2007 Grant Recipients


Faculty Grants

Todd Coleman, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Timothy Bretl, Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering, PIs
Neural Communication Prostheses to Help Stroke Survivors Speak and Write.

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability in the United States, particularly among people over age 55. Of the six million stroke survivors alive today, nearly 40% have suffered some form of aphasia that negatively affects their ability to speak or write. The goal of this research is to restore or enhance the ability of elderly stroke survivors to speak or write by using neural communication prostheses. In particular, this project will focus on a communication prosthesis driven by the P300 event related potential (associated with attention and surprise), which can be measured non-invasively with surface electrodes. This prosthesis allows a user to type words from an on-screen menu by recording visually evoked potentials related to his or her intent. Previous studies have increased typing rates by using classification to reduce signal noise or by using statistical language structure to achieve word completion. But despite the fact that the time to specify a menu option is strongly affected by menu size, these previous approaches all employ a fixed menu size. The proposed research will apply stochastic control theory to the principled design of variable-length menus for a P300-driven communication prosthesis, based on statistical models of signal noise and language structure. The result will be a faster, more accurate, and more comfortable way for stroke survivors to speak and write.

Wai-Tat Fu, Assistant Professor of Aviation Science
Web Portal to Health Information for Older Adults

The main goal of this project is to develop a Web Portal that facilitates older adults to look for health information on the World Wide Web (WWW). Recent studies show that although the WWW is an excellent source for health information, the high variability in organization, type, and reliability of different Web sites often require sufficient procedural search knowledge to fully utilize the capability of this technology (Bhavnani et al., 2006). The proposed study will focus on the influence of Internet and general healthcare knowledge as well as general cognitive abilities such as levels of reasoning, verbal fluency, and perceptual fluency, on the efficiency and effectiveness of finding and interpreting health information on the WWW. Younger and older adults will be given a number of realistic search tasks with different degrees of complexity using the WWW. Healthcare experts (e.g., graduate students from the School of Nursing/Kinesiology/Medicine) will also be tested and consulted to elicit their procedural search knowledge on the WWW. Detailed protocols will be collected during the search tasks. The effects of procedural search knowledge and general cognitive abilities on performance will be informed by a modeling framework of information-seeking behavior (Fu & Pirolli, in press). Findings will be useful for developing a Web portal that facilitates the use of the WWW to successfully look for health information.

Charissa Lansing, Associate Professor of Speech and Hearing Science
Utility of Video- and Audio-Enhanced Telephones to Maintain Healthy Cognitive Aging

For the older adult, telephone communication may serve as a lifeline that maintains and promotes greater independence in daily life and stimulation social interactions, vital to healthy cognitive aging. Sensory difficulties, such as hearing loss, however, may sometimes limit the ease and value of telephone communication for older adults who must listen very attentively to understand speech, diverting attention from other cognitive processes, thus compromising their cognitive performance. The appearance of cognitive decline has dire consequences. It may undermine perceptions of self-efficacy, diminish the quality of social interactions, and limit participation in social activities. Happily, feasible technological advances exist to minimize the demands of telephone speech communication on cognitive/linguistic performance but empirical evidence to support their utility is needed. These advances include augmenting spoken language over the telephone with a video of the talker and/or increasing the auditory bandwidth used to transmit speech information about consonant sounds. The proposed research will evaluate the utility of these technologies for enhanced speech understanding and test hypotheses about the relation between sensory/perceptual input and working memory performance in groups of aging adults with and without hearing loss. If these technologies are shown to be useful they may serve as interventions that facilitate successful telephone communication, a necessary and essential medium for social interactions that maintain and increase healthy cognitive aging, promote independence, and support safety.

Michel Regenwetter, Associate Professor of Psychology
The Role of Cognitive Aging in Choice Behavior: A Pilot Study

This project is a pilot study to explore synergies between state0of0the-art research on cognitive aging and state-of-the-art research on decision making. During the summer, the Center for Healthy Minds will run a series of experiments that cross-validate recent decision making research of Regenwetter\u2019s decision making lab. While the past research was carried out with college students, the summer study will compare elderly and young adults and will assess various measures relevant to cognitive aging. During the fall semester, the data from the summer experiments will be analyzed using new methods in quantitative psychology. The findings of the project will be published and will serve as a basis for the development of a future systematic research project that will synergize cognitive aging research with the decision sciences.

Justin Rhodes, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Are New Neurons Required for Improved Cognitive Performance following Aerobic Exercise Training?

