Bennett Perkins

Author: Bennett Perkins | Major: Biochemistry | Semester: Fall 2022

Hi, my name is Bennett Perkins, and I am a biochemistry major in the Fulbright college. My mentor is Grant Shields who is a psychology professor running the Arkansas Stress, Cognition, and Affective Neuroscience (ASCAN) lab. My topic is focused on how a stress response is changed through online interaction as opposed to in person interaction. In the past, stress tests have always been done in person to create a stress response. However, this stress response could be different if the process is done through an online platform like zoom. My topic would be to examine stress responses over zoom to see if a cortisol response is seen. This is an important thing to know in today’s world because Covid-19 has turned many things online. For example, job interviews are often done online now so it is important to know the impact of the stress response from doing them online instead of in person. By knowing if a stress response is still induced in an online setting, we can help prepare ourselves for the quickly changing world from Covid-19.

I found my mentor during the peak time of Covid-19. At that time, it was extremely hard to find anyone willing to accept new undergraduates. I initially wanted to join a chemistry lab because I am a biochemistry major. However, after struggling to find the right lab, I began to branch out and found Dr. Shields lab. After reading up on the lab’s website, I thought this lab was incredible. I have always been intrigued by the brain, and looking at the neurological mechanisms, so looking at how stress effects these processes was cool. Also, looking at neurological mechanisms tied this lab to many classes I had taken, so I thought it was a great fit for me. After talking with Dr. Shields, I was given the opportunity to join the lab and have not regretted it since. From there, I met with Dr. Shields, and I was able to determine my topic from there. Through my research topic, I have learned about the processes of stress and cognition. While I am looking at the effect of stress over zoom, it was important to know about the regular stress process and how this affects cognition. By learning this, I was able to see how the online interaction changed the stress response.

While doing my research, one problem I faced was learning the topic in general. As a biochemistry major, I was not a genius at psychology by any means. Instead, I have invested a lot of time reading journals articles learning. Although still not a master, I have learned a lot to be able to understand my topic better. No matter what topic one ends up with, you will have to learn a lot more than you already know. It has been a great experience learning more about stress, cognition, and how stress affects these things. I am excited to continue to learn more as I continue my project.

Another problem doing the cortisol assays. Having never done an assay, I had to learn how to do them. This took multiple training sessions. Next, after training, each assay took around 7 hours. With this much time, it was challenging to squeeze it into my schedule. Because of this, I started in the summer to be able to have 7 hours available. Dr. Shields played a big role in the training of these assays. During my training, there was a lecture day, then I watched both Dr. Vargas and Dr. Shields perform assays. After this, Dr. Shields watched me perform my own assay. From this, I was able to learn how to do them. During each assay, Dr. Shields was available if I ran into any issues or had any questions. Furthermore, Dr. Shields helped me understand the data and what to do with this data.

Right now, I am currently working on analyzing the data and starting to right my thesis. In this step, I will continue learning about cognition and stress in many ways. I am planning on proposing my topic to a journal, so I will also start to work on preparing for this process. Although I do not know all the details, Dr. Shields will help me prepare for this.