This study focuses on the properties of binaural beats (BBs) compared to Monaural beats (MBs) and their steady-state response at the level of the Superior Olivary Complex (SOC). An auditory nerve stimulator was used to simulate the response of the SOC. The simulator was fed either BBs or MBs stimuli to compare the SOC response. This was done for different frequencies at twenty, forty, and sixty hertz for comparison of the SOC response envelopes. A correlation between the SOC response envelopes for both types of beats and the waveform resulting from adding two tones together was completed. The highest correlation for BBs was found to be forty hertz and for MBs it was sixty hertz. A Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) was also completed on the stimulus envelope and the SOC response envelopes. The FFT was able to show that within the BBs presentation the envelopes of the original stimuli showed no difference frequency. However, the difference frequency was present in the binaural SOC response envelope. For the MBs, the difference frequency was present within the stimulus and the monaural SOC response envelope.

The goal of this thesis project was to develop a digital, quantitative assessment of executive functioning skills and problem solving abilities. This assessment was intended to serve as a relative measure of executive functions and problem solving abilities rather than a diagnosis; the main purpose was to identify areas for improvement and provide individuals with an understanding of their current ability levels. To achieve this goal, we developed a web-based assessment through Unity that used gamelike modifications of Flanker, Antisaccade, Embedded Images, Raven’s Matrices, and Color / Order Memory tasks. Participants were invited to access the assessment at www.ExecutiveFunctionLevel.com to complete the assessment and their results were analyzed. The findings of this project indicate that these tasks accurately represent executive functioning skills, the Flanker Effect is present in the collected data, and there is a notable correlation between each of the REFLEX challenges. In conclusion, we successfully developed a short, gamelike, online assessment of executive functioning and problem solving abilities. Future developments of REFLEX could look into immediate scoring, developing a mobile application, and externally validating the results.

The goal of this thesis project was to develop a digital, quantitative assessment of executive functioning skills and problem solving abilities. This assessment was intended to serve as a relative measure of executive functions and problem solving abilities rather than a diagnosis; the main purpose was to identify areas for improvement and provide individuals with an understanding of their current ability levels. To achieve this goal, we developed a web-based assessment through Unity that used gamelike modifications of Flanker, Antisaccade, Embedded Images, Raven’s Matrices, and Color / Order Memory tasks. Participants were invited to access the assessment at www.ExecutiveFunctionLevel.com to complete the assessment and their results were analyzed. The findings of this project indicate that these tasks accurately represent executive functioning skills, the Flanker Effect is present in the collected data, and there is a notable correlation between each of the REFLEX challenges. In conclusion, we successfully developed a short, gamelike, online assessment of executive functioning and problem solving abilities. Future developments of REFLEX could look into immediate scoring, developing a mobile application, and externally validating the results.

This study examined the effects of different constructed response prompts and text types on students’ revision of misconceptions, comprehension, and causal reasoning. The participants were randomly assigned to prompt (self-explain, think-aloud) and text type (refutational, non-refutational) in a 2x2, between-subjects design. While reading, the students were prompted to write responses at regular intervals in the text. After reading, students were administered the conceptual inventory of natural selection (CINS), for which a higher score indicates fewer misconceptions of natural selection. Finally, students were given text comprehension questions, and reading skill and prior knowledge measures. Linear mixed effects (LME) models showed that students with better reading skill and more prior knowledge had a higher CINS score and better comprehension compared to less skilled students, but there were no effects of text type or prompt. Linguistic analysis of students’ responses demonstrated a relationship of prompt, text, and reading skill on students’ causal reasoning. Less skilled students exhibited greater causal reasoning when self-explaining a non-refutational text compared to less skilled students prompted to think-aloud, and less skilled students who read the refutational text. The results of this study demonstrate a relationship between reading skill and misconceptions in natural selections. Furthermore, the linguistic analyses suggest that less skilled students’ causal reasoning improves when prompted to self-explain.

