NBS - Getting started

Hi Everyone,

My name is Alex Tuttle. I am currently completing my last semester at Haverford College as a Psychology Major, where my primary interest lies in studying animal behavior. For the past two and a half years my research has focused on understanding how environmental influences modify both pain perception and behavioral responses in mice, during which time I had the pleasure to work on several projects with both Kara Brown and Elizabeth Bitler, under the direction of Dr. Wendy Sternberg.

As an undergraduate student working primarily with research animals (although we do human testing as well!), I have had to come to terms with many issues regarding the validity and benefits of our research. While I am interested to explore these issues further with the class at large, this forum is designed to promote discussion outside of the classroom. Therefore, I would like to propose a few points relating to the benefits of animal models which I have thought about for the past several years. First and foremost, I believe that animals have allowed scientists to study otherwise unanswerable questions relating to behavior and the brain. Using my own experiences as examples, Dr. Sternberg’s lab has been focused most recently on how environmental factors influence pain behavior in animals which are evolutionarily similar to us. It has been demonstrated, for example, that mice appear to modulate their pain-directed behavior when they are with fellow cagemates, or mice who share a close social environment. This modulation of pain response has been dubbed by some researchers (Langford et al., 2006) as a low-level, “perceptual” form of empathic behavior when they are in proximity with one another. In other words, these animal models appear capable of demonstrating complex social interactions with one another, as well as modifying other behaviors based on a social context.

Why is research like this important? In the long run, we hope that this research will lead to a better model explaining social dysfunctional disorders like Asperger’s and Autism. In the immediate future, however, these findings suggest that neuroscientists have an immediate way to parse out the different environmental, genetic, and biological factors which compose this human-like behavior. It should be noted that mice do not appear to have the same level of emotional or cognitive development as humans; as such, it is foolish to claim that their social behavior is identical to that of humans. Rather, it allows scientists to selectively manipulate different aspects of the animal’s biology, genetic makeup, and experiences to put forth theories as to how empathic responses are generated (or disrupted) in mammalian models. It also allows scientists to causally explain why or how a behavior is generated, rather than being limited to explaining these phenomena in terms of correlations between human behavior and other factors.

As a researcher, I would like to believe that all of my research is directly applicable to solving human problems and bettering our future. It is hard to prove in every instance, however, that animal research will lead to eventual human therapies or remediation. Instead, a behavioral neuroscientist must do his or her best in designing targeted research paradigms which maximize success and minimize excesses, as scientists do in other disciplines. Unlike a chemist or physicist, however, neuroscientists do not have adequate artificial or computational models to effectively answer our questions. While science has made wonderful advances, from building an artificial heart to constructing an entire prokaryotic organism from scratch, the brain remains the most complex (and elusive) machine that humans have encountered to date. In answering the question of empathic behavior, for example, our lab has already discovered that several sexual hormones and neuropeptides appear to mediate social responses in mice, but only in certain socially specific contexts. In order to further explore the biochemical underpinnings of these behaviors, however, we need brains. As Tom Cruise once said, “…There is no substitute.”

The question of animal rights is a complex issue, and one to which many have an opinion. I look forward to discussing these issues with you as this semester continues, but I would like to leave this topic with a final thought. Human history has relied on the domestication and the use of many animal species; many rely on animals as a source of food, clothing, fuel, fertilizer, friendship. I would argue that the use of animals to save human life, as well as to make it better, justify animal research. Furthermore, I view animal research as a step that stems from our long and intimate relationships with other animal species. In the area of pain research alone animal research has already lead to significant discoveries which have markedly improved human life. For example, Kosterlitz and Hughes used pig brains in 1975 to discover one class of the body’s innate opiates, which they dubbed enkephalins. More recently, researchers used animal models to discover that both central and peripheral analgesia are necessary to prevent long-lasting postoperative pain, as well as central sensitization and “wind-up,” which can lead to permanent changes in the way the body perceives physical stimuli following a traumatic event. It is important to add that humans are not the sole beneficiaries of these discoveries; veterinary science has also been greatly furthered by this research. In summary, it is my hope that our current work with animal models will continue to lead to new discoveries which better all of animal-kind. Thanks for reading!

