Daily Sleep Quality is Associated with Daily Cognition in Late-Life

Background: Older adults often face sleep disturbance or cognitive decline that goes beyond the scope of normal aging. The present study examined the relationship between self-reported sleep quality and self-reported daytime attention in a community-dwelling sample of older men at the between-persons and within-persons levels of association. Methods: Thirty-eight participants (M age =75.36 years, SD age =7.51 years, range=66-90 years) completed a twice-daily sleep diary for one week. Sleep quality and attention were assessed using a single-item 0-10 rating scales from the morning diary (“How was the quality of your sleep last night?”) and from the evening diary (“How was your attention today?”). A two-level multilevel model was parameterized with days nested within individuals to examine whether nightly sleep quality predicts an individual’s daily attention rating. Results: A multilevel model predicting self-reported attention revealed (1) older individuals who reported better sleep quality reported having better daily attention [Beta=0.64, t(248.15)=10.12, p\u3c0.001] and (2) following a day of above-average sleep quality, older individuals experienced above-average attention [Beta=0.16, t(259.79)=2.75, p=.006]. Conclusion: Not only was overall sleep quality associated with self-reported attention, but a good night\u27s sleep was associated with better self-reported next-day attention. Results point to the potential importance of fluctuations in sleep quality for daytime functioning. Interventions aimed at improving nightly sleep consistency may be worth exploring as methods to improve daytime cognitive functioning in older adults. Support: This work was supported by the Sleep Research Society Foundation/Jazz Pharmaceuticals (001JP13, PI: Dzierzewski) and by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K23AG049955 (PI: Dzierzewski), and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health under award number K24HL143055 (PI: Martin). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or the Department of Veterans Affairs.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1089/thumbnail.jp

There\u27s More to Sleep than Counting Sheep: A Cross Sectional Analysis of Sleep Health

There\u27s More to Sleep than Counting Sheep: A Cross Sectional Analysis of Sleep Health Elizabeth Torres, Depts. of Psychology, Biology, and Chemistry, Sanika Lawate, Hali Russell, and Emily Donovan, M.S., and Pablo Soto, Dept. of Psychology Graduate Students, with Dr. Joseph Dzierzewski, Dept. of Psychology Background: Studies have supported the claim that good physical health and positive affect have a lasting positive impact on the body and the brain across all age groups. High levels of activity and positive affect can boost immunity, increase life expectancy, and promote resiliency. Studies have also shown that poor physical health and low affect can negatively impact sleep quality. While the associations among physical health, affect, and sleep have been examined, the present study aims to extend these findings to sleep health, a newly developed construct which aims to emphasize the benefits of sleep, rather than the negative effects of the absence of sleep. The purpose of this study is to determine the predictive power of affect for sleep health above and beyond age and physical health, in a large sample of adults. Methods: Data from this study were drawn from a larger online survey investigating sleep and health outcomes across various developmental stages. In this study, physical health, affect, and sleep health were self-reported. Sleep health was measured using the RU-SATED, and affect was measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Physical health was measured as the total number of self-reported medical conditions from a list of common conditions. A hierarchical linear regression was conducted, with age in block 1, physical health in block 2, positive and negative affect in block 3, and sleep health as a dependent variable. Results: A three-level hierarchical linear regression was computed to investigate if affect predicted sleep health above and beyond age and physical health. When age was entered, it predicted sleep health, F(1, 3282) = 61.87, p \u3c .001, R2 = .019. This initial model revealed that 1.9% of the variance in sleep health was predicted by knowing the participant’s age. When physical health was entered, it predicted sleep health, ∆F(1, 3281) = 78.53, p \u3c .001, ∆R2 = .023. This model revealed that an additional 2.3% of the variance in sleep health was predicted by knowing the participant’s physical health. When positive and negative affect were added to the model, they significantly improved prediction, ∆F(2, 3279) = 178.26, p \u3c .001, ∆R2 = .094, revealing that an additional 9.4% of the variance in sleep health was explained by positive and negative affect. All variables together significantly predicted sleep health outcomes, F(4, 3279) = 128.43, p \u3c .001, R2 = .135, with 13.5% variance in sleep health explained. In the final model, age (β = .10, p \u3c .001), physical health (β = -.09, p \u3c .001), positive affect (β = .17, p \u3c .001), and negative affect (β = -.24, p \u3c .001) were significant predictors of sleep health. Conclusion: The current study suggests that affect predicts sleep health above and beyond age and physical health. Greater positive affect and fewer chronic health conditions are associated with better sleep health. Inversely, greater negative affect and more chronic health conditions negatively are associated with worse sleep health. Therefore, people who have higher negative affect (i.e., negative emotions, including anger, contempt, disgust, guilt, fear, and nervousness as well as low self-concept) report poorer sleep. Future studies would benefit from a longitudinal design to examine the associations among positive affect, physical health, and sleep health over time. Moreover, studies could incorporate clinical samples with chronic medical conditions to further explore the associations among affect, physical health, and sleep health. Given the strong association between affect and sleep health, future studies could also explore interventions that foster positive affect to see if manipulation of affect improves sleep health.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1390/thumbnail.jp

