Phoebe Zalenski
Author: Phoebe Zalenski | Major: Psychology | Semester: Fall 2022
My name is Phoebe Zalenski, and I am a senior Psychology major at the University of Arkansas in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. My mentor, Dr. Grant Shields, is an assistant professor and cognitive neuroscientist within the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Arkansas. My research for the Fall 2022 semester has commenced, leaving me with only one semester until the end of my undergraduate journey. My future plans include taking a gap year to develop additional professional skills that will benefit me in graduate school. I plan to attend graduate school and eventually earn a PhD in affective neuroscience. My mentor, Dr. Shields, was my professor for my cognitive psychology class in Fall 2021. I was looking to switch labs at the time and saw he was recruiting research assistants for his lab, the A SCAN lab. I eventually joined Dr. Shields’ research team and he became my Honors thesis advisor. I am absolutely certain that I would not be where I am today without Dr. Shields. He is one of my biggest inspirations within the field of psychology, and I am forever grateful for his help.
The topic of my Honors thesis focuses on grey matter differences in individuals high in psychopathic traits versus low in psychopathic traits, specifically within the amygdala and its functional connections with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. My interest in psychopathy began when I was a senior in high school. Four years later, my interest has only grown and I was eager to dedicate my research to better understanding the neural mechanisms behind psychopathic traits. I have learned a tremendous amount about psychopathy and the abnormalities in brain regions associated with it. I have also learned how to preprocess fMRI data and will continue to build my skills on analyzing fMRI scans in the upcoming semester.
All research for this study is conducted at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During the study, participants complete a number of questionnaires (including a questionnaire used to assess psychopathic traits) and then complete a stress task prior to entering the fMRI scanner. After 45 minutes following the stress task, participants will complete the emotion regulation task. After completing another task, participants will be thanked, debriefed, compensated, and dismissed. I am hoping to recruit and analyze a total of 60 participants from the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. The real-world implication behind my research is to help develop a better neurobiological understanding of psychopathic traits, and improving our understanding of the neural bases of emotion regulation.
The most pressing (and perhaps the most frustrating) issue in my research has been recruiting participants for my study. To overcome this, we offer $30 per hour of participation for individuals willing to be a part of the study.
My hypothesis is that a lack of gray matter within the amygdala and functional connectivity between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex will result in higher psychopathic traits. I am yet to analyze much of the data, and I have some concerns regarding whether we will actually find anything pertaining to psychopathic traits. However, if there is one thing conducting research has taught me, it is that not finding significant associations is still important. It would be very interesting if my hypothesis is supported by the data, but even if it is not, I will still be eager to further explore the subject.
The Honors College Research Grant has allowed me to continue conducting my research alongside Dr. Shields in a variety of ways. Due to the very large cost of conducting studies with fMRI scans, receiving this money has allowed us to more comfortably complete our research and deal with the obstacles (especially the financial ones) that arise during the process. In the upcoming semester, I hope to successfully defend my thesis and continue pursuing my end goal of receiving a PhD.