The sensation of acute pain is fundamental to survival, indicating tissue damage that motivates an animal to engage in adaptive protective behaviors. Chronic pain, however, is pain that persists beyond the typical recovery window and serves little adaptive function. Due to the negative affective component inherent in chronic pain, it has been shown to contribute to the development of comorbid psychiatric disorders such as depression, social aggression, and social withdrawal. Our research aims to understand how acute and chronic pain affects social reward, motivation, and behavior. Our experiments used social self-administration (SSA), where pair-housed mice were placed in operant chambers and underwent voluntary lever press trials for the reward of social interaction with their cagemate. Following the acquisition of the SSA task, male and female mice then received a spared nerve injury (SNI) to induce neuropathic pain. Following recovery from the SNI surgery, experimental mice were returned to the lever press trials at different post-operative windows to simulate acute and persistent pain windows. Changes in social behavior were measured via changes in lever press frequency and interactive behavior during trials. Our data shows that male and female mice who underwent SSA trials immediately following nerve ligation maintained normal levels of social interaction. In contrast, female experimental animals that began SSA at a delayed time point, simulating persistent pain, lever pressed significantly less for a social partner compared to their respective control group. Conversely, male experimental animals at the delayed time point displayed high lever pressing behavior for a social partner. This data points towards divergent social adaptations following pain due to the sex of the experimental mice. Future experiments will further delineate these sex-specific adaptations following a traumatic injury. This research can inform social intervention as an adjunct or alternative treatment to pharmacological pain intervention and its comorbidities.

Zooplankton are important primary consumers in the marine food web and lead an important role in carbon cycling in the open ocean. Understanding what influences zooplankton community composition can help us understand the impacts of climate change on this delicate relationship. Current research shows that zooplankton communities change based on currents and chemical cues, but there is a lack of data about the community structure of zooplankton in the Western Equatorial Pacific, specifically between 5°S and 5°N along 167°W. Data was collected from 28 December 2023, through 10 January 2024, on the R/V Thomas G. Thompson near American Samoa. A closing zooplankton net with 200μm mesh was used for net tows from 200m to surface at stations between 5°S and 5°N along the 167°W longitudinal line. Net tows were processed by counting and identifying zooplankton groups from subsamples and data was converted to abundance utilizing standard equations in RStudio. Zooplankton abundance increased from 5°S to the equator and decreased after the equator to 5°N. Species diversity (Shannon-Weiner) was lowest at the equator and highest at 5°N and 1°S. Calanoid copepods had the highest abundance over all sites, and north of the equator, calanoid copepods and gelatinous zooplankton (larvaceans) dominated most of the species composition. There were no significant relationships between species community composition and temperature, salinity, nutrients, or currents. With many processes occurring with zooplankton in the open ocean, it may be that multiple variables are impacting the resulting diversity and abundance relationships. Additionally, data was collected during the 2023 – 2024 Strong El Niño, which could have impacted the abundances and species presence due to higher water temperature and stronger currents. Monitoring zooplankton composition over time is vital for monitoring the health of our oceans as it has implications for global fisheries and carbon cycling.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are vital energy storage devices for electric vehicles (EVs). Conventionally, LIBs have planar electrodes that present trade-offs between energy and power (charge/discharge speed) due to ion diffusion limitations. EVs require a high energy battery to enable long mileage ranges while also being able to charge quickly (< 15 minutes). 3D battery electrodes can potentially overcome this trade-off, achieving both high energy and power by leveraging 3D structures that create fast ion transport pathways. However, a scalable manufacturing process for 3D electrodes is needed. We are investigating processes for this, and we need a method to characterize our 3D electrodes. There is no method to automatically quantify the features within these 3D structures, which is required for rapid, high quality analysis. By accurately measuring 3D electrode feature sizes, correlations between features and optimal battery performance can be determined. We hypothesize that fabricating fine 3D features (order of 10s of microns) will improve battery performance. To address this need, I have developed an image processing script that characterizes 3D electrode samples. I investigate how threshold values improve accuracy in comparison to manual measurements and am able to achieve < 10% error. I also connect the code’s feature size measurements to our manufacturing process operating conditions to inform how manufacturing conditions can be altered to precisely control feature sizes, which impact battery performance. We expect that higher operating frequencies for our manufacturing process will result in our target fine feature 3D electrodes, achieving high-performance Lithium-ion batteries. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) Award Number DE-EE0010226. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.
 

Sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) is an acquired progressive inflammatory muscle disease. It is most commonly seen in individuals over 50 years old and affects more men than women. Symptom onset is generally gradual and characterized by progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. Weakness often starts in the quadriceps and finger flexors but can affect other muscles in the arms and legs as the disease progresses. Difficulty swallowing also can be present. The disease remains challenging to diagnose due to its non-uniform presentation. There is currently no cure or standard treatment for sIBM as it is unresponsive to corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of and associations between different features considered in the diagnosis of sIBM. We reviewed the electronic medical records of adult patients diagnosed with sIBM using ICD-10 codes at the University of Washington Medical Center from 2003 to 2023. Data was collected including creatine kinase (CK) levels, presence of the anti-cytosolic 5′-nucleotidase 1A (NT5c1A) antibody, pulmonary function testing, presence of dysphagia, muscle strength testing, muscle biopsy findings, electromyography (EMG)/nerve conduction studies, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Statistical analyses were performed to identify the presence of sIBM phenotypes and correlations between them. This study confirms the heterogenous presentation of sIBM and highlights the associated diagnostic challenges this presents. Understanding both typical and atypical presentations is key to preventing delayed diagnosis and misdiagnosis commonly seen in this patient population. Timely diagnosis allows for more tailored management of disease-related symptoms and can help to eliminate the unnecessary administration of ineffective medication and invasive testing. In addition, further characterization of sIBM phenotypes may lead to improvements in both current diagnostic criteria and considerations for clinical trial outcome measures.

As the world’s reliance on Lithium-ion batteries increases for technologies like electric vehicles, we need to improve battery performance. Traditional Lithium-ion batteries are composed of planar electrodes whose thickness can be optimized for energy capacity or charge rate (power). Thinner electrodes have a faster charge/discharge rate but low energy capacity while thicker electrodes have slow charge rates but higher energy capacity. Three-dimensional (3D) electrode structures that deviate from traditional planar electrodes can mitigate these trade-offs by allowing for fast ion transport while still maintaining a high ion quantity. One structure of interest due to its theoretical performance improvements shown in literature is a line patterned electrode. Line patterned electrodes have material and structural design features that greatly impact battery performance; it is therefore important to have methods to characterize and quantify features prior to battery testing. To rapidly and accurately analyze 3D line electrode feature sizes, we have developed an image processing code that analyzes cross-sectioned images of 3D line electrodes made from battery materials, enabling automated quantification of features such as line width, spacing and height. Cross-sectioned images are converted to black and white, which can then be processed by a function to detect the line edges and calculate the feature sizes. The results of our image processing code were compared to manual measurements to quantify accuracy. We draw connections between 3D line patterned electrode features and Lithium-ion battery performance to demonstrate how 3D electrode structures can be tuned to improve performance. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) Award Number DE-EE0009112. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.

Social interactions in humans have shown to improve pain outcomes and diminish the development of mechanical hypersensitivity (allodynia) following injury. This effect is known as social buffering of pain; however, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Prior preclinical studies focused on forced social interactions between unfamiliar mice, lacking translational value to patients. To fill this gap, our research explores how volitional social behavior shifts pain sensitivity and affect following a neuropathic injury. Volitional interaction is key to socialization as individuals usually socialize because they want to, not due to force, which makes studying how mice voluntarily interact with each other important. To determine how volitional social interaction impacts both sensory and affective (emotional) components of pain, we use male and female mice who have received a spared nerve injury (SNI). Trained in social self-administration, mice learn to lever-press to engage with a familiar conspecific. Mice are then tested in von Frey where thin plastic filaments of increasing weights are applied to the mouse hind paw before and after SNI. These filaments do not cause pain, rather elicit a pain response of withdrawing the paw. To determine sensory sensitivity, the weight when the animal's paw is withdrawn is recorded as percent change from baseline. To determine changes in affective pain, the amount of time the animals hold their paw up, following withdrawal, is recorded as percent change from baseline. We found that male and female mice show significant attenuation in their mechanical hypersensitivity following volitional social interaction compared to mice deprived of volitional social interaction. Males show even less mechanical sensitivity, indicating that males may be more impacted by social analgesia than females. Understanding the divergent responses between male and female mice and the role of volitional social interaction in pain modulation, offers potential avenues for developing novel therapeutic strategies.

The synthesis of key organic molecules often requires toxic, expensive, non-reusable reduction agents and extreme conditions. In recent years, electrochemistry has emerged as a sustainable alternative to standard methods, but this approach is often hindered by high energy barriers for electron transfer to the substrate. Electrocatalysts address this challenge by shuttling charge between the electrode and dissolved substrates, accessing lower transfer barriers, and reducing the overall energy needed. Current electrocatalysts, however, cannot stabilize reactive intermediates, which often leads to harmful side reactions and degradation of the electrode. We hypothesize that redox-active supramolecular cages can address this limitation by both shuttling charge and providing unique microenvironments capable of stabilizing intermediates. Previously, we synthesized two tetrahedral supramolecular cages that incorporate redox-active perylene diimide (PDI) and pyromellitic diimide (PMDI) motifs. Using cyclic voltammetry, we then showed that both cages can lower the voltages required for the electroreduction of vicinal dihalides to alkenes, indicating electrocatalysis. To better understand these results, I used density-functional theory (DFT) calculations to obtain computer models of the PDI and PMDI cages. These DFT-optimized structures revealed significant differences in charge density between redox centers due to electron-donating functional groups, which may explain why the PMDI cage lowered the substrate reduction voltages more than the PDI cage. With these models, I have also studied the shape and volume of the cages’ internal cavities, thereby providing information about substrate compatibility. I am conducting additional DFT analysis to understand how modifications to the ligand motifs may alter the electrocatalytic behavior. By continuing to investigate supramolecular cages for reductive electrocatalysis, I aim to contribute to the development of low-waste synthetic strategies for the production of alkenes and other commercially significant organic compounds.

