Health Sciences

Session I

Caleb Wilcox, "Prefrontal Cortex Recruitment During Cognitive Fatigue and Restoration: An fNIRS Study of Feedback and Mental Refreshing Strategies​"

This ongoing project looks at how brain activity varies during two relaxation techniques: viewing nature outside of a window and watching short-form content on a computer. We are also interested in how variation in brain activity during these tasks correlates with self-reported feelings of relaxation during the tasks and is influenced by typical device-usage habits. To answer our research question, we first have participants undergo a fatigue task and report their initial relaxation level, then have them undergo the relaxation tasks in a random order while recording their brain activity, and finally have them report how relaxed they for during each task and their screen time average from their mobile device. From our preliminary analyses, we found that brain activity varied significantly during the two relaxation tasks and that this activity significantly correlates with self-reported relaxation in some cases; however, no set conclusions can be drawn from these preliminary data. 

Student Major: Neuroscience and Psychological Sciences

Advisor: Dr. Stephanie Caligiuri

Deeka Abdi, "Generative AI and Sexual Health Education: A Systematic Review of Public Health Risks and Opportunities"

Sexual & reproductive health remains a major public health concern, and effective communication campaigns and strategies are needed to connect people to relevant medical access and treatment. As generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools become widely used for answering personal health questions, many individuals may turn to them for guidance on various sexual and reproductive healthcare needs such as symptoms, testing, and treatment. However, it is not yet known how reliable these AI systems are as sources of health information. The research question of what the current evidence on the use of generative AI for sexual health education among the general public in the United States is. This research conducted a systemic review that evaluates generative AI’s performance through multiple databases in providing health information through an educational, diagnostic, and treatment guidance to examine how AI responses align with established medical standards, and where inaccuracies arise.

Student Major/Minor: Biology Major, Public Health Minor

Advisor: Dr. Julius Odhiambo 

Session II

Charles McDaniel, "Pitch Discrimination in the Prefrontal Cortex"

This project aims to understand the differences in brain activity behind the ability to discriminate between different pitches between the relative pitch (RP) and absolute pitch (AP) populations. Through neuroimaging utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during two listening tasks and two singing tasks, we identified the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in AP participants as having a significant role in pitch generation. The left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) was found to be correlated to identification accuracy in the RP participants during listening tasks, and was the most active region for RP participants during generation tasks. We propose that the AP population may possess connectivity between the right OFC and auditory cortices in such a way that does not exist in the general population. As this research is the first to use singing to study pitch generation in the brain of AP participants, later research should focus on deeper brain activity during singing to better assess the differences in physiology that may exist in individuals with AP.

Student Major/Minor: Human Health & Physiology Major, Music Minor

Advisor: Dr. Stephanie Caligiuri