Science Alive!: Connecting with Elementary Students through Science Exploration

A novel program called Science Alive! was developed by undergraduate faculty members, K–12 school teachers, and undergraduate students to enrich science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) literacy at community schools located near the university. The ultimate goal of the program is to bolster the scientific knowledge and appreciation of local area students and community members and serve as a model for similar programs. Through the program, we observed that elementary school students made gains toward learning their grade-level science curricula after a hands-on learning experience and had fun doing these hands-on activities. Through the program, undergraduate students, working with graduate students and alumni, build scientific learning modules using explanatory handouts and creative activities as classroom exercises. This helps better integrate scientific education through a collaborative, hands-on learning program. Results showed that elementary school students made the highest learning gains in their performance on higher-level questions related to both forces and matter as a result of the hands-on learning modules. Additionally, college students enjoyed the hands-on activities, would consider volunteering their time at such future events, and saw the service learning program as a benefit to their professional development through community building and discipline-specific service. The science modules were developed according to grade-level curricular standards and can be used year after year to teach or explain a scientific topic to elementary school students via a hands-on learning approach

Toward Understanding the Role of Amot80 Lipid Binding in Cellular Proliferation and Migration

poster abstractsAmots are adaptor proteins which coordinate signaling that controls cellular differentiation and proliferation, and their Amot coiled-coil homology (ACCH) domain is able to bind lipids with specificity which leads to membrane deformation and targets transcription factors to the nucleus. Understanding the biophysical mechanisms involved in lipid binding may provide pathways to modulate protein sorting and downstream signaling events inducing cellular differentiation, cancer cell proliferation, and migration. At this time, all work reported on signaling based on Amot expression is unable to distinguish between the role of the Amot80 and the 130 family members as they share a common ACCH domain. The goal of this project is to specifically relate the Amot80 ACCH lipid binding with function related to cancer phenotypes Mutations were carried forward based on lipid sedimentation, FRET, and SAXS assays against the ACCH domain of the protein. Site-directed mutagenesis was then employed to probe the specific contributions of 7 selected lysines and arginines toward lipid head-group binding in the full length protein. The polarity/scaffolding signaling effect of mutations in the Amot80 will be monitored by matrigel, accumulation/cell counting, and titrated thymidine incorporation assays. Cell morphology will be imaged by confocal imaging, and cellular migration will be recorded by video. The effects on YAP1/2 and MAPK activation will be assessed by immunoblot analysis. The changes will then be correlated in extracellular scaffolding and migration with immunoblots and cellular staining. Likewise, effects on proliferation will be monitored by MTT assays. The hypothesis of this aim is that modulation of Amot’s ability to bind selective lipids will interrupt the signaling pathways leading to cellular migration, differentiation, and proliferation. This work was supported by the IUPUI Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) and NIH K01CA169078-01