Vietnamese Amerasians are children of United States service members and Vietnamese women born during the Vietnam War. Many of these children grow up while experiencing various stressors in Vietnam, due to their biracial and inherently political identities. These challenges place them at a higher risk for developing a mental illness. There is limited research on the mental health challenges of Vietnamese Amerasians. I conducted a systematic literature review to examine the current mental health challenges of Vietnamese Amerasians. I identified nineteen relevant articles through a systematic search of APA PsycINFO, APA PsycArticles, and references of included articles.The inclusion criteria required studies to be conducted within Vietnam and the United States, include at least five Vietnamese Amerasians, and focus on mental health and related outcomes. Included articles are analyzed to find themes in the prevalence of mental health illnesses (such as PTSD, Depression, Suicidality, and Anxiety), mental health utilization, factors contributing to mental health illness, and protective factors. Preliminary findings identify high pre-migration expectations, frequency of thinking of ones’ American father, language barrier, experience of discrimination, witnessing traumatic events, acculturation stress, unaccompanied minor status, having multiple surrogate mothers, being African Amerasian, and family conflict as factors contributing to poor mental health outcomes for Vietnamese Amerasians. Family support has been identified as a protective factor. Due to the unique bi-racial identity of Vietnamese Amerasians, more research is needed to determine the applicability of these findings. In addition to informing future research, these findings aid clinicians in the relevant factors impacting Vietnamese Amerasian mental health.

The mental health of family caregivers who care for elders who have passed is often dismissed by healthcare providers and society because of the age of their family members. When an older adult dies, their death is seen as expected and as the natural ending to having lived their life. However, there is still a tremendous grieving process that family members, friends, and caregivers experience with the death of a loved one. After losing a loved one, family caregivers report experiencing higher rates of depression, anxiety, and ambiguous grief. Additionally, many family caregivers find that medical help decreases drastically after the death, thus creating a sense of isolation. Current studies tend to explore one aspect of the experience of caregiver loss. Furthermore, much of these findings are based on data that is homogeneous in race and social status with an overwhelming majority being white and middle class. No existing studies have attempted to untangle the complexity of emotions that come with family caregiving. This systematic literature review starts to fill these gaps by answering the question: What are the psychological impacts experienced by family caregivers following the loss of an elderly loved one they provided care for? The databases used to identify the articles include PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO. Approximately 15 articles have been identified that meet the inclusion criteria. The preliminary findings are themes of support changing before and after death, relationship with caregiving, relationship with family members cared for, psychological adversities (anxiety, depression, and loneliness), and religion as a way to find peace. These findings will help family caregivers see trends in their experience, helping with the loneliness that comes while grieving. It will also be a starting point to show healthcare workers what to look for when determining whether the grieving process is chronic.

In response to changing conditions, organisms express genes to optimize the match between their phenotype and the environment. Understanding the mechanisms for how genes are turned on or off is therefore an important research area. One challenge in conducting this research is that many of the proteins involved in regulating gene expression are essential to life, and disrupting their function can lead to death. My research focuses on the essential gene SPT6, which encodes a protein that works with RNA polymerase during the elongation phase of transcription. Recently, the Nemhauser Lab has found that SPT6 also plays a role in transcriptional repression. My project aims to differentiate the role that SPT6 plays in transcriptional activation and repression by disrupting its expression in Arabidopsis. Given that SPT6 mutants do not survive, here I test the use of a new tool that allows me to remove my gene of interest in a particular tissue at a particular time. The tool is based on a molecular switch that relies on serine integrases which can recombine DNA between two specific sequences. So far, I have worked with my mentor to rescue SPT6 mutants with a target that expresses the wild-type version of SPT6. Once the integrase is expressed, the recombination turns off the SPT6 gene and turns on a fluorescent reporter. I express the integrase from a promoter that is active only in the first stages of making a new root, so I can observe the impact of loss of SPT6 function in a cell type unnecessary for plants to survive in lab conditions. This project promotes an understanding of the multiple roles of SPT6 during the transtition from repression to activation, and as SPT6 is highly conserved across eukaryotes, my work in plants may also contribute to understanding human diseases. 

