Theses and dissertations

This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students. 

Displaying 1 - 2 of 2
Filtering by

Clear all filters

134068-Thumbnail Image.png

The Comparison of Frontostriatal Tracts Between Adolescents with ADHD and a Typically Developing Adolescent Control Group

Description
The frontostriatal reward circuit serves an underlying role in reward processing, cognitive planning, and motor control in the context of achieving a goal. Furthermore, research suggests a relationship between the reward circuits and behavior expressed in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); however, the specific structural differences of the reward circuits…

The frontostriatal reward circuit serves an underlying role in reward processing, cognitive planning, and motor control in the context of achieving a goal. Furthermore, research suggests a relationship between the reward circuits and behavior expressed in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); however, the specific structural differences of the reward circuits in those with ADHD remain ambiguous. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) techniques were used to analyze diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) data in order to examine the structural connectivity of frontostriatal reward pathways in ADHD adolescents compared to typically developing (TD) adolescents. It was hypothesized that measures of impulsivity would be predicted by white matter tract integrity measures in frontostriatal tracts related to affective processing (ventromedial prefrontal cortex to ventral striatum, vmPFC) in adolescents with ADHD, and that there would be reduced tract integrity in tracts related to executive control (dorsolateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex—dlPFC and ACC, respectively). Frontostriatal tracts as well as the hippocampus and amygdala were examined in relation to age and impulsivity using both correlation and regression models. Results indicated that impulsivity declined with age in the TD group while no significant trend was identified for the ADHD group. The hypotheses were not supported and results for both predictions on the affective and executive circuits showed opposite trends from what was expected.
ContributorsHarrison, Sydney Rae (Author) / McClure, Samuel (Thesis director) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12

Pain During Midlife: A Cross-National Analysis of Cohort Differences in Reports of Pain in the United States, Europe, South Korea, and Mexico

Description
Over the past several decades, middle-aged Americans have exhibited troubling trends of declining mental and physical health over successive cohorts. Interestingly, this trend has not been observed in peer nations in Europe, Asia, and Mexico. Later-born cohorts in other countries typically report better midlife mental and physical health than their…

Over the past several decades, middle-aged Americans have exhibited troubling trends of declining mental and physical health over successive cohorts. Interestingly, this trend has not been observed in peer nations in Europe, Asia, and Mexico. Later-born cohorts in other countries typically report better midlife mental and physical health than their earlier-born counterparts. It is less clear the extent to which physical pain shows similar trends to what has been observed in the U.S. and comparison peer nations. The goal of the current study was to examine how self-reports of pain have historically changed during midlife and investigate whether differences emerge between the U.S. and peer nations. We used harmonized data on pain from nationally representative longitudinal panel surveys from the U.S., 13 European nations, South Korea, and Mexico to directly quantify similarities and differences in historical change in midlife pain. Our results supported the hypothesis that midlife pain is higher amongst later-born cohorts in the U.S. A similar pattern of historical increases in pain was observed in Continental and Nordic Europe. In England, Mediterranean Europe, South Korea, and Mexico, the opposite pattern was observed with historical declines in pain. Historical increases in reports of pain in the U.S. emerged more quickly for later-born cohorts at earlier stages of midlife. These results suggest there could be aspects of American midlife today that are exacerbating reports of pain, and these aspects may be shared in some European nations but absent or less influential in other peer nations. Our discussion focuses on potential explanations for this pattern, such as population level discrepancies in health, differential use of health care services, and the inter/intrapersonal costs of westernization, as well as how pain is conceptualized across nations.
ContributorsSyed, Orchee (Author) / Infurna, Frank (Thesis director) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2023-12