{"id":26778,"date":"2023-07-23T11:23:07","date_gmt":"2023-07-23T15:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=26778"},"modified":"2024-07-29T14:07:22","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T18:07:22","slug":"students-share-psychology-and-neuroscience-research-during-campus-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/students-share-psychology-and-neuroscience-research-during-campus-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Conference shares findings from psychology and neuroscience labs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students presented their summer research during the 16th annual Psychology and Neuroscience Summer Research Conference hosted by Furman\u2019s Department of Psychology<\/a> on July 19.<\/p>\n

More than a dozen research posters, covering subjects such as cognitive dissonance, self-transcendence, perceptions of economic inequalities<\/a> and pro-environmental decision-making, were displayed during two morning sessions in Plyler Hall\u2019s Kohrt Commons. Afterward, several students discussed their projects in an afternoon session in the Dining Hall.<\/p>\n

The researchers, supported by The Furman Advantage<\/a>, an educational framework that provides every student an individualized educational pathway and opportunities for high-impact learning experiences, showed a high level of sophistication, said Erin Hahn<\/a>, professor and chair of psychology, welcoming attendees to the afternoon session.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere at Furman, we don\u2019t just have students coding data and not contributing to projects,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are meaningfully involved in shaping the research<\/a> and moving it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taste, memory, media and PTSD<\/h3>\n
\"\"

Will Livingston \u201924 presented his research poster during a session of Furman\u2019s annual Psychology and Neuroscience Summer Research Conference July 19.<\/p><\/div>\n

Neuroscience major Dallas Shuman \u201925 has spent two summers in the Furman Taste Lab with Veronica Flores<\/a>, an assistant professor of psychology. Shuman\u2019s research, building on prior work done by Flores on taste aversion and learning, explored how long-term memory might be affected by taste experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you see a behavior, we know as psychologists and neuroscientists that something\u2019s happening in the brain. So, we want to see what\u2019s going on,\u201d said Shuman. Her poster, \u201cThe Impact of Innocuous Taste Experience on Long-Term Taste Learning and Memory Persistence,\u201d was honored at a statewide science symposium earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Shuman and fellow neuroscience major Kadence Alexander \u201926, conditioned lab rats to develop an aversion to sucrose and tested them at different times to see how strong an aversion remained. The researchers also plan to test the rodents\u2019 brains for markers of neuroplasticity, the ability of neural networks to change and adapt.<\/p>\n

Further research is needed, but Shuman said what they\u2019re seeing so far is \u201cvery promising.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma Page \u201925, a psychology and mathematics double major, worked in the Memory and Cognition Lab<\/a> during the summer term, researching how the media might influence how people envision their own futures and the future of the country. She surveyed 275 Americans through an online research platform and is comparing their answers to headlines published on major news outlets during the same time.<\/p>\n

Christopher Petty \u201924, a neuroscience major, discussed his work in the lab<\/a> investigating the involvement of a certain dopamine receptor in the development and expression of post-traumatic stress disorder. And in a prerecorded presentation, Casey Norei Funderburk \u201924<\/a>, a theatre arts and psychology double major, and psychology major Emma Ingalls \u201925 explained the project they undertook to create a social media intervention to counteract negative body image<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The faculty honored Petty and Shuman for their outstanding presentations by giving them both the Janet Hysinger Cover Award.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s helping me grow confidence\u2019<\/h3>\n

Will Livingston \u201924, a neuroscience and religion double major, spent Summer 2023 in the Furman Sleep Lab<\/a> in Johns Hall under the guidance of Erin Wamsley<\/a>, an associate professor of psychology, picking up on previous research indicating that waking rest<\/a> \u2013 a period of \u201cdaydreaming or mind-wandering\u201d devoid of stimulus, Livingston explained \u2013 might aid in memory consolidation.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvolution would not have made us spend 50 percent of our waking hours in this rest condition if it were not worth it,\u201d Livingston said.<\/p>\n

Research is still in progress, but Livingston hypothesizes that waking rest may have the same effect on false memories as it does on true ones. The high-level work he did in designing and implementing the research project has already benefited him personally, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing all of it coming together has helped cement the idea that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life,\u201d said Livingston, who hopes to continue sleep research in a Ph.D. program after graduation. \u201cIt\u2019s really helping me grow toward having the confidence to be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 16th annual Psychology and Neuroscience Summer Research Conference hosted by the Department of Psychology on July 19 featured undergraduates\u2019 findings from the labs in Plyler Hall, including investigations into taste, memory and our visions of the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":26786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,48,61,30,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neuroscience","category-psychology","category-the-furman-advantage","category-top-stories","category-undergraduate-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26778"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33440,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26778\/revisions\/33440"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}