~Alex Tuttle

Haverford '08

Hi NBSers,

My name is Elliot Rabinowitz and like many of you, I am also a senior biology major. I currently work in Professor Punt's lab at Haverford, an immunology lab focused on T cell development and cell fate decisions, focusing on the underlying molecular pathways involved in these processes. My research is a new project started this year on microRNAs and their most likely, but much unknown involvement (or lack there of) in this area. As for my life outside of the lab, I'm currently applying to medical school and cannot wait to figure out where I will hopefully be going next year. I anticipate focusing in pediatrics, though am certainly open to my interests changing over the next few years with more experience.

As a freshman entering college, I decided to try something new and take some psychology courses. I immediately became interested with the intro biopsych course that began the year. I have found that science classes often lack the aspect of interesting discussion that courses in some other subject areas promote. The NBS classes I have taken have provided an inclusion of that fascinating discussion while holding on to an interest in the molecular, biological bases behind the topics that I also find so important and intriguing. Just creating our list of ideas last class proved extremely interesting - we will obviously have plenty to talk about.

I am not specifically drawn to one topic that we discussed on Tuesday. Reading people's responses to different areas they find attractive keeps making me change my mind. Neuro-ethics, and ethics in general, is an issue that I find particularly interesting, especially how it will relate to a future career in medicine. Therefore, the whole "talking cure" vs. "drug cure" also grabbed my attention. Our wide variety of topics relates to so many fundamental parts of people's lives (education, health, etc.), that further analysis and discussion by all people of these NBS topics is crucial. This class is a great place for at least us to start these conversations. I am already looking forward to Tuesday's class and to the rest of the semester ahead.

My name is above, and I'm from Arizona, though I grew up in a small town in Colorado. I'm dual majoring in German and Psychology with the obvious adjunct concentration. I've applied for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistanceship grant, and while I'd love to get it and teach English somewhere in Germany, I'm also hedging my bets and searching for work in the area. After meandering for a year or two, I'd like to enroll in a postbacc program and get the credits necessary to enter medical school, though I haven't completely eschewed pursuing a further degree in psychopharmacology, behavior analysis or perceptual neuroscience yet.

I feel like I don't bring much to this particular conversation other than a nascent background in behavior analysis as taught by Professor Neuman. I've spent two summers volunteering/working in labs here at Bryn Mawr, one in Thomas' lab and the other in Neuman's, and I have about eight years experience working in a local veterinary clinic. Beyond that, I've pretty much been through every class everyone else here has, and am in most cases less informed than most of you.

During this seminar I hope to explore the validity of the diagnostic categories of the DSM-IV TR, the validity of animal models of human mental phenomena, the potential effects of "talking to the brain," both beneficial and deletorious, the construction of reality and the self, and more generally an idea of what one can do with a degree colored by the NBS concentration.

Hello! My name is Kara Rosania, and I am a Bryn Mawr Psychology major. I have been a research assistant in Rob Wozniak's lab for a little more than two years now, working on research related to gesture production and comprehension. I became really interested in neural and behavioral sciences late in my sophomore year, and have been fortunate enough to integrate this interest with my background in gesture research for my thesis work. I will be assessing gesture ability in adults recovering from strokes that caused Broca's aphasia, which impairs speech production. I am hoping that what I find will indicate whether gesture is effective as a substitution for speech in communication, as well as the interaction between gesture use and the recovery of speech ability.

I also spent last summer as a research assistant at Albert Einstein College of Medicine where I worked in an auditory neuroscience lab. There we studied how the brain integrates and segregates streams of sound using analysis of auditory evoked potentials. This kind of research has a lot of important applications, including a possible explanation of what causes language delays and speech impediments in some children. Other research that I worked on in this lab provided important information about the plasticity of the auditory cortex in hearing-impaired individuals to better understand the effectiveness of cortical implants at various stages of development. I really enjoy research and hope to go to graduate school next year to study neuroscience. Specifically I want to integrate the areas that I've studied so far and learn more about the relationship between auditory perception and speech development. I'm also interested in a lot of tangential topics related to these feilds, but I figure this is a good place to start. Obviously I think studying neuroscience is important, since I hope to do it for many years to come, if only because of the possibilities for increasing the quality of life for so many individuals. However, I hope to discuss at greater length the ethical issues involved in applying what is learned in this field. 