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by distinct social-communication differences and restricted and repetitive behaviors. There is heterogeneity in the presentation of social functioning in autistic individuals, which may be attributed to sleep quality, alexithymia, and anxiety. Insomnia, prevalent in autistic children, was linked to higher levels of autistic traits, specifically, difficulties in social skills and relationship formation. Alexithymia, difficulty in describing and identifying emotions, has been reported in 55% of autistic youth. Anxiety severity, specifically social anxiety, is also negatively correlated with social functioning for autistic youth. This study aims to investigate the relation between sleep quality, alexithymia, and anxiety to social functioning in autistic adults. In a sample of 131 adults (ages 18-26, 51% female), we conducted a multiple regression analysis, with social skills as the dependent variable and sleep quality, alexithymia, and anxiety as the independent predictor variables. Sleep quality was measured with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire, alexithymia with the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), anxiety with the Adult Behavior Checklist - Self Report (ASR), and social functioning with the Social Responsiveness Scale, 2nd Edition (SRS-2). We hypothesize that sleep quality, alexithymia, and anxiety will each independently impact social functioning. This study contributes to the understanding of factors that influence heterogeneity in social functioning amongst autistic adults. Findings on predictors of social impairment may inform targeted interventions for and benefit the lives of autistic adults.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a rapidly evolving pathogen with no effective vaccine for eliciting broad protection against HIV infection. The HIV Envelope protein (Env) is a trimeric glycoprotein that is responsible for host-cell membrane fusion and infection initiation. As the only protein on the HIV virion surface, Env is the sole target for neutralizing antibodies. Characterizing the local structural dynamics of Env provides valuable insight into HIV host-virus interaction mechanisms. HDX-MS is an excellent tool for determining structural dynamics by measuring local backbone amide solvent accessibility. Generally, less structured protein regions uptake deuterium more rapidly compared to buried regions or those that are stabilized by secondary structure. We can use mass spectrometry to measure the kinetics of deuterium uptake for peptides throughout the Env protein. HDX-MS provides a detailed portrait of local structural dynamics and order, effectively identifying switching between completely closed prefusion and more open conformational states. A particular HIV Env isolate, A4, is of interest due to its unusually dynamic nature compared to other well-studied Env isolates, such as BG505. Dynamic Env exhibit more conformational flexibility, allowing them to sample various intermediary conformations between open and closed. We hypothesize that this attribute could increase HIV resistance to broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) that selectively target the closed Env conformation to prevent virus entry in immune cells. We may be able to correlate antibody binding to local dynamics measured in A4 versus BG505 Env trimers to verify this hypothesis. Biolayer interferometry will be applied to quantify antibody association and dissociation rates, as well as binding affinities. These studies will advance existing knowledge in Env-based vaccine therapeutics to improve immune responses to HIV.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects social and behavioral development. Although autism is most associated with social difficulties, it is also correlated with issues such as sleep disturbances. Previous literature suggests that 50-80% of autistic individuals experience sleep difficulties. One common feature of autism is differences in sensory processing compared to typically developing (TD) individuals. These differences may result in behaviors that are detrimental to sleep habits. This project aims to identify the relationship between sensory processing and sleep quality in autistic and TD adults and to identify a type of sensory concern that correlates to increased sleep disturbance. 150 participants (ASD = 94) ages 18-25 from the (National Institutes of Health) NIH funded multisite study on sex differences in autism were used in the analysis. Participants completed self-reports on sensory systems using the Sensory Profile, and on sleep quality using the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The Sensory Profile scores participants among 4 quadrants: low registration, sensation seeking, sensory sensitivity, and sensation avoiding. The scores reflect the participants sensory systems compared to their age range separated into five groups. The PSQI takes participant responses and assigns a score with “0” being no difficulty and “3” being severe difficulty across 7 components of sleep. Component scores are then summed for a global score. A t-test will be performed to compare the mean global PSQI score for the five groups across each quadrant on the Sensory Profile and for autistic and non-autistic populations. We expect to see higher mean global PSQI scores for those with autism and for those with higher Sensory profile scores within the ASD population. Increased differences in sensory processing in autistic individuals is important to investigate because studies have shown that filtering out sensory input is key to falling and remaining asleep which leads to improved quality of life.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior or interests. ASD is associated with features beyond its core characteristics, including alexithymia and anxiety. Alexithymia is characterized by difficulty recognizing and describing one’s own emotions, it influences physical and mental health, and it is associated with symptoms of anxiety. Despite current research demonstrating the correlation between alexithymia and anxiety in both ASD and the general population, there remains a significant research gap in how alexithymia and autism traits individually and collectively influence anxiety levels among the participants. This study has two aims: 1) To explore the relationship between alexithymia and anxiety in participants with ASD and TD. 2) To analyze the role of alexithymia as a mediator of the relationship between autism traits and anxiety in adolescents and young adults. This sample includes 149 participants (93 ASD) ages 15-34, from the NIH funded study on sex differences in autism. Measures included alexithymia via the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), anxiety via the Screen for Adult Anxiety Related Disorders (SCAARED), and autism traits via the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2). We will first conduct regression analyses to examine the relationships between alexithymia, anxiety, and autism traits. Then, we will employ Preacher and Hayes’ INDIRECT Method to investigate the mediating role of alexithymia in the relationship between autism traits and anxiety. We expect to see a significant relationship between alexithymia and anxiety in both groups and the relationship between alexithymia and anxiety in the ASD group to be significantly different than TD group. Understanding the relationship between anxiety and alexithymia could aid in the development or improvement of interventions for anxiety in people with ASD.