One of the most devastating features of normal aging is cognitive decline. Aerobic exercise, long known to benefit physical health throughout life, is now also recognized to benefit mental health particularly during aging. The Center for Healthy Minds has made substantial contributions to the discovery that exercise can sharpen elderly minds. The goal of the proposed pilot grant is to advance our understanding of this phenomenon by testing a specific physiological mechanism in a mouse model. One of the most reliable physiological effects of exercise on the elderly brain in both mice and humans is increased growth of brain tissue in crucial regions. In the mouse, as well as human, the hippocampus is a locus for such change [9]. A recent study shows that the number of new neurons in the hippocampus of elderly mice is strongly positively regulated by exercise [16]. This and many other previous studies have shown that exercise enhances learning on a variety of cognitive tasks in mice and rats throughout adulthood, mimicking the human condition. The research outlined in this proposal will directly test the hypothesis that growth of new neurons in the hippocampus is necessary for exercise-induced learning enhancement in mice. A novel strategy will be used in which gamma radiation is directed at the hippocampus to prevent growth of new nerve cells in elderly animals. This involves anesthetizing the mice and exposing them to radiation under a 10 cm thick lead shield mounted above astereotaxic apparatus. This has already been accomplished in collaboration with the Dr. Michael Thomas, DVM radiologist at the UIUC Vet School, Civil Engineering shop and a Dr. Stoyan Toshkov, UIUC nuclear physicist. Irradiated and sham (anesthetized only) mice will then be used to determine whether cognitive benefits from exercise occur even in the absence of the ability to generate new neurons. If they do, then that constitutes very strong evidence that new neurons are not required for exercise-induced learning enhancement and prompts research to explore alternative mechanisms for the enhanced learning from exercise such as growth of vasculature in the brain, changes in the morphology of synapses or changes in neurochemistry. It also would prompt exploration of alternative functional explanations for exercise-induced neurogenesis besides increasing capacity for learning such as a role in motivation for physical activity. On the other hand, if exercised animals without new neurons fail to show improvement in learning from exercise, then that strongly suggests that new neurons play a causal role in learning enhancement, though possible side effects of radiation (other than suppressing neurogenesis) cannot be ruled out. This work will be used as pilot data for a future collaborative NIH Program Project grant with other investigators at the Center. My part will involve developing resources for translating the animal research for interpretation of the human data. For example, we propose to collect static MRI images mouse brains at various stages of exercise intervention. This will provide comparable data (e.g., voxel based morphometry) to that currently being collected by the Center For Healthy Minds (via the Illinois Active Aging Program) in humans. The advantage of having comparable data in humans and animals is that it allows interpretation of the non-invasive MRI effects in the humans into actual changes in physiology, morphology and/or biochemistry that can be measured using invasive techniques in mice.

Karl S. Rosengren, Professor of Psychology and Jacob Sosnoff, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology & Community Health
Effects of Regular Taiji Practice on Cognitive and Sensorimotor Performance

In a normal day we perform many tasks simultaneously. We talk on a phone as we stand in our kitchen reaching for a container of milk in the refrigerator, or talk to a friend as we walk down a street. For the most part we are quite successful at this dual task performance, successfully acquiring the milk without falling or maintaining the stream of conversation without tripping. However, as we age the ability to perform these seemingly simple and mundane tasks in a simultaneous fashion begins to break down. Recently, investigators have found that dual task performance can be improved if older adults increase their physical activity. In the proposed research we will explore how a particular form of physical activity, regular Taiji practice, might impact on older adults ability to perform simultaneous cognitive and sensorimotor tasks.

Graduate Student Grants

Summer N. Carnett, Speech Communications
Psychosocial Issues of Living with Parkinson's Disease

The vast majority of research about Parkinson\u2019s disease (PD) is grounded in biomedicine. While researchers are making progress in understanding and treating the physical symptoms of PD, little research has focused on psychosocial aspects of the disease. However, living with PD not only requires facing physical symptoms, but also psychosocial issues of managing uncertainty about the illness, including the renegotiation of one\u2019s identity in light of changing personal and social roles. In fact, at the early stages of PD, the patient experiences more psychological issues than motor problems (National Parkinson Foundation [NPF], n.d.). The prevalence of depression among people with PD is estimated to be 30-50 percent (Hubble & Berchou, 1999)--significantly higher than that among the general population of older adults. The impact of a chronic illness on regular life routines may change one\u2019s concept of self (Mishel, 1999). PD, in particular, is threatening to one\u2019s social identity because of the potential embarrassment associated with some possible symptoms (e.g., drooling, falling). Furthermore, as it progresses, PD is likely to produce communication-inhibiting symptoms (e.g., the loss of facial expression, a decreased ability to gesture), which may lead to a further loss of one\u2019s pre-illness identity (Sunvisson, Ekman, Hagberg, & Lokk, 2001) and increased uncertainty. While such factors are mentioned briefly in some PD research, there is a paucity of studies focusing on these psychosocial issues. The specific aim of the proposed study is to examine how people living with PD experience these psychosocial issues by exploring the following questions: (a) How do people living with PD experience and manage uncertainty? (b) How do people living with PD renegotiate their social roles and identities in light of the changes associated with the disease? To that end, 25 in-depth interviews will be conducted with people living with PD. Using a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Stern, 1980; Strauss & Corbin, 1998), the data will be analyzed to identify predominant themes. Ultimately, the findings of this research could contribute to educational interventions for people with PD, with the goal of improving their psychological health.

