Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
"No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth." These were the words of former Facebook Vice President Chamath Palihapitiya who publicly expressed his regret in a 2017 interview over his role in co-creating Facebook. Palihapitiya shared that social media is ripping apart the social fabric of society and he also sounded the alarm regarding social media’s unavoidable global impact. He is only one of social media’s countless critics. The more disturbing issue resides in the empirical evidence supporting such notions. At least 95% of adolescents own a smartphone and spend an average time of two to four hours a day on social media. Moreover, 91% of 16-24-year-olds use social media, yet youth rate Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter as the worst social media platforms. However, the social, clinical, and neurodevelopment ramifications of using social media regularly are only beginning to emerge in research. Early research findings show that social media platforms trigger anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and other negative mental health effects. These negative mental health symptoms are commonly reported by individuals from of 18-25-years old, a unique period of human development known as emerging adulthood. Although emerging adulthood is characterized by identity exploration, unbounded optimism, and freedom from most responsibilities, it also serves as a high-risk period for the onset of most psychological disorders. Despite social media’s adverse impacts, it retains its utility as it facilitates identity exploration and virtual socialization for emerging adults. Investigating the “user-centered” design and neuroscience underlying social media platforms can help reveal, and potentially mitigate, the onset of negative mental health consequences among emerging adults. Effectively deconstructing the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (i.e., hereafter referred to as “The Big Three”) will require an extensive analysis into common features across platforms. A few examples of these design features include: like and reaction counters, perpetual news feeds, and omnipresent banners and notifications surrounding the user’s viewport. Such social media features are inherently designed to stimulate specific neurotransmitters and hormones such as dopamine, serotonin, and cortisol. Identifying such predacious social media features that unknowingly manipulate and highjack emerging adults’ brain chemistry will serve as a first step in mitigating the negative mental health effects of today’s social media platforms. A second concrete step will involve altering or eliminating said features by creating a social media platform that supports and even enhances mental well-being.
Neurological manifestations may be more prominent and have a larger role in ankylosing spondylitis than previously thought. Ankylosing Spondylitis is a rheumatic disease primarily identified by its autoinflammatory characteristics and is highly associated with the HLA-B27 gene. While it’s cause is not yet fully understood and it’s symptoms widely vary, neurological impairment is not uncommon. The neurological manifestations of Ankylosing Spondylitis include but are not limited to pain sensitization, altered brain phenotype, and disrupted cardiac conduction. Central and peripheral nervous system involvement may be more significant than previously thought and have the potential to cause demyelinating diseases, spinal cord, and nerve root injuries. Altered connectivity throughout various regions within the brain further exemplify the need for a better understanding of the disease and better treatment development. Higher instances of depression and dementia were also reported and coincide with not only a less active lifestyle, but altered brain activity. Studies on cardiac conduction and arrhythmias in AS patients revealed parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system dysregulation. These studies have explored the possibility of new targets for treatment involving cardiac mechanisms. Treatments for diseases of a similar suspected pathology, new prospective targets for therapy, and a more thorough understanding of current treatments for the disease may be the key in providing more substantial relief. By further investigation in the role of the nervous system in Ankylosing Spondylitis, the disease may become more manageable for patients and greatly increase quality of life in the future.