In this pilot project, we conducted think-aloud interviews with undergraduate students who had recently completed CHEM 142 as they worked through a set of multiple-choice, general-chemistry questions in order to investigate the levels of cognition they exhibited during problem solving. In collaboration with members of my research group, I designed recruitment materials and selected eight undergraduate interviewees from a pool of around 50 volunteers, with attention to diverse identities— including race, gender, sexuality, disability, prior courses in science/math, and parent’s educational background—as such identities and experiences may influence what problem-solving skills one has acquired. I co-developed the interview format, and conducted two of eight interviews. Participants were asked to narrate their approach while solving four multiple-choice CHEM 142 questions, then to critique the questions in terms of relative difficulty. The questions we used were previously characterized according to Marzano and Kendall’s New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives by a group of chemistry educators from our research group. I developed and refined a modified version of Marzano’s Taxonomy inspired by Teodorescu’s work in introductory physics (Teodorescu et. al., 2013), and am using it to code the interviews according to cognitive level exhibited by the interviewees. My preliminary results suggest that students approach a particular question in a variety of ways, engaging different levels of cognition. Students who display mastery of a concept tend to utilize lower cognitive levels, apparently due to familiarity with the concepts. Students who seem less familiar with or state they are struggling with a topic tend to employ more cognitively demanding strategies, whether or not they arrive at the correct answer. I will also discuss a comparison of the cognitive level exhibited by students to the level predicted by previous group members for each question, and any observations unique to different student identities.
 

Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), often experience co-occurring language impairments, including grammatical and lexical difficulties. Word segmentation, or the ability to identify word boundaries in continuous speech, is done through statistical learning and identification of speech cues. Recent studies in typically developing infants have shown a linear relationship between the ability to recognize words from continuous speech and the size of an individual's lexicon. The neural activity of the cerebral cortex, specifically the delta frequency band (1-4 Hz), contains the time scale of words and phrases. The delta band was found to track speech rhythm, along with semantic dissimilarity between successive words. Extracting acoustic features from sound signals and their linguistic representations (syllables, words, and phrases) is essential for speech comprehension. This study aims to look at the relationship between delta power recorded via scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) and communication skills in children with and without ASD. 193 participants (ASD = 96) from the NIH study on sex differences in autism were included in the sample. EEG recordings were collected while participants listened to phonemes that were statistically presented to result in 4 learned nonsense words. Parents completed a semi-structured interview on their child’s communication skills. EEG delta power was calculated over frontal, central and posterior regions of interest (ROIs). We expect children with ASD (compared to typically developing children) to have decreased delta power during nonsense word perception and lower delta power will be related to lower communication ability. This study will provide insight into the relation between neural perception of language and verbal communication in children with ASD.

Sensory processing is a process in which the nervous system receives, processes, and integrates incoming sensory input from the environment to allow individuals to perceive and respond to their surroundings. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social and behavioral skills. Many individuals with ASD experience hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli, thus individuals with ASD may experience more difficulty when navigating the world around us. These sensory challenges may result in increased anxiety symptoms. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between sensory processing and anxiety in autistic and typically developing (TD) adults. 256 participants (ASD = 149) ages 18-35 from a NIH funded study on sex differences in autism were included. Participants completed two self-report questionnaires: “Sensory Processing 3-Dimensions Scale” (SP3D) measuring sensory processing difficulties in auditory, visual, and tactile domains, and the “Screen for Adult Anxiety Related Disorders'' (SCAARED), measuring the intensity or frequency of anxiety symptoms and assessing four factors of anxiety (panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and social phobis disorder). Correlations will be used to compare SP3D scores and SCAARED scores. Given the hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli in ASD, we hypothesize the effects of anxiety symptoms will be increased in the ASD group who experience more domains of hypersensitivity. The results of this study will contribute to a greater understanding of the effect sensory sensitivity has on anxiety in adults with ASD.