Peter Clark, Psychology
Evaluation of the vascular niche hypothesis

The Center for Healthy Minds has shown that exercise enhances cognitive vitality in older adults. The mechanism is not known, but could be due to a variety of physiological changes that occur in the brain in response to exercise including increased number of new neurons, glial cells, new vasculature, neurotrophic factors, growth factors, and changes in dendrite structure. My advisor, Justin Rhodes, proposes to examine whether the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus is necessary for enhanced learning of mice seen after chronic exercise. Another possibility of how exercise can improve learning is via the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). These hypotheses of angiogenesis and neurogenesis are not mutually exclusive. Though the growth of new neurons is accompanied by the growth of new vasculature, it is possible that angiogenesis may also be operating to support pre-existing cells activated with exercise. The purpose of this seed grant is to explore whether the formation of new vasculature from exercise in the mouse hippocampus can occur independently of neurogenesis. The same animals used in Justin Rhodes\u2019 proposal will provide the tissue for this analysis. Endothelium of the vasculature will be visualized using an antibody against CD31. If exercising animals, without the ability to form new neurons, show increased vasculature compared to non-exercising controls, this would provide evidence that angiogenesis can take place independently of new neuron formation. This is important because if hippocampal vasculature formation can occur independently of neurogenesis, then cognitive enhancement due to exercise could be a result of new blood vessels to support neurogenesis as well as to support activity of pre-existing cells.

Liang Hu, Kinesiology & Community Health
A Social Cognitive Perspective towards Understanding the Relationship between Physical Activity and Psychological Well-being among Adults with Depression

Depression is a major public health concern that is often associated with impairments in cognitive function and psychological well-being. Physical activity has shown to have anti-depressive effects with minimal risk. However, research on exercise and depression still needs to better understand what specific psychosocial factors influences physical activity participation, and how these factors interact with each other in relation to physical activity. This study proposes to adopt a social cognitive perspective towards these questions among adults with depression. Valid measures and psychosocial correlates of physical activity will be determined first. Then Self-esteem and quality of life (QOL), two key constructs of psychological well-being that are often impaired by depression, will be examined using frameworks tested and accepted among general population. These models are closely tied to Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) with self-efficacy playing important role among the relationship between physical activity and psychological well-being. Such research efforts will help better understand physical activity\u2019s relationship with depression in the context of well-grounded theory.

Jennifer Lodi-Smith, Psychology
Patterns, Mechanisms, and Outcomes of Personality Trait Change in Older Adults

Despite a great deal of interest from personality psychologists in personality traits and a great deal of interest from developmental psychologist in older adults, little research examines personality traits in older adulthood. The current research proposal focuses on filling this gap in three ways. First, it addresses the patterns of personality trait change in adults over age 65. In addition, it proposes to investigate how genetics, changes in social roles, and changes in cognitive functioning impact individual differences in older adulthood. The final aim of the proposed research is to determine how changes in personality traits in older adults impact important life outcomes such as health, well-being, and mortality.

Anne M. Stone, Speech Communications
Communication and Decisions about Genetic Testing: The Role of Uncertainty Management and Social Support on the Likelihood of Genetic Susceptibility Testing for Alzheimer's Disease

Genetic testing allows people to learn the likelihood of developing a range of diseases. Genetic tests recently have been developed to identify the genes linked to familial Alzheimer\u2019s disease (AD) (http://www.alz.org/). Moreover, studies have suggested avenues for prevention and treatment (e.g., Zhou, Teramukai, & Fukushima, 2007). These medical advances have important implications for scholars to consider. Specifically, more attention should be paid to the social processes of how people decide to have a genetic screening test. In particular, theories of health behavior and communication provide a unique theoretical framework to guide this study. The purpose of this paper is to begin to understand the social processes involved in deciding to be screened for AD. The specific aims of this study are (a) to understand the role of social processes in health behaviors such as genetic testing (e.g., the applicability of frameworks such as the Theory of Reasoned Action, Fishbein & Ajzen, 1980, and its extension the Theory of Planned Behavior, Ajzen, 1985), (b) to examine how uncertainty management and social support operate in decisions about genetic susceptibility screening for AD for adult children with a parent who has been diagnosed with AD, and (c) to demonstrate the potential importance of interventions for people with a parent diagnosed with AD. To address the specific aims of this proposal, qualitative methods will be used. Interviews will be conducted with 25 adult children who have a parent diagnosed with AD. Participants will be interviewed to understand and describe the experience of people in familial relationships related to genetic susceptibility testing for AD.