My experience in brain cognitive research for summer minority high school students
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Transcript of My experience in brain cognitive research for summer minority high school students
My experience in brain cognitive research for summer minority high school students
Ron Hu, M.D.Johnson Foundation Summer Research Program ‘01
Summer 2001
Summer Program
Summer Program
Picture
The Knot Tying Experiment
Tests how brain engages in motor learning
Subjects learn two sailor’s knots
Brain oxygenation and performance data gathered
BowlineClove hitch
Hypotheses
1.The prefrontal cortex is involved in learning motor function2.An imagery period will enhance the performance of subjects3.Repetition learning in the subjects will subsequently decrease brain activation.
Methods
18 subjects randomly split into two groups
Exp group asked to imagine tying knot before trial
Control group had rest period before trial
Each subject tested 4 times with at least one day between each test
Performance was compared
Baseline
Video Gap Trial Period
Baseline
Video Imagery
Trial Period
Control
Experimental
Oxygenation Prefrontal cortex
-0.06
-0.04
-0.02
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
0.14
Video Imagery Trial
Change in oxygenation from baseline
Pre-frontal cortex activation was associated with imagining and actual knot-tying
Best Performer
420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560 580
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
5.5
6
6.5
Sample Point
D4
Baseline Video Imagery Trial
Worst performer
900 920 940 960 980 1000 1020
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
Sample Point
D12
Baseline Video Imagery Trial
Performance
Stage 2: Non-Imagery Clove H.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
1 2 3 4
Test
Stage 2: Imagery Clove H.
012
3456
78
1 2 3 4
Test
Imagery period did not improve performance in our subjects
Repetition learning
Day1 vs Day4 Clove H.
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
Imagery Trial
Day 1
Day 4
Learning did occur as subjects gained experience in tying the knots, and the overall activation decreased
Since Summer Program
The future
Thank you!Prefrontal Cortex