a better indication of how they might view those who do and do not look like them.

Although Asians and Asian Americans are often classified as belonging in the same social category, these two groups may perceive and think about the world differently. This project examined whether UW students who are Asians and Asian Americans hold different viewpoints regarding social identities and social statuses. Primarily, we examined group differences in Status Legitimizing Belief, Perceived Racial Discrimination, and Racial Identification. Status legitimizing belief is a set of beliefs (measuring protestant work ethic, perceived system permeability, and system legitimacy) asserting that if individuals work hard, are motivated, and are talented, they can improve their social statuses. Perceived racial discrimination measures the extent to which racial minorities believe that they are targets of discriminations. Racial identification measures individuals’ beliefs and perceptions that their racial group matters and is central to how they perceive themselves. Through meta-analyses of self-report surveys across 13 academic quarters, we found significant differences between Asian Americans and Asians across all measured variables. First, we found that Asians have higher status legitimizing belief than Asian Americans. Asians also perceive lower racial discrimination than their Asian American counterparts. And finally, Asians are less likely to identify with their racial in-group than Asian Americans. This research demonstrates that while both groups are often classified or perceived as the same social group, they, in fact, hold different perspectives regarding their identities as well as their statuses. Understanding how these two groups rationalize and perceive legitimacy and discrimination offers insight into intergroup relations.

Development of technology, including artificial intelligence, has been controversial due to the potential negative effects. Many believe it is an auspicious industry and that technology will eventually replace the work of the human labor force. In this research project, our team analyzed the effects of technology in the labor market on the labor force within the next few decades. To accomplish our goal, we developed a model that can interpret the correlations between various factors. Specifically, this research analyzed data, including the employment rate, unemployment rate, number of occupation categories, and involvement rate of technology from varied industries. In addition, the Bureau of Labor statistics database was primarily used to regress the model. We expected to see a decrease in low-skilled occupations, such as cashier, in a short run. These types of occupations will be replace by IoT or artificial intelligence. High-skilled occupations, such as lawyer and surgeons, will still be demanded and irreplaceable in a short run, but would eventually be displaced in the long run. A shift would occur from low to high skilled occupations, due to factors such as social demand, working efficiency, and wage polarization. The employment rate goes down during the short run since more jobs are replaced by artificial intelligences and robotics. However, in a long run, more occupations will be created which will recuperate the fall in employment rate occurred during the short run. This research is very crucial and necessary because of the rapid growth of technology and its immense impact on the human labor force market. This research could ultimately provide information for governments and policy makers regarding potential growth sectors in the economy due to technological changes. Also, future generation can be more aware of this technological change, so that they can choose majors with accurately reflecting future employment trends.

By their second birthday, toddlers help others. Moreover, infants as young as 9 months of age can detect others’ needs. Yet it is unclear if early helping behavior is based on and motivated by an underlying assessment of others’ needs, or motivated by other factors, like the desire to socially interact or affiliate with others. Here, we investigate whether toddlers utilize an experimenter’s needs when helping. We presented N=24, 24-month-old toddlers with two helping tasks: a puzzle and hunger-or-thirst task. In the puzzle task, toddlers watched an actor fail to complete a puzzle due to a missing puzzle-piece. Toddlers then had the opportunity to help the actor by either bringing her a puzzle-piece that fit the puzzle (need-fulfilling) or a puzzle-piece that did not fit the puzzle (not need fulfilling). Overall, toddlers were more likely to help with the puzzle-piece that fulfilled the actor’s need than the puzzle-piece that did not fulfill the actor’s need, p=.008. In the hunger-or-thirst task, the actor told toddlers that she was either hungry or thirsty. Toddlers could help the actor by giving her one of three different items: (a) cereal, (b) water, or (c) a shoe. Here, toddlers brought the needed item (e.g. cereal if she was hungry) at chance, p=.11. However, toddlers were more likely to bring the needed or the thematically related item (e.g. water if she was hungry) significantly more than chance, p<.001. Our findings provide initial evidence that 24-month-old toddlers are motivated to help based on others’ concrete needs: toddlers brought the needed puzzle-piece. However, toddlers have a harder time helping appropriately when the actor’s need is internal and therefore more abstract; hence, the equal likeliness to help with the needed and related item during the hunger-or-thirst task.

Despite possessing only one photopigment in its retina, a feature which should render an animal colorblind, the octopus, like other cephalopods, possesses an unrivaled capacity to camouflage itself with its surroundings. A recent theory suggests that cephalopods discriminate color in their environment through exaggerated chromatic aberrations, or the focusing of different wavelenths of light at different points behind a lens, caused by morphological changes in the eye. By monitoring the blurring of different wavelengths of light upon the retina from the visual field in response to the shape of the pupil, a cephalopod can still perceive color with only one photopigment. We test this theory using conditioning to a two-toned visual stimulus and its two differently-colored halves, to look at whether strobing between the two differently colored stimuli evokes the same response as that paired to the combined stimulus or one of its halves. Evoking the response of the combined stimulus would suggest that they can see the two differently colored halves simultaneously, and that a morphological change is not needed to see two different wavelengths of light. This would present a model for color perception with one photopigment that could be explored in various other vertebrates and invertebrates previously thought to be colorblind.