I hope that in this class I can learn more about the research that is being done in other areas, and how they relate to the work that I've done and am hoping to do in the future. I find it exciting that we all come from such different backgrounds and vary so greatly in our experimental approaches and research topics, and I think this will lead to some really great discussions. See you all on Tuesday!

Hey everyone--

I'm Felicia and I'm a bio major at Haverford. I'm from Indianapolis, and I'm planning on medical school after taking a year off. I'm in Rachel Hoang's lab studying Drosophila development, and while it doesn't directly relate to neuroscience, I find it fascinating that the same organic molecules we're studying are involved in everything from early embryonic patterning to later, more complex organ and pathway formation (like the nervous system).

I am very interested in exploring and discussing how this happens - how genetic material translates to development, formation of characteristics and social behaviors - and how differences in genes affect the latter two. I think one of the more pressing problems the field of neuroscience faces is trying to define and characterize a "normal" brain with a narrowed view of normality.

With an interest in medicine, I am fascinated at the amount of medicating that goes on. One of the things that has struck me most about my doctor shadowing experiences is just how medicated we as a society are. Is there a problem with turning to drugs first to treat symptoms? It's definitely often times the easiest of choices, but part of the reason I became interested in medicine was because I appreciate how resilient our bodies are - and I think taking advantage of that through alternative therapies is important to consider. I'm also interested in the relationship between diet and health and in addiction/reward pathways. Looking forward to the semester!

Hi everyone, my name is Kara and I am a psychology senior at Haverford. I am from Washington State and am planning on applying to veterinary school in the future after a year or two off to gain more experience in the field. The majority of my experience in neural and behavioral research centers on pain perception and how pain perception can alter social behaviors such as affiliation and approach, which is the main focus of my thesis with Wendy Sternberg, Alex and Amelia. I have also always had some interest in hormone regulation and its effects on behavior, also a part of our thesis.

After our discussion last Tuesday I found myself particularly drawn to continuing a discussion on the use of animal models versus human models in psychological research. Certainly the ethics of this question is one which is very interesting, whether it is right to allow types of research on animals which we would invariably not allow in humans, and the fact that the vast majority of the research that I have been involved in uses animals as subjects, but that wanting to be a veterinarian clearly puts me in a place in which I do not feel that animal life is in any way "expendable" makes this question interesting to me. I think that those of us who do use animals in our research should not shy away from a discussion of this issue but should embrace the opportunity to really question and solidify our views. However, besides the morality of animal research, I think the question of whether animal research is truly generalizable to human conditions or human mental processes is fascinating. I myself feel that in most ways it is, but I would be really interested to hear other people's opinions about this dimension of the validity of animal models in psychological research. It would be especially interesting to me to hear from some of the biology majors about this point, as I have thought about whether studying animal behavior can be extrapolated to the human mental condition, but don't really have a good idea of if the differences between biological processes in animals and humans provide a challange in neurobiological research.

Part of why I think neural and behavioral research is important is the knowledge that we gain about the cognitive and emotional capabilities of animals. Obviously this is mostly because my interests lie in veterinary medicine, but having been around veterinary practices I find that learning more about what environmental or social factors could possibly affect an animal's well being or medical care experience could drastically improve veterinary medicine.

Hello everyone! My name is Rebecca Woodruff, and I’m a Bryn Mawr pre-health, NBS biology major. I’m doing my senior research with my lab partner, Danielle Marck in the psychology department, supervised by Prof. Earl Thomas. I’ve lived in Austin, Texas for most of my life, but I’ve also lived abroad in Tokyo, Japan and Edinburgh, Scotland. Most of my course interests at Bryn Mawr have focused on biology, sociology, East Asian studies, issues of social justice, and public health. Right now, I plan on taking a year or two off and then attending graduate school to obtain an MA or a PhD in public health.