Behavioral Health Integration in Primary Care

Behavioral Health Integration in Primary Care Casey Zapata, Depts. of Psychology and English, Demetrius Carter, & MaryKate Crawford, and Samantha Mladen, Emily Donovan, Amber Fox, & Kristen O’Loughlin, Dept. of Psychology Graduate Students, with Dr. Bruce Rybarczyk, Dept. of Psychology Background/Aims: Due to limited access to mental health care, many patients present to primary care with mental health concerns, such as depression and anxiety. Integrated primary care (IPC), an emerging practice model that integrates behavioral health providers with medical providers in primary care, has been demonstrated to improve patient outcomes. This project aims to characterize patients being seen in safety-net IPC, both demographically and clinically. Methods: The data were collected across three safety-net clinics in the Richmond area. The sample consisted of 96 adult patients: 68 female (71%), 24 male (25%), 1 non binary (1%), and 3 not collected (3%); 54 African-American (56%), 29 White (30%), 1 Asian (1%), 1 Other (1%), and 11 not collected (12%). Measures included a patient-completed checklist of patients’ behavioral health concerns, the PHQ-9 for depression, the GAD-7 for anxiety, and clinician-completed chart review for demographic factors. Results: Of the 72 patients who completed the GAD-7, patients reported 13 (18%) severe symptoms of anxiety, 11 (15%) moderate symptoms, 15 (21%) mild symptoms, and 33 (46%) subclinical symptoms. For the 37 patients who completed the PHQ-9, patients reported 7 (19%) severe depressive symptoms, 10 (27%) moderately severe symptoms, 12 (32%) moderate symptoms, 6 (16%) mild symptoms, and 2 (5%) subclinical symptoms. The six most commonly patient-reported problems were stress (n= 73), anxiety (n= 70), depression (n= 65), sleep (n = 55), grief (n = 53), and irritability (n= 53). When asked to rank their top three concerning problems, the five concerns most commonly ranked as top problems were: : (1) anxiety (n = 29), (2) stress (n = 28), (3) depression (n = 27), (4) sleep (n=16), and (5) weight (n=15). Further, 56 (58%) participants reported both depression and anxiety as among their top three concerns. Discussion: Anxiety and depression were reported by the majority of patients, with 33% experiencing at least moderate anxiety and 78% experiencing at least moderate depression. Additionally, anxiety and depression were cited as the third most commonly reported concerns, respectively, as well as ranked within the top three most concerning problems for most participants. Stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep were included in both the most commonly reported problems and the most common top three concerns of participants, suggesting that these concerns are both pervasive and troublesome for participants. Over time, this project will prioritize increasing sample size and tracking longitudinal trends. The continued study of safety-net IPC may allow for increasing access to behavioral health, identifying common behavioral health concerns in primary care, and meeting unmet patient needs.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1340/thumbnail.jp

Major Merger Galaxy Pairs at z = 0: Dust Properties and Companion Morphology

We present an analysis of dust properties of a sample of close major-merger galaxy pairs selected by K_s magnitude and redshift. The pairs represent the two populations of spiral–spiral (S+S) and mixed morphology spiral–elliptical (S+E). The Code Investigating GALaxy Emission software is used to fit dust models to the Two Micron All Sky Survey, Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, and Herschel flux density measurements, and to derive the parameters describing the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons contribution, interstellar radiation field, and photodissociation regions. Model fits verify our previous Spitzer Space Telescope analysis that S+S and S+E pairs do not have the same level of enhancement of star formation and differ in dust composition. The spirals of mixed-morphology galaxy pairs do not exhibit the enhancements in interstellar radiation field and therefore dust temperature for spirals in S+S pairs in contrast to what would be expected according to standard models of gas redistribution due to encounter torques. This suggests the importance of the companion environment/morphology in determining the dust properties of a spiral galaxy in a close major-merger pair