Research has shown that positive outcome expectancy (i.e., anticipated positive consequences as a result of engaging in a behavior) and positive affective responses to exercise play an important role in predicting exercise behavior as well as future exercise intentions. Unlike most research in which the valence (i.e., positive - negative) of outcome expectancy and affective responses are typically assessed through survey items whose valence is predetermined, the current study used a spontaneous word association test (WAT) to examine the subjective meaning of exercise-related outcome expectancy and mood before exercise, and how they are related to exercise intentions and behaviors. One-hundred and eleven undergraduate and graduate students (74 females; 64 undergraduate students) performed an exercise-related WAT in which they were asked to write down the first word or a short phrase that comes to mind when they thought of (a) things that might happen from exercising and (b) their mood right before exercising. Subsequently, they were instructed to rate their subjective valence (i.e., positive-negative) to each of their responses to the WAT. They also completed a series of online self-report surveys that included assessments of exercise intentions and past exercise behavior. Path analyses will be conducted to test our hypotheses that the subjective valence of their mood right before exercising is expected to be directly associated with exercise behavior whereas the subjective valence of outcome expectancy is expected to be indirectly associated with exercise behavior through exercise intentions. This study examines the potential value and usefulness of a spontaneous word association procedure to more accurately measure affective evaluations of an individual’s feelings and thoughts toward exercise behavior.

Understanding prosocial behavior, the concern for the welfare of others, is critical to navigating the social world. Here, we investigated the nature of infants’ understanding of prosociality by asking whether they expect those who are fair (i.e. those who distribute resources equally) to also be trustworthy (i.e. respect someone else’s property). We showed 32 22-month-olds videos of two actors, one who distributes goods fairly (3:3) and another who distributes goods unfairly (5:1). Using eye-tracking, we captured infants’ active and passive expectations about the trustworthiness of these actors when both were warned by a third character, a toy-owner: “Don’t touch my toy”. When she left the room and came back to find the toy missing, she asked “Where is my toy?”. We predicted that more infants would give anticipatory looks towards the unfair actor than towards the fair actor, suggesting that infants expected the unfair actor to have stolen the toy (i.e., active expectations). Next, infants either saw the fair actor steal the toy (n=16) or the unfair actor steal the toy (n=16). Here, we predicted infants would look longer at display when the fair actor stole the toy, a signal that this event violated their expectations (i.e. passive expectations). Additionally, we were interested in how social-environmental factors may influence infants’ expectations. Thus, we also investigated the influence of siblings on infants’ expectations. Findings revealed that infants with siblings looked anticipatorily at the unfair actor while infants without siblings looked anticipatorily at the fair actor. Additionally, infants who saw the unfair actor steal the toy looked longer at the display. This may be explained by infants looking longer at the actor whose behavior they found most interesting. Together, these findings provide insight into infants’ understanding of various sociomoral traits and how this understanding may be influenced by social-environmental factors.

 Adults use many forms of information when deciding how to act in any situation. We are investigating the types of information infants use when determining how to act in a novel reaching task. We are looking at costs (how far they must reach; Study 1) and the social value of the object they are acting toward (Study 2). In Study 1 (ongoing), we tested 6-month-olds (n=25) and 9-month-olds (n=14). Infants completed a warm-up task to measure their maximum reach. During test trials, they were presented toys at 3 different distances: one inch away (Easy condition), one inch past maximum reach (Hard condition), and 27 inches away (Impossible condition; Figure 1). Infants reached more in the easy (93.2%) than the hard (72.6%, β=-1.90, p<0.0001) and impossible conditions (19.3%; β=-5.45, p<0.0001; Figure 2A). Infants also reached more in the hard than the impossible condition (β=-3.5, p<0.0001; Figure 2A). A within-subjects one-way ANOVA revealed a main effect of condition on infants' latency to reach F(2,73)=127, p<0.0001. The average latency increased from easy (2.61+/-2.05seconds), through hard (4.93+/-3.21seconds), to impossible (9.29+/-1.13seconds; Figure 2B). This indicates that infants are less likely to reach for objects when costs are high. In Study 2 an actor will manipulate one toy to be exciting (“I love this toy!”) and one toy to be boring (“Eh”), 3 times, 10 seconds each. We hypothesize that if infants use social value in their decision-making process, they will persist more when reaching for the exciting toy, particularly in the hard condition when reaching is costly. Even though infants engage in less complex decisions than adults, we are able to see evidence of decision-making processes in infants’ actions, supporting the idea that humans’ ability to perform these processes may emerge during early infancy.

Dysregulation of the dopamine system is a central mechanism driving substance use disorders. Our laboratory has shown that chronic cocaine consumption decreases dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens of the rat, which is a brain area that is important in reinforcement learning. This study also found that restoring dopamine transmission through the administration of the dopaminergic drug, L-DOPA, decreased their cocaine consumption. Recently, we have also shown that acute administration of L-DOPA decreases ethanol (EtOH) intake. Thus, the present study sought to examine the effects of chronic L-DOPA on operant responding for EtOH in adult male rats. Rats were presented with a 2-bottle choice between an EtOH (20%) solution or water, daily for 21 days. Next, animals made nose poke responses (FR1) for 0.2 mLs of an EtOH (20%) solution over 1-h daily sessions for 35 days. On Days 26-35, rats consecutively received either vehicle or L-DOPA (30 mg/kg) for 5 days, counterbalanced across days, and L-DOPA decreased operant responding for EtOH compared to VEH. We are presently examining the effects of L-DOPA on dopamine release during operant responding for EtOH. Together, these data may suggest the efficacy of L-DOPA as a treatment for patients with alcoholism.

Dysregulation of the dopamine system is a central mechanism driving substance use disorders. Our laboratory has shown that chronic cocaine consumption decreases dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens of the rat, which is a brain area that is important in reinforcement learning. This study also found that restoring dopamine transmission through the administration of the dopaminergic drug, L-DOPA, decreased their cocaine consumption. Recently, we have also shown that acute administration of L-DOPA decreases ethanol (EtOH) intake. Thus, the present study sought to examine the effects of chronic L-DOPA on operant responding for EtOH in adult male rats. Rats were presented with a 2-bottle choice between an EtOH (20%) solution or water, daily for 21 days. Next, animals made nose poke responses (FR1) for 0.2 mLs of an EtOH (20%) solution over 1-h daily sessions for 35 days. On Days 26-35, rats consecutively received either vehicle or L-DOPA (30 mg/kg) for 5 days, counterbalanced across days, and L-DOPA decreased operant responding for EtOH compared to VEH. We are presently examining the effects of L-DOPA on dopamine release during operant responding for EtOH. Together, these data may suggest the efficacy of L-DOPA as a treatment for patients with alcoholism.