Right now, my main interests for this course include:

• intersections between the brain, mental healthcare, and education: I worked last summer on an applied neurobiology project in Paul Grobstein’s lab that dealt with this topic.
• anxiety: Danielle and my research focuses on inhibition of anxiety from the medial prefrontal cortex on the amygdala in the white rat. Basically, we infuse an anxiolytic drug into the mpc and record from the amygdala. While I’m really interested in the psychopharmacology related to anxiety, I’m also interested in learning more about anxiety from different perspectives.
• language acquisition later in life, like in school or immersion settings. When I was in high school, I went to live in Japan totally out of the blue and without any prior knowledge of Japanese culture and language and left the country speaking Japanese. I’ve continued studying the language and the problems associated with aging and language acquisition really frustrate (!) and interest me.
• evolutionary neurobiology

I definitely think research in NBS is important for human well being in a general sense. In my experience, as I gained a greater understand of NBS, specifically what Paul called “applied neurobiology”, the more my view of institutions that I had previously taken for granted changed. Last summer, I worked in Paul’s lab on a project that dealt with how understandings of the structure and function of the brain played a role in better understanding methods of education and mental healthcare. At the end of the summer, I walked away from the project with really different ideas about how those two fields are currently operating, and what could be done to improve them. For this reason, I think that making the results of NBS research accessible to others, specifically those who don’t have an understanding of the scientific culture and jargon, could positively impact many other disciplines.

Hi, my name is Danielle Marck and I am a senior biology major at Bryn Mawr. I am also premed and plan on applying to medical school over the summer. As a future physician I look forward to becoming a pediatric neurologist or neurosurgeon.

I have always been intrigued by the complexities of the brain and the large role the brain plays to ensure proper functioning of the entire body. I am very interested in the methods of treatment for various neurological diseases, differentiating between cognitive behavioral therapies, physical therapy, and drug treatment plans. I enjoy taking Pilates classes and recently learned that there was a special Pilates class for people with beginning and advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease. These individuals have made tremendous progress over a year long period and suffer less from tremor and muscle rigidity after taking Pilates. The improvements noted in these individuals is very intriguing to me especially since it shows that physical therapy is effectively slowing and making their Parkinsonian symptoms more manageable. Although Pilates is not curing these individuals of Parkinson’s disease, it is helping their body adapt.

Hi everyone, I'm Gillian Starkey, and I'm a senior Psych major/NBS concentrator at Bryn Mawr. Like Stephanie, I'm from the West Coast (Berkeley, CA), and I hope to go back to the Bay Area at some point later in life.

Up until last summer, all I knew was that I was interested in psychology. Then I did an internship at the University of Louisville with Dennis Molfese, who studies cortical activation differences in language development and learning disabilities using ERP (a kind of EEG) technology. Since then, I've been hooked on brain imaging research, and for a while I was fully convinced that my goal in life should be to someday run my own brain imaging lab with various types of imaging technologies.

However, I've also always been interested in doing clinical work -- that's what drew me to psychology in the first place. So, for next year, I'm applying to several clinical positions as well as several research-assistant-type positions in the hopes that I can figure out before I go to grad school whether I want to focus on research or head down the clinical path. I'm sure that quite a few of us are in the same position of uncertainty about exactly where in the field of psychology/biology/neuroscience we belong.

With regard to this class, I'm excited to hear different perspectives on neuroethics as well as people's views on how psychopharmacology and neuroscience relate to issues of education. Looking forward to next Tuesday...

Hi Everyone!

I'm Stephanie. I'm a senior Psychology major and Education minor at Haverford. I planning on going to graduate school next year either for a master's in speech-language pathology or for a psyD in clinical chlid psychology. I am from Arizona and I love the West coast. I'm enjoying being on the East coast and will probably go to grad school out here, but I hope to ultimately return to the West.

I am very interested in discussing neuroscience and its effects for education, especially ways in which neuroscience can better inform our teaching methods. I also look forward to thinking about ways for children to think about neuroscience and the brain. As an education minor, I am enrolled this year in a year-long senior seminar for education and I think I will draw on my education perspective in this course.

I am also interested in psychological disorders that affect children and also the different treatments for these disorders in children. One interesting issue in the field I'd be interested in discussing is the idea of "medicating children." Should we do this? The pros? The cons? Long term effects?

Another interest of mine is language and its relationship to the brain. Language is uniquely human and no other species possesses this complex ability. Language ability can be affected by certain neurological and psychological disorders, and I look forward to exploring this further in this seminar.

I think research in neural and behavioral sciences is very important for human well-being in many different arenas, including education, health, health care, mental health. The more we can learn in the field of neural and behavioral sciences, the better. I think human well-being will benefit from the knowledge that this research generates in many different ways, but especially through health care.

See you all in class on Tuesday night!

-Stephanie