Undergraduate Research in Neuroscience

Terry D. Blumenthal, Ph. D.

Wake Forest University

The Neuroscience Minor at Wake Forest

• Launched in 2000, first students graduated with the minor in 2003

• Faculty in Biology, Computer Science, Philosophy, and Psychology

• Over 50 students graduated in the past 6 years

• Their success rate is stunning!

Requirements

• Required Courses: 7 credits• Elective Courses: 8 credits (Biology, Computer

Science, Health and Exercise Science, Philosophy, Psychology)

• Research: 2 credits

Research in Neuroscience

• Reynolda Campus

• Medical School

What Students Learn in My Lab

• How to read science

• Research design

• How to write an IRB proposal

• Equipment for presenting stimuli and measuring responses

• Data analysis plan

• Lab management

• Recruiting participants

and then the participant arrives . . .

• Interacting with the participant

• Attaching sensors

• Collecting data

• Scoring data

• Analyzing data

• Writing a report

• Planning the next step

What we use

• Startle eyeblink response• Skin conductance level and response• EKG• Finger pulse volume• Blood Pressure• Self-report questionnaires• Visual Analog Scale• Behavioral observation

Startle Eyeblink

• Sensitive, simple, easy• Cross-species• Developmental• Can be used to measure attention,

emotion, arousal, personality, drug effects, expectancy, sensory sensitivity, multisensory interaction, fear, anxiety, schizophrenia, habituation, life, the universe, and everything.

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Startle Pathway

Startle CenternRPC

Facial Motor n.CN 7

Sound

“Touch”

Light

TrigeminalVestibular

Dorsal Column

Cochlear n.CN 8

Superior Colliculus

Amygdala

Tegmentum

Pre-Frontal Cortex

Basal Ganglia

OrbicularisOculi

Motor Cortex

What have they done?Personality Research

• Race rejection images and racial regard: Yolanda Lawson & Clark Shell (Journal of Youth and Adolescence)

• Schizoid, histrionic, borderline traits: Joe Franklin (SPR)

• Eating disorders: Joe Franklin (SPR)• Extraversion: Lynda Gioia, Jennifer Scruggs,

Kevin Muse (SPR)• Psychosis-prone: Joanna Thompson (SPR)

• Signal-to-noise ratio: Joe Franklin and Nicole Moretti (Psychophysiology; Biological Psychology)

• Magnitude estimation: Ed Ergenzinger (Perception & Psychophysics)

• Low-intensity sensitivity: Chris Goode (Psychophysiology)

What have they done?Psychophysics Research

• Social anxiety: Ashley Mays, Kevin Muse (Personality and Individual Differences; SPR)

• Social evaluation and perceptual processing: Lynda Gioia, Kevin Muse (SPR)

What have they done?Social Research

• Attention: Joe Franklin, Elisa Agrella, Cecilia McNamara (APS, SPR, SEPA)

• Time Estimation: Joe Franklin (SYNAPSE)• Pain: Scott Duncan (Advances in Psychological

Research)

What have they done?Cognitive Research

• Hormonal factors: Robert Linz (SPR)

• Caffeine and placebo responding, addiction, withdrawal, and conditioning: Ryan Newton, Marie White, Erika Carello, Pete Kardel, Nathan Schultheiss, Heather Scalf, Cecilia McNamara, Lisa Mann, Tim Ralston (SPR)

What have they done?Psychopharmacology Research

• Mood induction: Ed Ergenzinger (SEPA)• Anxiety: Ashley Mays (SPR, SYNAPSE)

What have they done?Emotion Research

• Legal: Ed Ergenzinger (Practical Dispute Resolution)

• Forensic: Nicole Dorthe (Forensic Sciences Meeting)

• Multisensory interaction: Chris Lovelace (Psychobiology)

• Computer Issues: Joe Cooper (Psychophysiology)

What have they done?Other Research

Where Do They Go?

• Neuroscience PhD programs

• Medical school

• Academic graduate school

• Law school

• Business and Industry (R&D)

What you need

• Flexibility: they will pull you in directions

• Fast ramp-up: they don’t have 3 years for training

• Mentoring: in all areas (design, data collection, analysis, writing, career, life)

• Keep your eye on the goal: scientists, not publications*

* Sometimes you get both!

What You Get

• Breadth of Ideas

• Depth of Thinking

• Current Connections

• Impact on the Field

A Breath of Fresh Air

• Enthusiasm

• Work ethic

• Challenging questions

• Teaching moments

• An unfolding future

Were they happy?

Yes!

And you will be too!

Thank you for your attention.

Let’s eat!