Emerging adulthood, the period between adolescence and young adulthood, is the prime developmental period when individuals are actively exploring their identity. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine ethnic-racial identity understanding among Indigenous Oaxacan emerging adults, an understudied population with a strong presence in Oregon. This study will use a narrative approach to conduct a qualitative analysis of Identity Salient Experiences (ISEs) of Indigenous Oaxacans to understand ethnic-racial identity development during emerging adulthood. Participants, between the ages of 18 and 30, will be recruited from Portland State University in Oregon. Narrative interview questions will be asked to assess ISEs, which include: (a) “Describe a time, either positive or negative, that made you particularly aware of your Oaxaqueño heritage” (b) “What was your age at the time of the event?” (c) “Did this event affect what you think about or how you view your own ethnicity or ethnicity in general?” Digital voice recorders will be used to record the narrative interviews, which I will subsequently transcribe and code. Findings from the study will help inform theory of Indigenous Oaxaqueño emerging adults’ ethnic-racial heritage experiences in the United States.

Albinism is a genetic mutation that strips those affected of the pigment in their skin, hair, and eyes. This alters the appearance of the affected and at times, subjects them to ostracism when interacting with their ethnic group(s). Albinism affects less than 1% of the human population and it is for this reason that understanding their attitudes and opinions on their racial-ethnic identity is important. The goal of this study is not only to investigate participants’ attitudes on and experiences with ethnicity and race, but to spread awareness of participants’ experiences. Participants attitudes and experiences were assessed using a survey and interviews which elaborated on the survey responses. Data for this study are in the preliminary stages of analysis. However, once completed this study they will prove to be one of the few psychological studies on Albinism. This study’s findings also aim to provide information to families of those with Albinism to better care for individuals with this mutation.

As theorized in Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins articulates the four main controlling images that surround the Black female experience: Mammy, Matriarch, Welfare Recipient and Jezebel. According to Collins, these negative images are associated with Black women as a means to enact justifiable violence. Past studies examining Black women’s responses to these images have found that there is either a distancing, reimagining, or acceptance of the image as a part of personal identity. It is important to weave out the nuanced responses to the knowledge of these images to gain a deeper understanding into the effects on socialization and self-image. In this study we ask the question, How do undergraduate Black women aged 18-24 attending Portland State University respond to the controlling image of the Jezebel? Due to the social aspect and hook-up culture of college, the image of the overly promiscuous and sexaully-available Black woman is particularly important to understand in a University setting, and furthermore, in a space where the population of Black women is low. Through in depth interviews, we expect to gain responses that initially distance participants from the image of the Jezebel, yet communicate a complex relationship between sexual agency and stigma.

Fragile race avoiding is defined as the tendency to refrain from talking about race or racial issues to hide one’s bias due to sensitivity concerning the topic. Some even demonstrate discomfort or incoherence when directly talking about racial issues. This is common amongst whites who want to avoid conflict regarding racism. Although white people may believe that avoiding racial topics stops disagreements from arising, fragile race avoiding can promote ignorance about stereotypes and inhibit cultural awareness. We believe that this is a method in which individuals suppress their discomfort towards blacks. Therefore, we predict that a higher score on fragile race avoiding will correlate with higher levels in overall racism. We tested this prediction in a study in which UW undergraduate students talked about various scenarios with a research confederate to prompt a discussion about current day racial issues. Coders watched these taped interactions and rated various categories of microaggressions on a scale from zero to three. Scores of zero for fragile race avoiding indicates that the research participant is comfortable talking about racial issues and brings up race without being prompted by the confederate. Meanwhile scores of three indicate that the participant actively avoids mentioning race and shows palpable discomfort throughout the interaction. For the scores on overall racism, coders considered the interaction as a whole and determined how black individuals would feel when in a room with the participant. A score of zero represents comfort and understanding of the racial implications these topics were created to induce, while a three shows that the participant’s racist beliefs are explicit and clear. We hypothesize that there will be a positive correlation between the scores on fragile race avoiding and overall racism, indicating that fragile race avoiding is a modern form of racism in which individuals suppress their discomfort among blacks.

Mental illness is a national concern; for rural residents, the availability of mental health services magnifies the problem. The 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found close to 1.5 million non-urban residents had psychiatric illness or serious thoughts of suicide during 2017. Hypothesis: In Washington State, there is less access for outpatient mental health services in rural areas than in urban areas. The 2018 Washington State Directory of Certified Mental Health, Substance Use Disorder, and Problem & Pathological Gambling Services contains 503 entries of mental health facilities. Using the Office of Community Health Systems Series on Rural-Urban Disparities, facilities with available information were categorized as urban or rural. Statistics were calculated to characterize the availability of individual therapy, and crisis intervention information via public-facing websites for included clinics. The association between rural-urban status and the availability of outpatient psychotherapy and crisis intervention contact information was tested via the chi-squared test of independence. Approximately half (n=131, 50.6%) of clinics with available information regarding outpatient psychotherapy indicated that these services were available. Similarly, nearly half (n=120, 46.1%) of clinics with available information had crisis lifeline information presented via their public-facing website. There was no significant association between urban-rural status and availability of outpatient psychotherapy services (_X²=0.21, p=.647), nor between urban-rural status and publicly available crisis lifeline information on mental health clinic websites (_X²=0.80, p=.371). Washington State rural clinics are not significantly different from urban clinics with respect to saying they provide outpatient psychotherapy and crisis lifeline information. Limitations include methods relying on public reporting of services and limited scope, not allowing the study of other factors that might affect rural residents, such as distance traveled to obtain care. Rural counties in Washington State do not differ from urban counties with respect to the presence of clinics providing outpatient psychotherapy.

