Jordan Ooms experiences in the lab as an RA

My time in Susan Ravizza’s Cognitive Control Neurolab has been extremely fulfilling. I feel that I have learned more about the practical implications of research while in this lab than in any class I have taken thus far. While I may not understand all of her research on a conceptual level, I was able to see the process of collecting data and the frustration when the data does not turn out how one would like. Working in this lab was defiantly a learning experience.

The first time I was in lab was by far one of the more nerve wreaking events I have encountered during this semester. I came in knowing I would be trained on how the computer system worked and how the experiment that I was taking over would be carried out. “Go into Mercury, open your folder, click the “running man,” send it all back through Mercury, transform that data, transfer it to Excel, then please code all the lines.” The only thing that was running through my head was “Ummmm… What?” Computers and I have had a bad history and we rarely get along, but I the whole time I had smile on my face nodding hoping I would be able to recall all of what had just sent my way. Poor Jon, our graduate student in the lab, I asked him more questions than was probably appropriate. But I eventually understood what needed to be done and was able to fly through it with ease. (Looking back now, I had nothing to worry about.)

My responsibilities in the lab included running undergraduate students through an attentional capture experiment. I would let them know what they would be doing in the experiment, place them in a booth and make sure that they were completing the practice trials in a correct manner. When they were done with their experiment I would transfer the data to another computer and code their data. Each participant would have approximately 600 lines of data that needed to be coded. Six hundred. Times 44 participants, means I coded over 25,800 lines of data. This work was tedious, boring, mind numbing, and yet also calming. I found that I’m quite good at this task. Let me tell you, being good at coding is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing in the fact that it comes easy, goes relatively quickly, and you know you’re data is correct. It’s a curse in the fact then you get asked to code extra data. This was a task that I had no problem doing, for its not difficult in anyway. It was also a slight ego booster to be noticed for the fact that my work was completed in a sufficient manner! If you are going to do something, it might as well be done right, and getting recognition was defiantly a bonus.

Currently this study is being reviewed and I am at a standstill until next semester starts. I have been asked to be trained on the study that involves working with Parkinson’s patients. While I am, yet again, slightly nervous, I know that I will eventually be fine. I am unsure of the symptoms of the disease and will need to do some research over break to better understand the patients that I will be working with. The study itself seems to be very straight forward. I am looking forward to be given more responsibility in the lab and to prove that I am capable of completing the tasks given to me.

Over all, working in this lab has been a joy! My experiences have allowed me to see that research is truly a passion for me and that I love the process through the good and the bad. I am excited for next semester to see what new research procedures I might learn. I am looking forward to working with and learning more about Parkinson’s patients. One goal that I set out for myself is to actually work with that data more. I love statistics and would be excited to be given the opportunity to understand the statistical programs in a more proficient manner.

Week 12 – Jennifer Harmon

Imagine living in a world where you believe all your loved ones are not who they claim to be, but are in fact very good imposters of your parents, siblings, spouses etc. This is the typical thought of patients who suffer from Capgras Syndrome. Capgras syndrome is sometimes associated as a “symptom” of schizophrenia as well as dementia; however it can also develop after an accident causing brain injury. The theory as to why people develop this syndrome is a disconnection between the limbic system (part of the brain that is involved with emotions) and the temporal cortex (face recognition area). The patient is able to see and recognize their friends and family, but cannot connect emotions and memories with their face. Since they have no emotions that come with seeing them, they assume it must be an imposter. Some psychologists believe that Capgras syndrome is just a form or another type of Prosopagnosia which is a disorder with involving face perception. A patient with prosopagnosia is unable to identify faces but has relatively no problem identifying other objects. I don’t think that these two disorders are related, unlike some psychologist . A patient with Capgras syndrome is able to identify people by looking at their face; they know what their family and friends look like. If they didn’t they would be unable to accuse them of being an imposter since they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between their looks. With prosopagnosia the people are unable to recognize who is who but they still have an emotional connection to whom they cannot identify. When the patient is told who they are looking at they still feel all the emotions and are able to recollect the memories they associated with that person. To me these disorders seem to be the exact opposite of each other . I believe that similar brain structures and pathways are involved in each of these orders, but the way they preform and affect the patient are different. Although Capgras syndrome is not very common, and can go away with time, I think that more research needs to go into looking at why they are assuming that their love ones are imposters. It also makes me wonder how they interact when they meet new people, do they develop new emotional connections to that person? Or will they “forget” those emotional ties and assume that they too are an imposter? I think that the discovery of Capgras disorder has raised more questions than it has answered. I for one cannot imagine what it would be like to lose all the memories and emotional connections I have to my loved ones.

