Neuroscience & Behavior

Student Accomplishments

Research Awards

GRACA

Alicia P. Buttner (2013, 2014)
Jon Cavanaugh (2013, 2014)
Elizabeth Heinrichs-Graham (2013)
Michelle Huffman (2013)
Aaryn Mustoe (2013, 2014)
Jacquelyn (Davis) Omelian (2013, 2014)
Louis Martin (2013, 2014)
Andrew Riquier (2013)
Jack Taylor (2013, 2014)

UCRCA

Andrew Riquier (2014)
Louis Martin (2013)

Scholarships/Awards

• Jon Cavanaugh
  • Departmental nominee for Presidential Fellowship (Masters), UNO (2013)
  • Rhoden Biological Fellowship. UNO. 2014-2015.
• Elizabeth Graham
  • UNO Dissertation Scholarship recipient (2014)
  • Helen Hansen Outstanding Graduate Student nominee, Psychology (2013)
• Jacquelyn (Davis) Omelian
  • Association for Chemoreceptive Sciences, Travel Fellowship (2014)
• Louis Martin
  • Association for Chemoreception Sciences Housing Award, (2014)
• Aaryn Mustoe
  • University of Nebraska Presidential Graduate Fellowship 2013-2014
  • American Society of Primatology Student Competition Finalist 2013
  • UNO Outstanding Graduate Student Oral Presentation Award 2013
• Kristen Snyder
  • Competitive Fellowship from Graduate Studies at UNO 2013

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Graduate Student Publications

Birnie, A.K., Taylor, J.H., Cavanaugh, J., & French, J.A. (2013). Quality of maternal
and paternal care predicts later stress reactivity in the cooperatively-breeding marmoset
(Callithrix geoffroyi). Psychoneuroendocrinology, 38(12), 3003-3014.

Buttner, A. P. & Strasser, R. (2014). Contagious yawning, social cognition, and arousal: an investigation of the processes underlying shelter dogs’ responses to human yawns. Animal Cognition, 17, 95-104.

Cavanaugh, J. & French, J.A. (2013). Post-partum variation in the expression of paternalcare is unrelated to urinary steroid metabolites in marmoset fathers. Hormones and Behavior, 63(4), 551-558.

French, J.A., Mustoe, A.C., Cavanaugh, J. & Birnie, A.K. (2013). The influence of androgenic steroid hormones on female aggression in ‘atypical’ mammals. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 368 (1631).

Mustoe, A. C., Taylor, J. H., Birnie, A. K., Huffman, M. C., & French, J. A. (2014). Gestational cortisol and play shape development of marmosets’ HPA functioning and behavioral responses and stressors. Developmental Psychobiology. doi: 10.1002/dev.21203

Taylor, J.H., Mustoe, A.C., French, J.A., (2014). Behavioral responses to social separation stressor change across development and are dynamically related to HPA activity in marmosets. American Journal of Primatology, 76(3), 239-248. DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22228

Kurz MJ, Heinrichs-Graham E, Arpin DJ, Becker KM, Wilson TW (2014). Aberrant Synchrony in the Somatosensory Cortices Predicts Motor Performance Errors in Children with Cerebral Palsy. Journal of Neurophysiology 111(3):573-9. PMID: 24225536. 

Becker KM, Heinrichs-Graham E, Fox HS, Robertson KR, Sandkovsky US, O’Neill J, Swindells S, Wilson TW (2013). Decreased MEG beta oscillations in HIV-infected older adults during the resting-state. Journal of NeuroVirology 19(6): 586-94. PMID: 24297500. 

Wilson TW, Heinrichs-Graham E, White ML, Knott NL, Wetzel MW. (2013) Estimating the passage of minutes: Deviant oscillatory frontal activity in medicated and un-medicated ADHD.  Neuropsychology 27(6): 652-65. PMID: 24040925.

Wilson TW, Heinrichs-Graham E, Robertson KR, Sandkovsky U, O’Neill J, Knott NL, Fox HS, & Swindells S. (2013). Functional brain abnormalities during finger-tapping in HIV-infected older adults: A magnetoencephalography study. Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology 8(4): 965-74. PMID: 23749418.

Wilson TW, Fox HS, Robertson KR, Sandkovsky U, O’Neill J, Heinrichs-Graham E, Knott NL, & Swindells S. (2013). Abnormal MEG oscillatory activity during visual processing in the prefrontal cortices and frontal eye-fields of the aging HIV brain. PLoS One 8(6): e66241. PMID: 23840428.