Often, when rodents are faced with a decision on a maze, they will pause to look back and forth between different paths. This behavior has been termed vicarious trial-and-error (VTE) and has been linked to the reactivation of hippocampal place field sequences as animals look back and forth. Previous research has shown that place field sequences represent a neural map of the paths the animals can potentially take as if they are pre-playing their future path. These reactivation events give merit to the idea that VTEs are reflective of a deliberative process. Additionally, studies show that when animals reach such decision points there is increased communication between the hippocampus (HPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) as measured by increased correlates in local oscillatory power. We wanted to further study the mPFC’s role in initiating VTEs during a task that is HPC and mPFC dependent: the spatial delayed-alternation-task. This task was carried out on a plus maze; it required rats to alternate between reward arms every trial while the start arm was pseudo-randomly selected every trial. During this task we used a closed-loop system to optogenetically disrupt the mPFC upon detection of specific phases of HPC theta oscillations. Additionally, disruption was applied across three different task-epochs: delay, choice, and reward in order to determine under which epoch is the mPFC most important for VTE behavior. We hypothesized that mPFC disruption during the choice epoch would reveal the greatest change in the number of VTE’s as the mPFC is thought to initiate retrieval events when decisions are to be made. Because VTE’s are a unique and observable behavior that has clear neural activity correlates, we hope to use this study to better understand the relationship between the hippocampus and mPFC in learning and memory.

Previous study found that neural oscillations recorded in the resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) can predict the learning rate of monolinguals. However, it is unknown whether bilinguals’ learning rates can also be predicted by their resting EEG. This study investigatesd to what extent the brain oscillations in the resting-state EEG of bilinguals and monolinguals would predict the learning rates. The resting-state EEG were used to predict the learning rates of native English speakers and Chinese-English speakers in three experiments. In each experiment, an eyes-closed and an eyes-open resting-state EEG were collected for each subject before participants completed two learning tasks (map and vocabulary). The relationship between power oscillations in alpha (8 to 13 Hz), beta (13 to 30 Hz), and theta (4 to 8 Hz) bands and learning task performance were investigated. The differences in bilinguals and monolinguals resting EEG are hypothesized to predict and reveal the variations in individual learning rates. The results of this study can contribute to the research of brain patterns observed in the resting-state EEG on investigating the impacts of individual linguistic abilities on predicting learning rates.

Alzheimer's disease has been labeled the disease of the 21st Century. Societies around the world have not properly prepared for the expected massive increase in cases projected for the next 30 years. It is unclear who will care for the increase in numbers of people who will not be able to care for themselves.  At present, the vast majority of care is provided in the home by family members. Spouses represent a sizable percent of these family members. Research on spouse caregivers (CGs) has focused mostly on Whites, with relatively little research on minorities.  Research that has examined minorities has mostly examined self-rated measures, with little work on biological indices. The current study compares four groups of spouses: Black CGs (n = 7), Black Non-Caregivers (NCGs) (n = 8), White CGs (n = 115) and White NCGs (n = 108).  We observe differences in perceived stress, coping, burden/distress and physiological measures. The outcome of our research recommends interventions that could be used to mitigate health problems in caregivers that may allow them and their care-recipients to remain in their homes and live independently.

Virtual reality augmentation of therapy has advanced a long way since its beginnings. Virtual reality technologies have been found effective for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias as well as a potential aid as an in-treatment distraction for burn patients undergoing dressing changes. The advent of increasingly advanced displays, tracking, and comfort have transformed virtual reality from a novelty into a highly beneficial clinical device. The increasing presence of virtual reality devices in clinical settings necessitates additional investigation into sterilization techniques. The diversity of materials in the devices makes a single method of sterilization difficult. The device’s vulnerable surfaces can be separated into categories: lenses, casing, straps, and facial interface. The delicate electronics preclude the use of autoclave sterilization and the porous nature of the straps and cushioning preclude the use of surface wipes. Finally, the delicate lenses need special care to facilitate cleaning while retaining structure. In the present study UV, steam autoclave, and water-based benzalkonium chloride antibacterial foam were compared to standard procedures by Oculus, one of the leading commercial manufacturers of virtual reality devices. Oculus Go virtual reality headsets were disassembled for testing. After determining baseline presence of environmental bacteria, Staphylococcus Aureus was applied to the tested surfaces. The previously mentioned methods were applied to the newly contaminated surfaces and the surfaces were swabbed and cultured. Effectiveness of sterilization was determined through numerical analysis of colony forming units. While Oculus' standard procedures have adequately disinfected some of the diverse materials tested here, more rigorous methods are needed for complete sterilization. A hospital setting may benefit from a multifaceted and specialized approach that addresses the needs of different materials to prevent increases in resistant strains. Proper sterilization procedures for this rising technology will allow for safe widespread implementation as a medical device.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders to date, affecting 5-7% of school-age children. Characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity, those diagnosed with ADHD often have difficulty in navigating multiple tasks, sustaining attention, and inhibiting impulses. Although prior research suggests increased attention to sensory stimuli enhances task performance temporarily when the stimuli are task-related, little is known about the effect of irrelevant stimuli on task performance. The current study evaluates whether irrelevant stimuli decreases response accuracy and speed during computer tasks among children with ADHD. Children between the ages of seven and eleven, with (n=50) and without (n=30) ADHD, are recruited to participate in comprehensive neurocognitive phenotyping, including completion of two computer games varying in difficulty (i.e. easy and hard versions). The tasks involve ignoring irrelevant visual stimuli that are presented alternatively with task-related visual stimuli. Irrelevant stimuli consist of three stimulus types, including standard (60%; white bracket-shaped image), deviant (20%; white bracket in opposite orientation to standards), and novel (20%; white line drawings of animals and vehicles). The current study hypothesizes that compared to non-ADHD children, children with ADHD will have lower accuracy and slower reaction times in response to task stimuli that immediately follow novel irrelevant stimuli, as compared to standard irrelevant stimuli. Preliminary results (n = 23) support this hypothesis through a variance analysis, indicating children with ADHD show worse accuracy following novel, i.e. more distracting, stimuli than standard stimuli compared to typical, non-ADHD children, F(1, 19) = 5.028, p = .037. Through this study, we will gain a greater understanding of children’s needs of attention maintenance. Implications of this study include reduction in classroom distractions could improve task-related accuracy and processing speed among children with ADHD.

