Tag: Featured

2022-23, Biology, Cellular and Molecular Science, COVID-19, General Psychology

Why Do Some Young People Develop Severe COVID-19?

Zhifei Zeng ’23 COVID-19, which has ravaged the world, is still a public health concern and there are multiple theories about the cause of severe COVID-19 infection in young people. Previous research on genetic factors associated with severe COVID-19 has been limited to the gene pool of European populations. Coincidentally, while comparing the gene pools of Japanese and European patients, a large Japanese genetic research … Continue reading Why Do Some Young People Develop Severe COVID-19?

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2022-23, Depression, Exercise, General Psychology, Health, mental health, Psychology

Long Distance Ski Racing Correlated with Low Depression Development

Sooraj Shah ’24 Figure 1: Long term exercise such as skiing may reduce chances of developing depression Depression affects 5-10% of people in the United States. Combined with other disorders, depression can consume about 20-30% of a person’s lifetime. The most common therapeutic strategy to treat depression includes serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which increase serotonin levels in the brain. A major drawback to this treatment, however, … Continue reading Long Distance Ski Racing Correlated with Low Depression Development

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2022-23, Autism, General Neuroscience, General Psychology, mental health, Psychology

Autism Spectrum Disorder May Not Be Linked to Impairment of Self-Awareness

Sooraj Shah ’24 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects nearly 1 in every 44 children in the United States, and can cause a variety of symptoms such as delayed movement skills, nonverablity, and intellectual disabilities. A major impairment associated with  autism has been thought to be in theory of mind (ToM). ToM refers to the ability of an individual to understand that another individual’s mental state … Continue reading Autism Spectrum Disorder May Not Be Linked to Impairment of Self-Awareness

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2022-23, Biology, Brain, Cellular and Molecular Science, General Neuroscience, Molecular Biology, Neurology, Neuroscience

Lack of CLOCK Regulator Protein May Predict Focal Seizure Susceptibility

By Vignesh Subramanian ’24 Focal seizure activity originates at particular foci﹣those being lobes, regions or hemispheres – of abnormal brain tissue and may emanate outward.  Epilepsy is a chronic central nervous system disorder characterized by uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain that triggers recurrent, spontaneous seizures. The majority of new epilepsy cases involve focal epilepsy, in which seizure activity originates in a particular “focus” or … Continue reading Lack of CLOCK Regulator Protein May Predict Focal Seizure Susceptibility

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Sociology

Women in Medical Academia are Less Likely than Men to Publish in Top Journals

Zhifei Zeng ’23 Figure 1: Stony Brook University research team investigates gender differences in first authorship in top medical journals Even with all the calls for gender equality today, it still happens that women may have to work harder to achieve the same success or reputation as men. Studies show that women are less likely to attain the rank of Associate or Full Professor, and … Continue reading Women in Medical Academia are Less Likely than Men to Publish in Top Journals

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2022-23, Artificial Intelligence, Biology, Genetics

Are Doppelgängers Really Just a Coincidence?

Lydia Wang ’26 Human faces and the ability to recognize different facial identities have played a key role in evolution. It has been observed that human faces have evolved to uniquely distinguish themselves from others. However, many people know someone they resemble; some comparisons are so similar that they are labeled as a doppelgänger, or a living double. Doppelgängers have been an ongoing phenomenon that … Continue reading Are Doppelgängers Really Just a Coincidence?

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2022-23, Biology, Health and Medicine, Neuroscience

Type 2 Diabetes Accelerates Brain Aging-Related Neurocognitive Decline

Vignesh Subramanian ’24 Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by dysfunctions relating to hyperglycemia, the state of high glucose levels in the bloodstream. Such excessive blood sugar is typically the combinatory result of inadequate secretion of insulin (a hormone that directs cells and the liver to take up glucose for energy and long-term storage, respectively), uncontrolled secretion of glucagon (an … Continue reading Type 2 Diabetes Accelerates Brain Aging-Related Neurocognitive Decline

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2022-23, General Psychology, Psychology

Anxiety Can Alter the Way We Perceive Negative Emotions

Lydia Wang ’26 As individuals, we constantly make decisions, many of which depend on our perception of social contexts. For example, when answering a question during class, one may gauge a friend’s expressions and observe whether they are grimacing or smiling, which (respectively) suggest an incorrect or correct response. This is an example of perceptual decision-making, where through observation and sensory input, one chooses an … Continue reading Anxiety Can Alter the Way We Perceive Negative Emotions

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2021-22, mental health, Psychology

Depression May Be Linked To Specific Lipid Ratios Within The Body

Joyce Chen ’23 Depression is a chronic disease that affects quality of life by reducing one’s interest in basic activities and hobbies due to continual feelings of sadness and low self-esteem. Previous studies have proposed that low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels play a key role in depression because of changes in serotonin and lipid metabolism. There is little research on how depression is affected … Continue reading Depression May Be Linked To Specific Lipid Ratios Within The Body

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2021-22, Psychology

The Effects of Social Anxiety on Decision-Making and Recognition of Facial Expressions

Joyce Chen ’23 Facial expressions are one of the fundamental methods by which we perceive others. However, our perceptions can be faulty. Perceptual decision-making for recognizing facial cues is biased by our personal attitudes, social knowledge, and stereotypes. Despite there being numerous studies on this process, not much is known about how perceptual decision-making occurs in individuals with anxiety symptoms. Dr. Aprajita Mohanty, a Stony … Continue reading The Effects of Social Anxiety on Decision-Making and Recognition of Facial Expressions

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2021-22, discovery

Reprogramming Cells May Reverse the Aging Process

Sooraj Shah ’24 Aging is a natural process by which cells are progressively unable to divide as efficiently as before, causing cell death and lysis as the functions of the cell slowly begin to decline. The main contributor to this are the telomeres at the end of our chromosomes. Telomeres get shorter as cells divide because replication cannot copy the “lagging end” of the chromosome. … Continue reading Reprogramming Cells May Reverse the Aging Process

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2021-22, Brain

Thalamocortical Associated Brain Injuries May be Linked to Behavioral Changes

Sooraj Shah ’24 The discussion of brain injury, particularly in contact sports such as boxing or football, has grown in importance as more and more former athletes speak out on the lingering effects years after retirement. The discovery of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in 2002 marked the beginning of increased attention and research into traumatic brain injuries (TBI). While CTE was found to spread throughout … Continue reading Thalamocortical Associated Brain Injuries May be Linked to Behavioral Changes

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