Week 11 – Austin Cesarz

A conflict that is faced by many college students is the building pressure of an upcoming exam. Just the simple idea of one exam influencing your final grade is terrifying and can lead to a lot of unnecessary stress. Now you might be wondering why this stress is unnecessary, and the answer is simple. If the student prepares beforehand in the correct manner, success is increasingly probable. The key to success in school is the planning and selecting of an action.

The area of the brain that controls this planning and selecting is the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is used in maintaining the current goal or task and selects which ones are most relevant given the task at hand. When a student is preparing for an exam, they must develop an action plan. This action plan can be represented as a hierarchy of subgoals, each requiring actions to achieve the goal. For the student, ‘at the top’ is succeeding on the exam. The subgoals would be the many things that make succeeding on the exam possible. Examples would be reading the text, going to class, and studying all the materials thoroughly. After making the goals, the consequences must be anticipated. Would it be best to study weeks before the exam or cram an hour before? Lastly, in order to succeed the student must determine what is required to achieve the subgoals. Examples would be having a writing utensil, a place to study, and people to study with. When the action plan is finally in place, it is easy for the student to step back and plan for the best way to execute the action of preparation for the exam.

Another example of correctly using the action hierarchy to determine the way to best succeed would be writing this blog. Without the help of my prefrontal cortex I would be in trouble. It helps me straighten out my goal and subgoals. My top goal is to write the best blog ever created. The subgoals would be researching the material, creating a clear argument, and completing the task in a timely manner. After figuring out the goal and subgoals it makes the execution of the blog much smoother. The problem with some students is they fail to execute the planning and selecting of an action. Instead of having a main goal of writing a quality paper, they reach for writing a quick and sloppy paper. The problem with this is they fail to plan ahead of time. By skipping the planning stage, their paper is doomed from the start. In order to succeed in school, planning and selecting of an action are important.

Without input from the region called the prefrontal cortex, our actions would be much more based on impulse. It is with the prefrontal cortex that goal-oriented behavior (the behaviors that allow us to interact in the world in a purposive manner) arises. When the student is creating their action hierarchy, they draw on their past experiences and the current environment as references. These actions are particularly adaptive and flexible. For example, if a teacher tells the student a couple days after they started planning for the exam that there will be an additional part included on the exam, the student must be able to edit their existing plan to better adapt to the new goal. It is through the workings of the prefrontal cortex that this adaptation is possible. So next time you are cramming for final exams remember that there is a better way, you just have to use your prefrontal cortex and execute an action plan weeks in advance.

Week 10 – Mark Pressler

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The brain is a prime example of this, because the creative, thinking, dreaming brain is greater than a mass collection of cells . It can also coordinate movements using an integrated system, employing many parts of the brain for a task as simple as walking. The basal ganglia (midbrain) and cerebellum (close to spinal cord) work to fine tune the motor signals so we don’t jerk around while walking, or misstep, or fall over. The motor, premotor, and parietal areas of the brain (top center of the brain) start the codes for movement, put them in a correct sequence, and abstractly interpret the goals of movement in space. One could go as far as to say that the vision center of the brain (occipital lobe, back of the brain) allows us to see if we are walking the right path. For a task as simple as walking, something that we learn at a young age, something we take for granted, it employs a lot of different areas of the brain to work together. This kind of integrated system makes it hard to believe that certain areas of the brain are “responsible” for tasks.

For example, research shows that the back of the brain (occipital lobe) is responsible for vision. Yes, it does interpret the signals coming from the eye, but the idea of “vision” involves more than just visual signals . The eye and head move to orient to the visual object, which is a motor process. The object needs to be recognized, which is a higher brain function. Or, if the object is new, it needs to be encoded and remembered by the hippocampus (midbrain). The visual grasp reflex, which is put into motion if something interesting is seen in the peripheral areas of the field of vision, is another process the brain manages for vision. All of these processes are also updating many times a second to give a person the picture in front of their eyes, to give them vision.

Maybe I am getting too wrapped up in how psychology lessons are being worded. Maybe psych professors know to say the occipital lobe is responsible for vision, or the motor cortex is responsible for movement is too simple, but for the sake of the lesson it must be done. Or, maybe I am geeking out about the truly amazing multi-task abilities of the human brain. That I can walk (using all the processes aforementioned), see where I am going (using all of the processes aforementioned), and predict the repercussions of bombing the next exam is a feat supercomputers cannot handle. To think a collection of cells that’s about 3 lbs can go toe to toe with the fanciest computers available is mind blowing. A single nerve cell cannot do much, but the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.