Meet the Chronobiology Lab!

Alex reviews sleep data from an Actiwatch, a device
used to monitor participants' sleep, activity, and light intake.

Did you know that many Psychology graduate students collaborate with faculty across our three programs and the broader University? One of these students is Alex Reynolds (Experimental PhD third year, Sumter, SC), who is part of the Chronobiology Lab (Faculty Advisor Dr. Shawn Youngstedt, Exercise Science). The overall aim of the Chronobiology Lab is to conduct studies examining sleep and alternative treatments for combat related PTSD. Alex's fellow lab members include Shannon Crowley (Exercise Science PhD third year, San Juan Capistrano, CA), Kelly Speiran (Exercise Science PhD first year, Richmond, VA), Emily Bowles (Masters Public Health first year, Orlando, FL), and Morgan Hughey (Masters Public Health first year, Gaffney, SC).

Graduate students are currently working on several specialized projects:

1. Alex, Morgan, Emily, and a slew of very impressive undergraduate students are currently busy with a new INTRuST (Injury & Traumatic Stress Consortium) study, which focuses on exercise as a treatment for combat-related PTSD.  Participants undergo MRI scanning at the McCausland Center for Brain Imaging (MCBI) before and after the 8-week therapy program.  Alex is working on the protocol for additional functional MRI scans to look more closely at the cognitive aspect in exercise and PTSD.

2. Alex is also finishing up a lesion symptom mapping study, which focused linking motor deficits to damaged brain areas in stroke patients (under guidance of Dr. Jen Vendemia, Experimental Psych, and Dr. Stacy Fritz, Exercise Science; in collaboration with Denise Peters, Exercise Science). She is also working on a pilot study examining the effects of extended sleep on mental and physiological health (contact cooleyam@gmail.com for more information).

Morgan receiving bright light therapy

3. Alex, Kelly, and Shannon are also heavily involved in a study that uses bright light as a treatment for combat related PTSD, which will wrap up in December 2011.  We are currently recruiting veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and/or Afghanistan who have symptoms of PTSD (contact Alex at cooleyam@gmail.com for more information).

3. Kelly and Morgan are working on a new study examining the effects of chronic moderate sleep restriction in older men and women.  This study will incorporate a new website to collect questionnaire data, furthering the lab's efforts to go green!

4. The entire lab is focused on a soldier health disparities study, which will examine health disparities including sleep and mental health during basic training.  This is a large study that is aimed at collecting information from over a thousand soldiers.

Emily admiring the sleep room equipment

5. Shannon has been busy in the lab working on a pilot study for new mothers and using bright light as a treatment for depression, which also involves fMRI scanning at the MCBI.  She has also just submitted an R01 grant on a similar topic.

6. Alex recently returned from a very intense two week fMRI training program sponsored by the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI).  She acquired several tools from the program, ranging from Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) to exciting and up and coming resting state functional connectivity analyses.

Happy Hour was a SUCCESS!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the first PGSA Happy Hour of the year. We had a wonderful time mixing and mingling with almost 30 students across the three programs (with some faculty representation, too!). 

We can't wait to get together again for the Back to School Party on September 9th (hosted by Jason Bird). Don't forget to RSVP and get more details here: http://www.punchbowl.com/parties/2480508-pgsa-back-to-school-party. 

Also, mark your calendar for the next monthly PGSA Happy Hour on Thursday, September 27th (5:30- location TBA). 

Update: PSC Development

During this week’s faculty meeting, several members of the PSC Advisory Panel presented seven goals within their strategic plan, which aims to (1) increase visibility of the PSC and (2) strengthen the impact of the PSC as a scaffold for conducting high impact research, training, and mental health services for the community. 

The seven goals of the strategic plan are as follows: 

1)  Increase connections between the PSC and relevant campus colleges, departments and programs and to the broader Columbia community and increase outreach to a wide array of university and community stakeholders.

2)  Strengthen and diversify evidence-based services at the PSC in the context of an effective and evolving continuous quality improvement (CQI) program and reflecting a strong clinical science emphasis. 

3)  Develop and expand a Campus/Community Advisory Board for the center to provide guidance to its improvement and expansion and to increase university and community connections and support. 

4)  Conduct social marketing activities to ensure that the name and presentation of services and programs of the center resonate with university and community stakeholders.

5)  Increase use of the center for interdisciplinary training on evidence-based practices and state-of-the-art developments in psychology and mental health promotion.

6)  Develop research infrastructure and increase utilization of the PSC as a platform for programs of high impact and externally funded research.

7)  Enhance funding for the center through the pursuit of diverse mechanisms including research grants, endowments, and contracts with local and state agencies.

Postdoctoral Fellow Leslie Taylor,
Associate Director of Program Development

According to Postdoctoral Fellow Leslie Taylor, the strategic plan proposes a transition year during which the PSC steering team, under the direction of Drs. Weist and Smith, will begin pursuing these goals using existing departmental resources. During this time, Adrian Laseter will assume the role of Associate Director of Clinical Services, and Leslie Taylor will operate as Associate Director of Program Development. The goals of the steering committee will be more fully pursued during the 2012-13 academic year with anticipated hiring of a full time PSC Director, who will also hold a clinical assistant professor appointment. 