In this study, I investigated distinctive electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns associated with processing social and nonsocial information in both typically developing individuals and those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A total of 139 youth and young adults aged 10-24 years participated, including 63 individuals with ASD (23 females, 40 males, mean age = 17.57) and 76 typically developing youth (35 females, 41 males, mean age = 17.47). Data collection occurred across four sites as part of the multisite ACE Network GENDAAR Wave 2 study (R01 MH10028, Pelphrey). EEG data were collected using a 128-channel Geodesic sensor net, concurrently capturing live social and nonsocial attention responses. During the social condition, participants viewed videos featuring social stimuli (vignettes of women telling or singing nursery rhymes), while during the nonsocial condition, they viewed videos of objects (dynamic toys). Additionally, all participants underwent assessment using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-2 (VABS-2). I calculated power spectral density (PSD) values for 8 channels based on the 10-20 system across various frequency bands, and performed analysis using this data. The results indicated a main effect of condition (social vs. nonsocial) at several frequency bands and electrodes. Furthermore, a main effect of the group revealed higher alpha power in typically developing individuals compared to those with ASD. Notably, no significant relationships were observed between Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-2 (VABS-2) subscores and neural responses. This study highlights a difference in neural activity during attention to social vs. nonsocial information in both groups of participants and underscores the importance of understanding these neural correlates in individuals with ASD.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental condition that can affect an individual’s ability to communicate and interact with others. While individuals with ASD can perceive facial structures, they may struggle with remembering and recognizing faces. There is extensive evidence that individuals with ASD atypically process and perceive faces, which can directly impact their ability to understand complex social situations. In this study, we aim to investigate the relationship between facial memory and social responsiveness in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those that are typically developing (TD). Participants included 399 children (ASD = 280), aged 6-11 from the Autism Biomarkers Consortium Clinical Trials (ABC-CT) study. Clinicians administered the NEPSY subtests for Memory for Faces delayed and Memory for Faces to measure facial memory, and parents completed the Social Responsiveness Scale-Second Edition (SRS-2), 65 question survey measuring social responsiveness. Correlations will be run for NEPSY scores (facial memory) and SRS-2 scores for both ASD and TD groups. We expect the ASD group to score lower on the NEPSY subtests (Memory for Faces and Memory for Faces Delayed) and on the SRS-2 than TD group, and that there will be a negative correlation between facial memory and social responsiveness scores in both groups based on previous research that has shown that children and adolescents with ASD have difficulties in recognizing and remembering faces, and that these difficulties are related to their social impairments. Facial memory impairments play a vital role in the social challenges faced by individuals with ASD, and that interventions aimed at enhancing facial memory skills may have beneficial effects on social functioning for autistic individuals.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects around 1 in 6 children and 1 in 65 adults in the United States. Autistic individuals experience difficulties in social communication, interaction amongst peers, and language skills; any of the symptoms of ASD cause an influx of other problems that continue into adulthood; these differences may impact self-esteem and feelings of acceptance. Previous research has shown that a history of mental health concerns is related to worse Quality of Life (QoL) in individuals with autism as they transition into adulthood. This project aims to examine mental health comorbidities and self-reported QoL in adults with autism. 44 autistic adults from the NIH funded study on sex differences in autism were included. Participants completed a self history of current mental health diagnosis (anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD etc.) and self reported QoL. Participants were grouped into 3 groups based on diagnosis: 1 (no diagnosis), 2 (1 diagnosis), and 3 (2+ diagnosis). QoL scores for each group will be calculated from the World Health Organization Quality-of-Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF). I predict that individuals with more comorbid mental health diagnoses will have lower QoL scores. These data will inform us of how additional mental health struggles may impact quality of life in individuals with autism.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological disorder that affects social and behavioral development. Although there are no known biological markers of ASD, low birth weight and presence of an older sibling with an ASD diagnosis have been identified as elevating risk for ASD, such that between 7 to 15% of low-birth-weight infants and 20% of infant siblings will be diagnosed with ASD. One confounds to interpretation of outcome is use of clinician observational measures versus parent reports of behavior. For example, parent and clinician ratings showed strong correlation for motor skills but weak to moderate for communication skills. As altered communication skills are “red-flags'' for autism, understanding the relationship between sources of information is important. This project looks at the concordance between clinician administered and parent completed measures of communication in a longitudinal study of infants at elevated risk for ASD. Fourty-nine participants from an NIH funded longitudinal study of social and nonsocial development from 6 - 36 months were included. Infants were grouped as typical-likelihood for ASD (TL, n=24), or at elevated-risk for ASD, including, low birth weight (ER-LBW, n=17), and infant sibling of children with ASD (ER-Sib, n=8). At 12 and 24 months of age, parents completed the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS), a clinician administered parent interview that includes expressive language (EL) and receptive language (RL); and clinicians completed the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) with the infant to assess EL and RL. We expect ER group to have the highest concordance between parent and clinician report and EL concordance to be higher than RL because it is easier for parents to assess their child’s spoken language compared to language understanding. If parent rating shows high concordance with clinician rating, this could inform the use of lower cost questionnaires for screening and diagnosis.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that is characterized by difficulty in social cognition, communication, and behavior. Social cognition refers to mental processes related to how individuals perceive, process, and respond to social information. Elpers and Coyle (2021) found that there is a correlation between social cognition and general intelligence for adults with ASD. However, there is limited research on this relationship in younger age groups and for individuals without ASD. The goal of this study is to replicate the findings from Elpers and Coyle (2021) examining the relationship between social cognition and the intelligence quotient (IQ) in adolescents and young adults with and without autism. 193 participants (ASD = 96) from the NIH funded study on sex differences in autism were included in the sample. To measure social cognition, participants completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), a 36-item assessment measuring Theory of Mind or the individual's ability to recognize that others may have different mental states. Participants also completed the differential ability scale (DAS-2) as a measure of verbal IQ. We expect positive correlations for RMET scores and verbal score, in that as RMET scores increase, verbal IQ scores will also increase for adolescents and young adults with and without ASD. We will also explore how age impacts the scores, as we expect older children and young adults to have more verbal skills, hence performing better on the RMET measure. The results of this study will contribute to our understanding of the relationship between social cognition and intelligence from adolescents and young adults to the existing data that has been previously gathered. 