As anhedonia, characterized by a blunted sensitivity to reward, is associated with decreased goal-directed behavior, increased risk taking in those with high anhedonia may reflect a lack of concern for the outcomes of risk-related behaviors. Observational studies indicate anhedonia is associated with some risky behaviors, with skydivers endorsing higher levels of anhedonia than non-skydivers and high-risk sports players who report higher anhedonia taking fewer precautions. Gender has also been shown to influence riskiness, with men reporting more recreational and health-related risk taking than women. Despite having behavioral tasks that show predictive validity in assessing real-life risk taking, the relationship between anhedonia and risk taking has not been examined using a controlled, experimental paradigm, which is critical to establishing a predictive association between these constructs. This study aims to characterize the relationship between anhedonia and behavioral risk taking. Sixty individuals, either high in anhedonia (15 female, 15 male) or within a healthy range (15 female, 15 male), were recruited. Risk taking behavior is operationalized with the Game of Dice Task, a gambling task that has shown validity in assessing risk taking in clinical samples. We hypothesized that individuals with high anhedonia would score significantly higher on risk taking compared to those with low anhedonia. Further, we hypothesized a moderating role of gender, such that male participants with high anhedonia would be even riskier than females with high anhedonia. As risk taking often precipitates harm, understanding this association is an important public health concern. Moreover, characterizing the relationship between anhedonia and risk taking may provide insight into high rates of suicidal behavior observed in individuals with high anhedonia.

The mental health of transgender children, children who have socially transitioned to live as the gender “opposite” their assigned sex at birth, have not been researched extensively, although the occurrence of childhood social transitions have increased in recent history. Instances of bullying and discrimination are reported in the LGBTQ community in high rates, which has been known to lead to higher rates of internalized symptoms. Previous studies have looked at the stress buffering hypothesis, which postulates that social support protects against the negative effects of victimization experiences, but the results from those studies are mixed. In the present study, we examine whether social support moderates the association between bullying and discrimination with internalizing symptoms in transgender youth. To test our hypothesis, we had the parents of 265 socially transitioned children, from ages 3-15 (mean age 9.41), answer questions regarding a child’s support structure (family, peer, school) and whether their child has been bullied and/or discriminated against specifically because of their gender. Our results show that the relationship between victimization experiences and internalizing symptoms was moderated by peer support, but not by family support or school support. We found that when participants had less peer support, being victimized more was associated with more internalizing symptoms, while higher levels of peer support do not yield significant results between the two variables, indicating that peer support may act as a buffer between victimization experiences and internalizing symptoms in transgender youth.

Becoming a mother can be an incredibly beautiful process, but it can also become overwhelming and extremely stressful, especially when lacking support and resources. The chronic and significant stress that low-income, pregnant women experience put them at greater risk for adverse health outcomes and their infant at risk for poor developmental outcomes. At the University of Washington’s Center for Child and Family Well-Being, our research team has developed mindfulness-based interventions to help new moms adjust to their new life. Our goal is to examine the effects of stress on the mother-infant dyad and to evaluate whether these programs are beneficial for moms and their babies. Expecting mothers are randomly assigned to attend one mindfulness-based program that focuses on preparing for childbirth, reducing postpartum stress, or developing parenting skills. Administration of extensive questionnaires to the mother and recordings of the mother and baby completing various tasks, before and after the program, measure the pair’s socioemotional development. We also collect cortisol, a stress hormone, and measure heart rate and breathing during a stress-reactivity paradigm to inform us of the physiological effects of stress. We hypothesize that mothers who exhibit high levels of mindfulness are more likely to engage in consistent, warm, and responsive parenting skills. As a result, these mothers' infants will display better self-regulation and focus. We also predict that mothers and babies who participate in these mindfulness interventions are more likely to show a decrease in cortisol production and have controlled cardiovascular reactivity. Recommendations for future research include establishing a systematic way of identifying mothers at risk so that we may prevent further harms caused by stress. Implications of the findings can be used to advocate for equitable, accessible mental health programs and implementation of public health policy centered around protecting and empowering vulnerable women and children in our community.