Current Director Dr. Heckel has agreed to continue in the 2011-12 academic year, and to then become Co-Chair of the PSC Campus/Community Advisory Board.  The team will also appoint a co-chair from the community with experience in mental health and strong connections at the community and state levels. The PSC Steering Committee has requested 3 years of funding for enhancement of the PSC during academic years 2012-15, with sustaining of these investments thereafter through grants and contracts.  

To learn more or get involved in PSC development, contact Leslie Taylor: TAYLORLK@mailbox.sc.edu

Meet the Applied Cognitive Neuropsychology Lab!

Every few weeks, the PGSA Blog will feature a different lab from one of the three programs at USC (Experimental, School, Clinical). These posts aim to recognize and spread the word about research being conducted at USC, facilitate networking and collaboration across students, and show prospective students a glimpse of graduate student life in our department.

This week, we're featuring the Applied Cognitive Neuropsychology Lab (Faculty Advisor Scott Decker). The overall aim of the ACN lab is to translate neuroscientific research into an applied educational context. Current graduate students in the lab are Julia Englund (3rd year School, Austin TX), Alycia Roberts (2nd year School, Rochester NY), and Jessi Scherr (1st year School, Jamestown, ND).

Graduate students keep very busy through co-training in neuropsychological assessment and test construction, learning and applying neurophysiological methods such as EEG, recruiting low incidence participants, supervising undergraduate volunteers, and preparing presentations and publications. In addition to these daily tasks, graduate students are currently working on several specialized projects:

1) Julia and Alycia have been performing cognitive assessments of children with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) to generate normative data for Riverside Publishing. The lab is currently recruiting children ages 7-17 to participate in this work (contact amroberts15@gmail.com for more information).

2) Julia received a SCASP research grant to develop an online screening battery called SCREEN (South Carolina Reading Early Evaluation Net), which will be the first brief battery of tests based on empirical predictors of reading achievement and available on students' home computers. Julia has been consulting with a computer science faculty programmer at USC to develop a sample test battery, which she will unveil at the SCASP Fall Conference this October (Columbia, SC). The lab will begin recruiting typically developing children (grades 1-5) for the SCREEN validation study this Winter.

3) Julia, Alycia, and Jessi are being trained in EEG procedures and data analysis, which they are applying to study neurophysiological correlates of working memory, executive function, and anxiety as in the context of standardized tests.

4) Lab members are giving back to the community by volunteering at Splash Bash, a family fun day for individuals with spinal cord injuries, brain injuries and other disabilities (sponsored by Health South Rehabilitation Hospital in Columbia). 

To learn more about the ACN lab's work or current projects, visit  their web site, "like" them on Facebook, or e-mail Alycia or Julia.

Nominate your friends..

... to be hilighted on the PGSA blog!

1) Recent publications and grants/awards involving USC graduate students

2) Personal accomplishments and community projects

3) Overviews of current research projects in each lab at USC (include a photo or two) for "lab spotlights" to help new students learn about the department. We want to emphasize students' roles in these projects rather than broad faculty initiatives.

4) Upcoming calls for abstracts and papers (regional and national) of interest to USC students

5) Helpful resources for internship applications, professional development, grantsmanship, etc. 


E-mail birdy.tonnsen at gmail.com with feedback.

PGSA Happy Hour THURSDAY!

Join us this Thursday (8/25) for Happy Hour at Thirsty Fellow from 5:30-7:30. All students, faculty, friends, and family are welcome.

http://www.thirstyfellow.com/

Welcome Back!

On behalf of the Psychology Graduate Student Association (PGSA), I am pleased to welcome everyone back to school. The goals of PGSA are to provide support to students, communicate student needs and ideas to the department, and facilitate networking and social events throughout the year. As your PGSA President, I look forward to hearing your department-related ideas, concerns, and questions. I will also solicit your feedback each month for our report to the Executive Committee. 

Three important notes:

1) Keep up-to-date on the new PGSA blog.This site will contain information about upcoming events, links to student accomplishments, relevant calls for abstracts/papers, and copies of PGSA reports presented to the department. Don't forget to friend USC PGSA on Facebook, too!

2) Send me feedback and updates! The PGSA officers are currently planning social functions for the year, as well as brainstorming ways to increase resources and support available to students. Also - don't forget to brag on your friends/lab mates by sending me student accomplishments (awards, publications, life stage progressions, etc.).   

3) Mark your calendars for these upcoming PGSA events:

Happy Hour Thursdays - Drop in and mingle with fellow psychology students and faculty the last Thursday of each month (locations will vary). The first PGSA Happy Hour will be at Thirsty Fellow this Thursday, August 25th, 5:30-7:30 PM. 

PGSA Student Welcome Back Potluck Party - Join us celebrate the start of a new school year and meet other students (and families, significant others, etc) on Friday, September 9th from 7pm "until" at Jason Bird's house.  Please RSVP and get more info here: http://www.punchbowl.com/parties/2480508-pgsa-back-to-school-party.

It's going to be a great year!

Bridgette