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impacts many different aspects of the individual’s functioning, especially cognitive and social functioning. Previous research has found that social pragmatic problems were positively associated with problems with inhibition and emotional control. Additionally, research has shown a relationship between greater executive function challenges and more social challenges among 6-12 year old children, however, no significant sex differences were found between executive functioning (EF) and social challenges. This study leveraged a large sample of sex matched adolescents with and without autism to investigate the relationship between executive functioning and social functioning. 318 participants (ASD =163), ages 8-17 from the NIH funded multisite study on sex differences in autism were included. Parents of participants completed the Brief Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), a 86-item questionnaire with eleven sub-scales that measures executive functioning ability. Parents also completed the Social Responsiveness Scale -2 (SRS-2), a 65-item questionnaire with five sub-scales that measures autistic traits. Correlations within ASD and TD groups will be conducted between BRIEF EF subdomains and SRS social communication index. In addition, sex differences will be analyzed for BRIEF and SRS scores within each diagnostic group. We expect that the ASD group will have elevated scores on BRIEF and SRS compared to the TD group, consistent with greater executive functioning challenges and more autistic social traits. Within the ASD group, greater executive functioning difficulties will be related to more autistic social behaviors. This research can help understand more about the variability between EF and social functioning in individuals with autism.

The mechanisms guiding the sensory detection of pain and the subsequent sensitization of damaged tissue to mechanical and thermal stimuli are relatively well understood. However, mechanisms guiding the transformation of nociception into the negative feelings associated with pain remains largely unknown. This affective component, notably in chronic pain, translates into an intense emotional impact on patients and can contribute to the development of comorbid psychiatric disorders. The elderly population has a propensity to be socially isolated and face exacerbated effects of chronic pain. In 2021, an estimated 20.9% of U.S adults suffer from chronic pain with persons over 65 years of age having the greatest propensity of acquiring the disease. Due to this, clinical intervention models call for a more holistic approach to pain intervention that incorporates lifestyle and nutritional factors, extending beyond pharmacological treatments. One of these promising non-pharmacological interventions is positive social interaction, which has been shown to alleviate pain and suffering. Several studies show that humans who maintain strong social bonds recover from injuries faster than people without them. However, it has not yet been evaluated the extent to which this phenomenon occurs in geriatric animals and its relative efficacy as a social intervention to alleviate chronic pain in injured mice. My project seeks to gauge whether social intervention can alleviate chronic pain symptoms in aged mice and to unveil the underlying mechanisms guiding these successful non-pharmacological treatments. I will achieve this through two aims: an evaluation of social self administration as an intervention for chronic pain, and histological analysis to identify gene expression changes as a result of social interaction. Future research will include mini-scope endomicroscopy recordings to visualize communication among major brain regions, and comparison of cell ensemble activity between groups of mice will lead to the identification of relevant neural ensembles and molecules.

Gaming is a well-defined experience of play, but it has not been thoroughly explored in media studies. Although methods to preserve games focus on console games or emulation, they lack focus on preserving the gaming experience as a whole, especially the context of play. Preserving the user’s engagement with a game beyond playing the game itself is limited because many of these experiences occur outside of the game world. Cultural institutions such as libraries, museums, and archives cannot preserve every game and gameplay experience due to time and financial constraints. Scholars have suggested using player-generated content such as walkthroughs and let’s plays as a preservation solution. These videos are already available online, making it unnecessary for cultural heritage institutions to create them from scratch. The question is: how can we use player-generated gameplay content to assist in the preservation of games? To answer this, a content analysis was conducted. 31 YouTube channels were randomly sampled, with 10 videos from each channel. The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of online gaming communities and ludic activities and their implications for future frameworks of knowledge organization. With gameplay content on YouTube growing rapidly, it is important to conduct this research before the rate of new content becomes too overwhelming to keep up with.

