Volume 5, No. 1, 2021
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Acta Spartae is the undergraduate journal of sciences and mathematics at The University of Tampa, and is designed to recognize and promote the vibrant undergraduate research community at UT by providing a forum for the dissemination of research and ideas produced at the University.
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Browsing Volume 5, No. 1, 2021 by Author "Sara B. Festini"
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Item Effects of Academic and Social Engagement on Episodic Memory in Young Adults(Department of Psychology, University of Tampa, 2021) Ramsdell, Kassandra; Sara B. FestiniResearch on older adults has shown that those who are busier and live a more engaged lifestyle show cognitive benefits versus those who are less busy. Episodic memory, in particular, tends to show the largest relationship to busyness in older adults. However, whether this relationship exists in young adults is still unknown. In Study 1, college-age participants completed an engagement questionnaire, a word pair association test, a face-name association test, and other measures of stress and busyness. Study 2 replicated the procedure of Study 1 and additionally examined the impact of alcohol use and sleep deprivation. Contrary to hypotheses, both studies indicated that neither academic nor social engagement was significantly related to episodic memory in young adults. We propose that young adults may generally be busier than older adults and therefore less susceptible to the influence of engagement.Item Exploring the Potential Shared Pathology of Eating Disorders and Addiction: A Behavioral Neuroscience Approach(Department of Psychology, University of Tampa, 2021) Colaianni, Allison; Sara B. FestiniThis literature review will examine the potential overlapping neural contributions to eating disorders and addiction from a behavioral neuroscience perspective. The major similarities between eating disorders and alcohol abuse are related to dopamine (DA) activity within structures of the prefrontal cortex. Specifically , abnormal DA and other neurochemical function and structural differences are evident within the medial orbitofrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and ventral striatum. Differences in these regions and their circuits appear to contribute to the impulsive and reinforcing behaviors that are exhibited in both types of disorders. For instance, commonalities found between eating disorders and addiction include the sensitization of DA systems and high medial prefrontal cortex activation in response to food or during drug cravings. Research seems to suggest that these similarities can increase the likelihood of someone with an eating disorder developing substance abuse, but not vice versa. Additionally, evidence suggests that the pathology of bulimia nervosa may be more similar to that of alcoholism and other substance abuse disorders than the pathology of anorexia. Thus, there may be a greater probability of bulimics developing alcoholism and other substance abuse disorders than anorexics; however, the structural and functional similarities still suggest risk in all eating disorders.