Author: Young Investigators Review

The Young Investigators Review is Stony Brook University's undergraduate-oriented, all-inclusive science journal. Founded in 2008, our mission is to provide the student community with a way to learn more about the research currently being done on-campus by their faculty and fellow peers. We feature articles that span all fields, from Physics to Neuroscience, as well as original student research reports straight from the campus laboratories. Our journal offers aspiring talented future researchers and physicians a way to hone their science writing skills and spread word of their experiences to inspire incoming students to think about devoting their futures to the various fields of science.
General Neuroscience

Music to One’s Ears: Familiarity and Music Engagement in People With Parkinson’s Disease

Thumyat Noe ’23 Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder characterized by loss of dopamine and reduced innervation of neural structures that are responsible for coordination of motor movements. Affected individuals often have difficulty walking and maintaining balance. However, music has been shown to be a helpful external cue that reduces these symptoms. Research shows that exposure to music activates brain regions that are closely related … Continue reading Music to One’s Ears: Familiarity and Music Engagement in People With Parkinson’s Disease

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General Psychology

Literacy Training of Kindergarten Children With Pencil, Keyboard or Tablet Stylus: The Influence of the Writing Tool on Reading and Writing Performance at the Letter and Word Level

Thumyat Noe ’23 Handwriting has always been an important mode of writing, but recently type-writing on digital devices is becoming more common than handwriting.  Nowadays, children are able to write for the first time by typing on a digital device before they learn how to handwrite. Some elementary schools have implemented initial literacy training using digital devices to facilitate literacy skills in students. As literacy … Continue reading Literacy Training of Kindergarten Children With Pencil, Keyboard or Tablet Stylus: The Influence of the Writing Tool on Reading and Writing Performance at the Letter and Word Level

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General Neuroscience

Compartmental function and modulation of the striatum

Sabah Bari ‘24 The striatum is one of the main input areas of the basal ganglia, a neuronal circuit necessary for voluntary movement control. It is a critical component of motor control, action selection and reward systems within the brain. Almost all elements of the brain’s reward circuit are modulated during social behavior. The striatum has two main efferent pathways. There are 2 main efferent … Continue reading Compartmental function and modulation of the striatum

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Health and Medicine

The association between digital screen time and myopia: A systematic review

Sabah Bari ‘24 With the advancement of technology and the creation of new digital platforms, many individuals have experienced an increase in screen time, which may heighten the risk for many health-related issues, especially in the eyes. Myopia, also known as nearsightedness and shortsightedness, is a condition in which parallel rays are focused in front of the retina. Light rays converge to a focal point … Continue reading The association between digital screen time and myopia: A systematic review

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Biology

Discovering the Role of the Neuropilin Pain Pathway in Asymptomatic COVID-19 Cases

Aditi Kaveti ’23 In the United States, there have been more than 7 million documented cases of COVID-19, leading to over 200,000 deaths nationwide. This high number of cases is due to the rapid spread of the deadly disease, which is caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2. Many researchers believe that the rapid spread can be in part attributed to a high number of asymptomatic … Continue reading Discovering the Role of the Neuropilin Pain Pathway in Asymptomatic COVID-19 Cases

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Health and Medicine

Terahertz Spectroscopy to Improve Burn Injury Assessment

Aditi Kaveti ‘23 Burn injuries are painful, potentially life-threatening, and can often require long and complex treatment. Early and accurate assessment of burn injuries is important to determining the correct path of treatment. However, the severity of burns can be difficult to visually diagnose accurately, and clinical evaluations of burns only have about a 50 to 70 percent accuracy. This complexity allows for a significant … Continue reading Terahertz Spectroscopy to Improve Burn Injury Assessment

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General Neuroscience

Going to College Can Delay Alzheimer’s Disease Onset

Ayesha Azeem ‘23 Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible brain disorder that progresses to destroy memory and thinking skills until one fails to complete basic tasks. Alzheimer’s most commonly begins to affect people in their mid-60s, and is currently the third leading cause of death for the elderly in the United States (NIH). A recent study conducted by Stony Brook University researchers revealed that attending college … Continue reading Going to College Can Delay Alzheimer’s Disease Onset

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General Psychology

Psychological Effects

Ayesha Azeem ‘23 While COVID-19 has definitely affected our physical health, primarily targeting the very young, the elderly, and those with long-term illnesses, the virus has also taken a severe toll on people’s psychological health. Because of the high risk to human health and the heavy economic burden resulting from national lockdowns and unemployment across the world, the public has been severely impacted mentally by … Continue reading Psychological Effects

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Biology

Evaluating Subgroups of Patients with Spinal Epidural Abscess

Panayiota Siskos ’23 Spinal epidural abscess (pus that has built up in tissue, organs, or spaces in the body) is a rare infection that has rising incidence, as well as high morbidity and mortality due to delayed diagnosis. These abscesses are in the epidural region (located between the outermost layer of tissue and the inside surface of bone containing the spine that runs down its … Continue reading Evaluating Subgroups of Patients with Spinal Epidural Abscess

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Brain

Creation of Images by Detecting brain activity via Neuroadaptive Generative Modeling

Sooraj Shah ’24 The relationship between humans and technology is one which advanced the world to where it is today. By physically pressing a few buttons, we are able to express our thoughts and ideas onto a digital screen. However, this might not always be the case. Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed neuroadaptive generative modeling, in which a computer creates a visual … Continue reading Creation of Images by Detecting brain activity via Neuroadaptive Generative Modeling

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Genetics

Neuroanatomical Variation in Dogs

Panayiota Siskos ’23 The selective breeding of dogs by humans has led to variation in the brain across different breeds. Selectively breeding dogs for traits and abilities has been a recent occurrence  in evolution, and genetic research shows behavioral variation is heritable. Behavioral specializations depend on neural specializations, and strong selection pressure exhibits that brain differences between dog breeds correlate with differences in behavior. Selection … Continue reading Neuroanatomical Variation in Dogs

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Neuroscience

Effect of Mutation in NMDA Receptor Proteins resulting in Neurological Disorders

Sooraj Shah ’24 Neurological disorders affect 25 million people in the United States, which makes the study of NMDA receptors increasingly important. NMDA receptors are key contributors to regulation of memory and behavior in the human brain. NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor proteins are transmembrane proteins, and are in a subset of Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs), which contain 4 helices, the most significant of which is the … Continue reading Effect of Mutation in NMDA Receptor Proteins resulting in Neurological Disorders

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