Many of the world’s most important countries are experiencing large increases in their populations of older adults (e.g. Japan, China, Italy, Germany). Such longevity is requiring a greater need for long term care. However, societies can not afford to pay for formal care, so informal (unpaid family) caregivers (CGs) are becoming increasingly important. Unfortunately, many CGs are at high-risk for psychosocial/health problems. Moreover, caregivers with pre-existing health problems are particular risk. Our goal is to examine factors that may make cancer caregivers vulnerable. We used a vulnerability (have a cancer history or not) by exposure (being a caregiver or not) model, and stratified our participants into four groups: Cancer Caregivers, Non-Cancer Caregivers, Cancer Non-Caregivers, and Non-Cancer Non-Caregivers. At baseline and 15-18 months later, we measured indicators of life quality and caregiver demands: satisfaction with support, well-being, perceived support, loneliness, and hours spent caregiving. Cancer Caregivers reported poorer social supports and more time caregiving. This is important because previous work has shown that Cancer Caregivers have more negative and fewer positive life experiences and that these are related to the ability to fight tumor growth. Despite innovations, this study only included white Americans. Also, to increase participation among persons with cancer, we only included those who were not treated for at least one year and who had not suffered from serious forms of cancer. Our results would probably have been stronger had we included persons with more serious cancers, but such individuals might not have participated or been able to be caregivers. Given the rapid rise of cancer in China, we suggest that research examine cancer and caregiving in China and that cross-cultural research be done in the U.S. and China. To understand the dynamics of caregiving, health and well-being, one needs to study these processes cross-culturally.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that involves challenges in speech and nonverbal communication, social interaction and repetitive behaviors. ASD can manifest in a variety of ways hypothesized to be the result of multiple environmental and genetic factors. Two such genetic factors are disruptive mutations to genes ADNP and DYRK1A, which have been associated with ASD and other developmental problems. While both genes are known to impact neuroplasticity, DYRK1A mutations impair dendritic spine growth and ADNP mutations impact the cytoskeletal system. Little is known about the behavioral phenotypes resulting from DYRK1A and ADNP. The aim of this project is to illuminate phenotypes associated with disruptive variations to both genes by comparing learning, memory, verbal and adaptive skills of people with mutations to these genes to each other. In this study, participants included individuals who have either a disruptive mutation to ADNP (n=9, ages 4-13 years) or to DYRK1A (n=10, ages 4-24 years). The following assessments were administered to each participant: Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales II (adaptive behaviors), Differential Ability Scales (cognition) and California Verbal Learning Test (speech and learning). These assessments provided a selection of different behavioral phenotypes related to neurological functioning and development. We hypothesize that DYRK1A and ADNP will have differing impacts on phenotype due to their varying contribution to early brain development. This study will contribute to a better understanding of how disruptions to different gene functions can lead to differences in learning, memory, verbal and adaptive skills. In addition, examining these mutations’ differing phenotypes will give a better idea of the implications of living with these gene events and may inform treatment recommendations for families and individuals affected by rare mutations.

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and inflammatory responses are commonly seen in premature infants which can lead to cognitive delay and behavioral problems. A novel rodent preterm brain injury model is being developed to simulate histological and behavioral changes seen in preterm brain injury. It was hypothesized that injured pups [(in-utero hypoxia-ischemia followed by post-natal inflammation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) + hypoxia + hyperoxia] will have a significant late behavioral deficit compared to controls. The rodent model of preterm brain injury includes: intrauterine hypoxia at embryological day 18, with LPS administration on Postnatal (P) day 2 followed by hypoxia (8% oxygen) and hyperoxia (80% oxygen). In order to assess late behavioral effect of early neonatal injury, I conducted motor tests on rats. The motor testing included: gait analysis via CatWalk XT and Rotarod analysis. For the Rotarod analysis, I performed testing on both, the injured rats and controls, on P28 to test their locomotor ability. Gait analysis was performed on P35. The results will be tested for significant differences between the groups. Future research will be conducted by repeating this experiment to verify these results and clarify what aspects of late behavior are impacted most by this injury model.

 Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with both acute and chronic alcohol-related harm. Marginalized populations, such as those experiencing homelessness, are both less inclined to successfully achieve abstinence and at higher risk of experiencing alcohol-related harm. Identifying strategies for safer use are thus particularly important for this population. To this end, we analyzed interview data collected from 86 adults experiencing homelessness and AUD who received harm reduction treatment (HaRT-A) during the parent randomized controlled trial. Participants were administered the demographic and alcohol measures at baseline (week 0) and were provided with HaRT-A, at which point interventionists introduced a list of safer-drinking strategies. Participants’ endorsement of safer-drinking strategies was assessed at HaRT-A appointments at weeks 0, 1, 2, and 6. For the current analysis, we conducted a mixed methods approach to characterize and evaluate endorsement and implementation of safer-drinking strategies at week 0 and week 6. Findings indicated use of strategies to buffer the effects of alcohol (e.g., eating while drinking), change the manner in which one drinks (e.g., counting drinks), and reduce alcohol use. Quantitative analysis indicated all participants were able to successfully endorse and implement safer-drinking strategies over the course of the study. These findings support that people experiencing homelessness and AUD adopt strategies that minimize alcohol-related harm, including ways that change the amount and manner of drinking and buffering the effects of alcohol. This extends the findings from our parent study among chronically homeless individuals to people experiencing transitional or episodic homelessness.

Self-disclosing personal stress is an effective way of managing stress. Previous research has shown that high school students disclose more when prompted by robot that discloses vulnerability. Thus, disclosure reciprocity in human-robot interaction (HRI) provides a promising way of offering stress intervention. The current study examines how different types of disclosure from a social robot affect reciprocal human disclosure and other user outcomes through a stress-disclosing activity. Using a between-subject design, 36 young adults were randomly assigned to converse and engage in a stress-disclosing activity with a robot that shared technical facts (technical condition), feelings from other users (by-proxy condition), or feelings from itself (emotional condition). We hypothesize that emotional robot disclosure will elicit longer and deeper participant disclosure, and higher robot attributional ratings (such as likeability, perceived safety, user satisfaction, and intention for future use) than technical disclosure or by-proxy disclosure. Participant self-disclosure was measured by word count and depth of response during the robot interaction. User satisfaction, intention for future use, robot likeability, and perceived safety were captured using 5-point Likert scales. Our multivariate generalized linear model revealed that participants who experienced the technical robot disclosure condition gave the robot significantly higher rating for perceived safety, but no significant differences in other variables, such as length and depth of participant disclosure among robot disclosure conditions. Surprisingly, we found that people with higher perceived stress significantly disclosed less in both breadth and depth, and rated the robot as less likeable, had lower future intention to use and user satisfaction. This study demonstrates the complexity of designing robot for stress-intervention and the importance of capturing perceived stress as a predictor for stress intervention in HRI. Future research will examine how high stress and low stress group might perceive and interact with a social robot differently in long-term repeated interactions.

