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.
Figure 1: Studying, even in older individuals, helps improve cognitive reserves.
2016-17, Neuroscience

Sending Your Grandparents to University Increases Cognitive Reserve: The Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project

Ericka Berman   One way to decrease the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease is by increasing cognitive reserves (CR). Research supports the idea that education, intelligence, and cognitively stimulating activities modify the risk for dementia. CR is a theoretical construct, so it is measured indirectly. Dr. Megan Lenehan and her team of researchers used data from 459 participants ages 50-79 from the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project … Continue reading Sending Your Grandparents to University Increases Cognitive Reserve: The Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project

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Caption: C-reactive protein levels can provide possible treatment for depression.
2016-17, Psychology

CRP Protein Levels Help Determine Depression Treatment

Meghan Bialt-DeCelie – ’19 When diagnosed with depression, patients are often left to trial and error with anti-depressant drugs. Incompatible prescriptions along the search can lead to potential issues with side effects, which can be ineffective as well as costly. A study led by Madhukar Trivedi, M.D. assessed a patient’s level of C-reactive protein (CRP) and related it to selection of antidepressant drugs escitalopram, a … Continue reading CRP Protein Levels Help Determine Depression Treatment

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Figure 1: Normally treated with therapy, new medicinal treatments for PTSD are showing to be effective, giving hope to sufferers of a relentless disorder.
2016-17, Psychology

Efficacy of Quetiapine Monotherapy in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Ericka Berman Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating illness affecting approximately 7.8% of people in the U.S. over the course of their lifetime. As of now, two medications are approved in the U.S. to treat PTSD, but both treatments have limited success. Characteristics of the antipsychotic medication quetiapine suggest it may be helpful in treating PTSD symptoms of re-experiencing trauma and hyperarousal. Dr. Gerardo … Continue reading Efficacy of Quetiapine Monotherapy in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

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Figure 1: DeepStack rises above the rest for Artificial Intelligence algorithms when it comes to going against professional poker players in Texas Holdem.
2016-17, Computer Science

Algorithm Defeats Pro Poker Players

Meghan Bialt-DeCelie – ’19 Artificial Intelligence (AI) has improved significantly in recent years in games involving perfect information. This means all players are aware of all the elements in the current state of a game. The next milestone for AI is creating an algorithm that can defeat humans at games with imperfect information, a game where players can be uncertain of certain game elements. An … Continue reading Algorithm Defeats Pro Poker Players

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Caption: Imagining oneself in another person’s shoes helps lead to a better emotional understanding.
2016-17, Sociology

Inferring Perspective Versus Getting Perspective

Ericka Berman Two strategies used to study mental-state inference are theorization, inference through behavior, and simulation, self-projection, but effectiveness varies based on biases in people’s intuitions. Haotian Zhou Ph.D. et al. of Shanghai Tech University predicted the bias in favor of theorization because people assume behavior is reflective of the mind. In the first experiment, twelve “experiencers” viewed emotional pictures. Experiencers reported their feelings ranging … Continue reading Inferring Perspective Versus Getting Perspective

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Figure 1: Through Interspecies blastocyst complementation, the blood glucose levels of diabetic mice were successfully lowered with mice pancreatic cells that were transplanted from rats.
2016-17, Biology

Interspecies Pancreas Transplant

Meghan Bialt-DeCelie – ’19 Currently in the United States, 76,000 patients are deprived of potentially life-saving organ transplants. The supply of donated organs relies heavily on the number of recently deceased individuals, limiting the supply’s availability. Dr. Yomoyuki Yamaguchi and his team of researchers from Stanford University and the University of Tokyo are exploring more sustainable methods of generating functional tissues and organs to help … Continue reading Interspecies Pancreas Transplant

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Figure 1: Understanding student-teacher relationships is important in understanding factors affecting learning.
2016-17, Sociology

Creating Birds of Similar Feathers: Leveraging Similarity to Improve Teacher-Student Relationships and Academic Achievement

Ericka Berman Having thriving student-teacher relationships (TSR) is important in academic success. In studying the improvement of TSR, schooling, positive youth development, and social motivation are of great interest to researchers. Dr. Hunter Gehlbach and his team of researchers carried out this study using a sample of 315 ninth graders and 25 teachers from a high school in the southwestern United States. Students were assessed … Continue reading Creating Birds of Similar Feathers: Leveraging Similarity to Improve Teacher-Student Relationships and Academic Achievement

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2016-17, Biology, Interview

April Student Researcher of the Month: Ioana Soaita

This past month, one of our cabinet members, Benjamin Kerner, had the opportunity to sit down with Ioana Soaita, a senior student researcher in the Biomedical Engineering Department under Dr. Rubenstein. B: So now how did you get into research and what inspired you to do so? I: So I was really interested in doing diabetes work and was looking into either learning more about … Continue reading April Student Researcher of the Month: Ioana Soaita

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Caption: Researchers demonstrate the improvement of innervation between the central nervous system and a grafted eye on the tails of tadpoles with Zolmitriptan.
2016-17, Biology

Improved Functionality of Grafted Eyes on Blind Tadpoles

Meghan Bialt-DeCelie – ’19 The major flaw faced by research in tissue regeneration is proper development of a nervous system as well as its functionality in the new host. Researchers led by Douglas J. Blackiston, Ph.D from Tufts University attempted to improve communication between a graft and the central nervous system of a host. The researchers used the tadpoles of Xenopus laevis to observe the … Continue reading Improved Functionality of Grafted Eyes on Blind Tadpoles

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Figure 1: Uncovering new evidence of biological predictors of psychological disorders helps point researchers in the right direction for creating more effective treatments.
2016-17, Biology

Norepinephrine Transporter in Major Depressive Disorder: A PET Study

Ericka Berman Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating illness characterized by low mood and loss of interest in activities. In MDD, the neurotransmitter norepinephrine is believed to be dysregulated, contributing to the depressive symptoms. The goal of this study was to test norepinephrine transporter availability in patients with MDD in attempt to identify potential associations with clinical symptoms. Previous studies have looked at the … Continue reading Norepinephrine Transporter in Major Depressive Disorder: A PET Study

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Figure 1: DNA Fountain allows data to be stored in DNA more densely with reliable retrieval.
2016-17, Biology

Data Storage on DNA

Meghan Bialt-DeCelie – ’19 Scientists have explored the concept of data storage in DNA, one of the most fundamental biological molecules to living things. According to the Shannon information capacity, a nucleotide can ideally contain 2 bits of data. However, DNA does not currently have this capacity due to difficulties and errors associated with high GC content and areas with long runs of the same … Continue reading Data Storage on DNA

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Figure 1. Online dating apps, such as Tinder, are becoming increasingly popular and scientists have recently set out to determine the motivation behind using the apps.
2016-17, Sociology

Motivations to Use Tinder

By Megan Y. Tan ’19 With at least 10 million active users a day, Tinder is one of the most popular dating apps. It is easy to set up, by connecting it to Facebook, and easy to use, by just swiping left when presented with an undesirable profile, and swiping right when presented with a desirable profile. Although it is such a popular app, not … Continue reading Motivations to Use Tinder

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