Mitosis is the fundamental biological process that ensures equal separation of genetic material during cell division. Microtubules and their associated structures in the mitotic spindle execute this partitioning by carefully aligning and separating duplicated chromosomes. Despite intrinsically variable growth rates across microtubules and stochastic assembly and disassembly phases, chromosome-bound microtubules exhibit highly coordinated behavior that drive mitosis. The basis for this high degree of synchronization is currently unknown. Previously, we used a novel dual laser trap assay to show that microtubule pairs growing in vitro are coordinated by mechanical coupling (Leeds et al. 2023). A simple model incorporating both force-dependent pausing and growth speed heterogeneity explains the measured coordination of microtubule pairs. Our findings illustrate how microtubule growth may be synchronized during mitosis and provide a basis for modeling multiple microtubules in a bundle. In this project, we expand on the techniques we used with the dual optical laser setup and combine them with a cutting laser to induce disassembly in our microtubules. Studying the coordination of shortening microtubules encompasses a broader spectrum of microtubule dynamics and sheds light on other aspects of microtubule regulatory mechanisms. We can then extend our model to include the degree by which mechanical coupling can coordinate microtubules in disassembly in addition to growth. Bundles of multiple microtubules are in mixed states of shortening and growth while executing the coordinated motion necessary to drive mitosis, so understanding how mechanical coupling affects disassembling microtubules gives insight into the complete picture of the mechanisms behind their synchronous motion essential for life.

The cerebellum, which accounts for 10% of human brain volume, contains approximately 80% of all brain neurons and has long been understudied relative to the cerebral cortex. During development, the cerebellar ventricular zone (VZ) is a transient progenitor zone which generates all cerebellar GABAergic (inhibitory) neurons. This includes Purkinje cells (PCs) and PAX2+ interneuronal progenitors (PIPs). While the mouse cerebellar VZ has been relatively well characterized, there is limited knowledge about its human counterpart. In this study, we investigated organization of progenitors and birth of neurons derived from the human cerebellar VZ, uncovering several notable features. Specifically, I conducted image analysis in conjunction with immunohistology (IHC) assays to (1) identify different cell types and marker gene expression across developmental stages and (2) quantify proliferative cells at different stages of development. We found that a substantial number of PCs are generated during embryonic development, particularly within the first 50 post-conception days, within a compact two-week timeframe. This occurs well before the onset of cerebral neurogenesis, with interneuronal differentiation commencing during early fetal development. Neuronal differentiation predominantly occurs from the inner and outer subventricular zones (SVZ), zones which are completely absent in the mouse developing cerebellum, with the initial wave of differentiation occurring from the outer SVZ. Significantly, relative to mice, we observed variations in migratory patterns and the quantity of PC plates, including a subset of PCs that retain the expression of cell cycle genes several weeks after these cells leave progenitor zones. This work extends our knowledge of human-specific birth and organization of progenitors and neurons originating from the ventricular zone and cellular and molecular differences in ventricular zone progenitors, Purkinje cells, and PIPs across different developmental ages.
 

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped our social dynamics, leading to a decline in in-person interactions across American society. This shift has raised concerns about increased loneliness and diminished social connections, with significant ramifications for mental health. College students, in particular, are likely to feel the impact of reduced social interaction, given its centrality to academic and campus life.The aim of our study is to determine the relationship between the amount of time University of Washington undergraduates spend interacting with others while feeling socially connected and their perceived levels of anxiety. Our cross-sectional study used an anonymous online survey to measure hours spent socializing per week, and self-perceived anxiety levels amongst 18–24-year-old undergraduate students. We will collect data through convenience sampling in February 2024 distributing our survey via social media and direct outreach. We will conduct our analysis including prevalence ratios, descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. We hypothesize that UW undergraduate students spend 35 hours a week interacting with others and that low social interaction would be correlated with high self-perceived anxiety levels, adjusting for >4 roommates and >40 hours spent working per week.Our findings could hold potential significance for public health initiatives aimed at addressing population-level mental well-being, reducing anxiety, and enhancing access to effective mental health care interventions.

Undergraduate students experience high levels of stress, with approximately 75 to 80% of college students reporting moderate stress and 10 to 12% reporting severe stress. Cross-sectional research has shown that students drink more heavily and frequently on days they experience a greater number of life stressors. In our cross-sectional study, we investigated the association between the amount of self-perceived stress undergraduate students (aged 18-24) at the UW-Seattle Campus have and the amount of alcohol they consumed during a week in the Winter 2024 Academic Quarter. Study participants reported perceived stress (how often they felt overwhelmed by situations in their lives), by responding to 10 prompts from the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), using a 0 (Never) to 4 (Very often) scale. Study participants also reported the number of servings of alcohol (as defined by the National Institute of Health) they consumed during that week. From these responses, we calculated prevalence ratios and compared alcohol usage between participants who had high perceived stress versus low perceived stress. We hypothesized that UW undergraduate students with high perceived stress would consume 25% more alcohol than their peers with low perceived stress, during a one week period. Our study showed that the prevalence of high alcohol consumption was 1.3 (CI: 0.5, 3.5) times as high among those with high perceived stress compared to those without. These results indicate no significant association between our exposure and outcome, in part due to our small sample size (N=78). We believe that further research is needed, with a larger sample size, to better understand the true association between perceived stress and alcohol consumption on our campus.