Self-efficacy has been shown to be associated with fewer problem behaviors in adolescence. However, the research investigating this association has been primarily based on self-report measurements of delinquency. The purpose of this study is to see if this association is maintained with a more objective measure of delinquency by examining juvenile offenders’ self-efficacy, and its predictive relationship with probation violations. Using self-report survey data of juvenile offenders’ self-efficacy along with probation violation data from Pierce County Juvenile Court, we conducted a statistical analysis of self-efficacy measurements and official probation violations. The self-reported self-efficacy measures address feelings in desire of academic and career success, prosocial behavior, and a reduction in the desire to express aggressive behaviors. If self-efficacy is shown to be a good predictor of fewer probation violations, further research can investigate determinants of high versus low self-efficacy, or how to improve self-efficacy, in order to promote probation adherence of juvenile offenders.

Could women’s strength of gender identity direct them predominantly to awards open only to women, leaving other awards less gender-diverse? We examined whether women’s awards could steer women away from more lucrative all-gender awards and if women’s strength of gender identity moderates this decision. Undergraduate women (N=169) decided between two fictional scholarships valued at $2500 and $5000. In the control condition, both awards were open to all genders. In the experimental condition, the $2500 award was only open to women. A chi-square test showed that in the control condition, women were more likely to pick the $5000 all-gender award, while in the experimental condition they were more likely to pick the $2500 women’s award. Women’s likelihood to apply to the $2500 award in both conditions was not moderated by identification with their gender. This indicates that women’s identification with their gender was not driving their tendency to select an award targeted to women. Low-value women’s awards may decrease the number of women applying for higher value all-gender awards, potentially contributing to higher proportions of male applicants and winners to those awards.

About 3.1 million adolescents are diagnosed yearly with depression. Adolescent onset of depression is associated with acute or chronic difficulties in physical, mental, and psychosocial functioning. However, over 60% of adolescents with depression do not receive mental health care, and, among those who do, treatment engagement is low. Behavioral Activation (BA) is an evidence-based psychosocial intervention for individuals with depression. While BA holds promise as an effective treatment, researchers have found that adolescents may be better reached and engaged through social and mobile technologies. In addition, BA requires frequent interaction from patients over time, which can be difficult and costly to administer in-person. There is an opportunity to improve the usability of and engagement with EBPIs via online technologies. Asynchronous Remote Communities (ARC) is a promising technology-based approach for engaging adolescents that leverages technology’s reach while providing support, social interactions, and motivation. ARCs are private online groups on which researchers can deliver weekly research tasks to participants and gather information about their perceptions in a format that is lightweight, accessible, usable, and low burden. We have used ARC to both discover design requirements and to design/build a platform for administering BA, which we have tested with clinicians and adolescents. We used ARC with 10 mental health clinicians specializing in treating teens with depression to discover their needs. Specifically, we worked with mental health clinicians to better understand their needs and to identify facilitators and barriers to adapting BA to ARC. We used the Slack online platform to create an accessible, anonymous environment where we posted 20-minute long design activities each week for 10 weeks to be completed asynchronously. We were then able to recruit teenagers to understand their needs. Based on the results, we are adapting BA to ARC settings and then testing out the feasibility.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by elevated inflammatory mediators, bone resorption, and cartilage destruction. These changes are caused in part by fibroblasts, which invade cartilage and amplify inflammation by producing a variety of cytokines and chemokines. Previous research suggests that activation of the receptor tyrosine kinases platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFRs) may play a major role in fibroblast expansion and invasion in RA. These receptors are homo- or heterodimers composed of α or β subunits, and can be stimulated by five different ligands. Although the signaling pathways activated by PDGFR-α and PDGFR-β are very similar, they have been shown to play different roles in disease models. We propose that PDGFR-α and PDGFR-β activation produce independent responses in joint (synovial) fibroblasts, depending on both receptor signaling and ligand availability, contributing to their different roles in disease. We found activation of both receptors stimulated fibroblast proliferation and recycling of Cad-11, a cell-to-cell adhesion molecule that plays an important role in the signaling that produces the inflammatory response. This was found by comparing receptor phosphorylation data from Western Blot, ELISA, and flow cytometry experiments. However, when silencing PDGFRs with a multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, only PDGFR-α was found to affect Cad-11, meaning Cad-11 likely works through PDGFR-α to regulate cell proliferation. In contrast, PDGFR-β activation has been shown to induce a more motile morphology change in immunofluorescence experiments with 3D cell cultures. qRT-PCR experiments have also provided evidence that the same cell lines stimulated with different ligands resulted in distinct genotypes. These results support our hypothesis that PDGFR-α and PDGFR-β may have unique functions in synovial fibroblasts that contribute to RA pathology.

Risk taking is strongly associated with many disordered behaviors. Many studies implicate the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in such behaviors, though its modulation yields inconsistent results. This could be due to possible contrasting effects of intratelencephalic (IT) and pyramidal tract (PT) neurons, which have distinct morphologies and projections. Despite this, specific functionality differences are unknown. Given that 5-HT2A and D1 receptors have predominant expression in IT neurons over PT neurons, and antagonism of these receptors decreases risk-seeking, it was hypothesized that inhibition of all IT neuron activity in the OFC would also result in risk aversion. IT neurons in rats were inhibited during a risky-decision making task (RDT). To modulate IT neurons, an inhibitory designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD) was injected into lateral OFC bilaterally, conjugated to CRE and FLP drivers injected into contralateral nucleus accumbens. In the full RDT, animals were presented with two levers: The “safe” lever delivered one pellet reward per press, while the “risky” lever delivered four pellets, with descending probability of reward administration (100%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%). Two test sessions were conducted whereby animals received intraperitoneal injections of clozapine-N-oxide (CNO) or a vehicle (DMSO) 30 minutes prior to task onset. Animals receiving CNO the first time received vehicle the second time. To determine if IT neurons were involved in perseverative responding, animals underwent a reversal task. They were presented with an active lever -which administered a food pellet per press -, and an inactive lever. Five consecutive responses on the active lever switched the inactive lever to the “active” lever. Results showed no significant changes in decision-making or reversal learning upon receiving CNO or vehicle. IT neuron modulation may need to be more temporally specific; future studies will focus on monitoring IT activity during decision-making paradigms to further elucidate their contributions within OFC.

