Masters Applied Projects

Project 29

The Effect of Startle on Cognition

Student:
Cassie Riggs

Mentors:

Dr. Christopher Buneo, PhD - Arizona State University, SBHSE
Dr. Claire Honeycutt, PhD – Arizona State University, SBHSE
Dr. Sydney Schaefer, PhD - Arizona State University, SBHSE

YouTube Link:
View the video link below before joining the zoom meeting

Zoom Link:
https://asu.zoom.us/j/84223762539


Abstract
Cognitive impairments range from mild to severe and affect a person’s daily life as the symptoms include forgetfulness, learning disabilities, concentration difficulties, and reductions in mental functions. Cognitive difficulties occur as a result of lesions in different areas of the brain usually caused by diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s) or trauma (e.g., stroke). Previous studies investigated working memory (WM) performance before and after transcranial direct current stimulation on specific areas of the brain and saw positive impacts on WM accuracy in healthy volunteers, patients with Parkinson’s, and stroke survivors. In addition, a previous study has provided provocative evidence into changes in cognition (e.g., language understanding) after a startReact training session in stroke survivors. StartReact is the fast, involuntary execution of a planned movement triggered by a loud startling acoustic stimulus (SAS). The human startle response triggered by SAS stimulates motor planning processing areas in the brain but could simultaneously stimulate areas that impact cognition and memory. Based on previous findings, in this study we hypothesize that a startReact training session will enhance working memory and cognitive assessment scores in healthy volunteers. To test our hypothesis, subjects were assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and a WM task specifically, the operation span (OSPAN) task, before and after a startReact training session. Subjects were exposed to SAS 1/3 of the time during the training session of 300 trials to ensure high SAS exposure and startle response. Results from this study will further provide preliminary data into understanding the effect startle has on cognition and working memory.