The ability to inhibit a planned but inappropriate response, and switch to executing a goal-relevant motor response, is critically important for the regulation of motor behaviors. Inhibition and switching could be mediated by various control mechanisms. Proactive control uses contextual information (cues) to plan the response for the target stimulus (probe) based on the expectation of a response inhibition or switching stimulus combination. Previous work has reported the involvement of several brain areas associated with proactive inhibition and switching, e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, inferior frontal junction, and pre-supplementary motor area. However, how these areas interact and their functional role in different types of cognitive control is still debated. An AX-version of the continuous performance task (AX-CPT) was used to examine proactive inhibition and switching of motor actions. In a typical AX-CPT trial, a contextual cue stimulus is presented, followed by a probe stimulus after a specific inter-stimulus interval. As part of a trial sequence, if a target cue and target probe are presented, a target response is to be provided when the probe is observed. Otherwise, a non-target response is to be provided for all other stimuli. A behavioral switching AX-CPT experiment (48 subjects) was conducted to explore the parameters that induce a proactive shift in the motor response. Participants who performed the AX-CPT task with relatively shorter interstimulus interval predominantly and consistently exhibited proactive control behavior. A follow-up pilot study (3 subjects) of response inhibition versus response switching AX-CPT was performed using 256-channel high-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG). HD-EEG was used to identify the time course of cortical activation in brain areas associated with response inhibition. It was observed that one out of three participants used a proactive strategy for response switching based on probe response error and probe response reaction time. Instantaneous amplitude spatial maps obtained from HD-EEG revealed cortical activity corresponding to conflict between proactively-prepared incorrect responses and reactively-corrected goal-relevant responses after the probe was presented.

The purpose of this project was to extend Whitehead 2016 to determine what neural substrates supported conflict-mediated learning. Unfortunately, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic we were unable to address this. To repurpose the collected data, an analysis of which features of the Flanker task subjects were learning was conducted. Specifically, we wanted to know if subjects were learning by using the flanking stimuli to predict the central target or vice versa. Over 14 blocks comprised of 120 trials, we found that subjects made more stroop errors than flanker and target errors, indicating subjects were responding to stimuli in context of the flanker rather than the stroop effect.

This study is a replication of the investigation titled “Pupillary correlates of lapses of sustained attention,” which examined if measuring pupil diameters was an effective way of assessing one’s level of attention (Unsworth and Robison, 2016). The original study had thirty-nine participants undergo 160 trials of a simple reaction time task, as well as responding to thought probes to self-report how focused they are on the task. The current study would keep similar methods, but introduce minute-long breaks, group spaced throughout the investigation. The prediction of this study is that the pupillary responses will decrease until the break, then the pupil diameter would return to baseline. This would indicate that the individual would have renewed his/her focus after taking a break.

Aortic aneurysms and dissections are life threatening conditions addressed by replacing damaged sections of the aorta. Blood circulation must be halted to facilitate repairs. Ischemia places the body, especially the brain, at risk of damage. Deep hypothermia circulatory arrest (DHCA) is employed to protect patients and provide time for surgeons to complete repairs on the basis that reducing body temperature suppresses the metabolic rate. Supplementary surgical techniques can be employed to reinforce the brain's protection and increase the duration circulation can be suspended. Even then, protection is not completely guaranteed though. A medical condition that can arise early in recovery is postoperative delirium, which is correlated with poor long term outcome. This study develops a methodology to intraoperatively monitor neurophysiology through electroencephalography (EEG) and anticipate postoperative delirium. The earliest opportunity to detect occurrences of complications through EEG is immediately following DHCA during warming. The first observable electrophysiological activity after being completely suppressed is a phenomenon known as burst suppression, which is related to the brain's metabolic state and recovery of nominal neurological function. A metric termed burst suppression duty cycle (BSDC) is developed to characterize the changing electrophysiological dynamics. Predictions of postoperative delirium incidences are made by identifying deviations in the way these dynamics evolve. Sixteen cases are examined in this study. Accurate predictions can be made, where on average 89.74% of cases are correctly classified when burst suppression concludes and 78.10% when burst suppression begins. The best case receiver operating characteristic curve has an area under its convex hull of 0.8988, whereas the worst case area under the hull is 0.7889. These results demonstrate the feasibility of monitoring BSDC to anticipate postoperative delirium during burst suppression. They also motivate a further analysis on identifying footprints of causal mechanisms of neural injury within BSDC. Being able to raise warning signs of postoperative delirium early provides an opportunity to intervene and potentially avert neurological complications. Doing so would improve the success rate and quality of life after surgery.

This autoethnography is the culmination of years of migraine research and self-experimentation with alternative medicine to treat Hemiplegic Migraine (HM). HM is a rare phenomenon that is commonly misdiagnosed as a stroke or epilepsy disorder since the symptoms can include partial unilateral paralysis or weakness, visual disturbances, unilateral headache, vomiting, and trouble speaking. There is no known cure for HM, and current migraine medications can be accompanied by adverse side effects at an expensive cost. Alternative medicine, such as dietary supplementation, meditation, and positive thinking are potential options for working in relationship with HM episodes. This thesis explores HM as a personally transformative experience by learning to grow from pain.