In a majority of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), resources for mental health care are extremely limited. For children and adolescents especially, there is little to no mental health care available. In a recent large randomized controlled trial, an evidence-based treatment (EBT) was delivered in two LMICs, Kenya and Tanzania, using trained lay counselors in a task-shifting/sharing model. Over a 12-week span consisting of weekly group meetings, this EBT, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), was delivered to orphaned children who had posttraumatic stress (PTS) and/or grief symptoms, along with their guardians. The effects sizes were large for child PTS/grief, but little is known about how to scale up and implement TF-CBT to benefit more children. The current study uses data from a large TF-CBT trial implemented in 10 schools and 10 communities in Kenya by existing staff who served as lay counselors (teachers in schools and community health volunteers [CHVs] in communities). After the delivery of the treatment, qualitative interviews were conducted with the lay counselors from 6 of 10 sites in each to better identify efficient implementation practices and policies (IPPs) that supported TF-CBT delivery. The goal of studying the IPPs is to identify those that support the effective adoption and fidelity of TF-CBT. This study pinpoints which IPPs are most critical for the different settings, sectors, and populations that this study encompasses. We analyzed the IPP resource provision to be able to compare the difference in resource allocation in urban versus rural settings in regards to transportation, materials, etc. This study allows us to gain a better understanding of the necessary implementation strategies to better tailor to the needs of communities to support evidence-based mental health care in specific sectors and settings in LMICs.

The Yerkes-Dodson law suggests that performance is optimal when physiological arousal is moderate. Prior research has shown that arousal induced by listening to music will affect task performance on a cognitive task. The goal of this study was to test whether different music tempos would affect arousal levels and performance on a cognitive task. We recruited 16 UW undergraduates and exposed them to different tempos of the same song while performing a math test. We tested their accuracy, completion time, and recorded their heart rate. Results suggest that accuracy was higher under moderate music tempo than slow but there was no difference between moderate and fast. Interestingly enough there was no difference in completion time or physiological arousal. Although we failed to establish an effect of arousal and completion time the fact that participants did better on accuracy when music tempo was moderate is in line with what we predicted. Music tempo could still be influential to performance and future research can be done to understand these effects by operationalizing performance differently. Future directions about ways to improve the study will be discussed especially whether music/music tempo affect people subjective arousal and physical arousal differently.

Headache is common in childhood and can be associated with disability and distress. Family history of chronic pain may increase risk for pain and disability in childhood, although prior research has primarily focused on non-headache pain populations. We aimed to characterize the prevalence of headache, abdominal pain, and musculoskeletal pain in first- and second-degree relatives of youth with headache and determine whether family and parental pain history is associated with children’s headache experiences. We hypothesized that a positive family pain history would be common, and that greater extent of family and parental pain history would be associated with greater headache frequency, intensity, and disability. We enrolled 239 youth (Mage = 14.7, 66.5% female) with headache and their parents. Parents reported whether they and 16 of their first- and second-degree relatives had a history of migraine, tension-type headache, abdominal pain, or musculoskeletal pain. Youth completed a 28-day headache diary to assess headache frequency and pain intensity and completed the PedMIDAS, a measure that assesses headache-related disability. As expected, a family pain history was common: 65.7% of youth had a relative with migraine, 39.3% had a relative with tension-type headache, 44.8% had a relative with abdominal pain, and 66.9% had a relative with musculoskeletal pain. Children’s headache frequency was positively associated with the number of first- and second- degree relatives with a history of tension-type headache (r=.14, p=.04) and musculoskeletal pain (r=.14, p=.04), but not migraine or abdominal pain. We found that youth had greater disability when both parents had a history of headache compared to only one parent with a positive history, F(2,222)=3.27, p=.04. No associations were detected between family history and youth’s pain intensity. Our findings indicate children’s adaptation to headache may be influenced by their family. Further research is needed to understand potential mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of headache.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by clinically recognized deficits in social communication, repetitive behaviors, and restricted interests. While the etiological underpinnings of ASD have yet to be determined, biological indicators of the disorder (e.g. biomarkers) hold promise as valuable diagnostic methods. Neurological biomarker initiatives are particularly essential in their potential to pinpoint the neural activity that gives rise to the disorder’s hallmarks. Resting state electroencephalography (EEG) studies suggest altered default signaling associated with ASD, with particular deviations in the power of the alpha frequency band. However, previous work has produced contradictory findings regarding the directionality of these abnormal power patterns, which motivate the need to better understand the implications of certain methodological decisions. In this study, we acquired EEG recordings during resting state paradigms in individuals with ASD and a neurotypical control group. We hypothesized that individuals with ASD would display reduced alpha activity, in comparison. We suspect that activity will be reduced, both when analyzed by peak power and average power over the entire frequency band.

Mindfulness involves being present, aware, and non-judgmental. The present study investigates the efficacy of a brief weekly mindfulness intervention within the college classroom as a means of increasing psychological well-being among students. We hypothesized that mindfulness would have emotional, cognitive, and social benefits, and that students who participated more frequently would benefit more. Across six 10-week classes, N=800 university psychology students participated in a five-minute weekly mindfulness activity. Students completed measures of emotional, cognitive, and social functioning in both the first and last weeks as well as some questions specific to the mindfulness activities. We found strong support for our hypotheses for emotional and cognitive benefits. Emotional benefits included increased happiness, resilience, and significantly lower anxiety. Cognitive benefits included engagement in the activities, engagement in the class, being more focused in class, and a positive impact on grades. Students who participated more frequently and to a greater degree saw more positive effects from the intervention. We conclude that a brief mindfulness intervention may be an effective way to improve wellness on the university campus.