Autism Spectrum Disorder, Socio-Affective Deficits, Auditory Sensitivity, Dysregulated Pain Processing, and the Amygdala By Conner Lee and Jim Stellar Introduction Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that is shown to affect 1 in 31 U.S. children. ASD … Continued
Social Media and its Hidden Effects By Chhiring Sherpa, Lauren Bosch, and Jim Stellar Three personal stories Looking back, it’s almost impossible for me (CH) to remember a time before social media. When I started middle school in 2011, I … Continued
Loss to follow-up in understanding cravings: Tailoring effective public health messaging for HCV/HIV-at-risk populations. Maxwell Gustin UA 25 and Jim Stellar Can the psychological principles behind drug addiction research apply to at-risk health groups (e.g. HCV and HIV populations) to … Continued
What the vagus nerve and the hormone oxytocin tell the frontal lobe to do about stress Catherine Lienemann ‘UA 27, Alondra De Lahongrais Lamboy AGMU’26, and James Stellar We three came together in the spring of 2025 to produce … Continued
The Uncinate Fasciculus neuroplasticity – How does it change with time and how does that change affect cognitive-emotional integration? By Jenay Bartlett UA’25 (JB), Judah Weathers (JW), and Jim Stellar (JS) Like any other brain structure, the Uncinate Fasciculus … Continued
What are Emotional Layers and how does it relate to the Hedonic Continuum? By Dana Morales-De Brecourt UA 25 and Jim Stellar In our previous blog, we explored prefrontal cortical function and the concept of the hedonic continuum. There … Continued
A deeper dive into motivation and decision-making highlighting the Orbitofrontal Cortex’s (OFC) role in this “Value Cortex” By Vanessa NyBlom UA’25 and Jim Stellar Introduction We dedicate this blog post to Dr. Stephen Nadeau, MD of the Neurology Department … Continued
College, Stress, and the Importance of the Default Mode Network By Clare Hart UA’25 and Jim Stellar What is the prevalence of stress in college students, whether conscious or unconscious? A 2025 report suggests that 44% of current undergraduate college … Continued
The developing brain, symbolic logic, white matter, & object permanence Natalia Baron UA ‘26 and Jim Stellar We did a previous blog on metacognition in college students and before that a blog on early childhood development and autism. Now … Continued
ADHD and a cognitive/emotional integration overview By Sophia DiLavore UA’25 and Jim Stellar We have been meeting and talking about ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) for a while, starting with a first blog and again with another second blog. … Continued