Franzen JD, Heinrichs-Graham E, White ML, Wetzel MW, Knott NL, Wilson TW (2013). Atypical coupling between posterior regions of the default-mode network in ADHD: A pharmaco-MEG study.  Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience 38(5): 333-40. PMID: 23611175. 

Madhavan D, Heinrichs-Graham E, Wilson TW (2013). Whole-brain functional connectivity increases with extended duration of focal epileptiform activity. Neuroscience Letters 542: 26-9. PMID: 23506687.

Wilson TW, Franzen JD, Heinrichs-Graham E, White ML, Knott NL, Wetzel MW (2013). Broadband neurophysiological abnormalities in the medial prefrontal region of the default-mode network in adults with ADHD. Human Brain Mapping 34: 566-74. PMID: 22102400.

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International/National Presentations

Buttner, A. P. & Strasser, R.(2013). Understanding the physiological processes that underlie dogs’ yawning in response to human yawns. Oral presentation at the 22nd Annual International Society for Anthrozoology 2013 Conference, Chicago, IL.

Cavanaugh, J. & French, J.A. (2013). The presence of a male co-twin in utero does not affect the lifetime reproductive success of female marmosets. Poster presented at the 36th meeting of the American Society of Primatologists, San Juan, PR.

Cavanaugh, J. & French, J.A. (2013). The presence of a male co-twin in utero does not affect the lifetime reproductive success of female marmosets. Poster presented at the 17th Annual Meeting for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Atlanta, GA.

Mustoe, A.C., Harnisch, A., Cavanaugh, J., French, J.A. (2013). Do marmosets care to share? Other-regarding preferences following manipulation of the oxytocin system. Presented at the 36th meeting of the American Society of Primatologists. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Student competition finalist

Mustoe, A.C., Santo, J.B., Adams, R.E., Bukowski, W.B., (2014). Prosocial behavior is related to girls’ psychology and boys’ physiological measures of negative reactivity in adolescent children. Presented at the 15th Society for Research on Adolescence Biennial Meeting, Austin, TX

Huffman, M. C., Birnie, A. K., & French, J. A. (2013, June). Prenatal androgen exposure influences timing of reproductive development in female, but not male, marmosets (C. Geoffroyi). Poster presented at the annual Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Atlanta, GA and American Society of Primatology, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Martin, L. J., & Sollars, S. I. (2014). Neonatal Chorda Tympani Transection Reduces Adult Glossopharyngeal Nerve Responses to NaCl in Rats. Association for Chemoreception Sciences, 36.

Martin, L. J., & Sollars, S. I. (2013). Functional profile of the adult glossopharyngeal nerve following neonatal chorda tympani transection in rats. Association for Chemoreception Sciences, 35.

Omelian, J.M. & Sollars, S.I. (2014). Electrophysiological responses of the chorda tympani nerve following chronic capsaicin exposure in rats. Association for Chemoreception Sciences, 39.

Omelian, J.M. & Sollars, S.I. (2013). Long-term acclimation to capsaicin affects taste bud volume and consumption in rats. Association for Chemoreception Sciences, 38.

Omelian, J. M., Martin, L. J., & Sollars, S. I. (2014). Electrophysiological responses of the chorda tympani following chronic capsaicin exposure in adult rats.    Association for Chemoreception Sciences, 36.

Placzek, R. & Strasser, R. (2013).  The Influence of Short-term Increases in Testosterone on Status-relevant Aggressive Behaviors.Nebraska Psychological Society, Nov. 2nd, 2013.

Placzek, R. &Strasser, R. (2013).  The Influence of Short-term Increases in Testosterone on Status-relevant Aggressive Behaviors.Animal Behavior Society, July 30th, 2013.

Taylor, JH & French, JA (2013). Behavioral Responses to Social Separation Decrease Across Development and are Dynamically Related to HPA Activity in Marmosets. Poster presented at the annual meetings of the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology and the American Society of Primatologists.

McDermott TJ, Badura Brack A, Heinrichs-Graham E, Wilson TW (2014). Working memory deficits in veterans with combat related PTSD: A magnetoencephalography study. To be presented at the 26th Annual APS Convention, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Badura Brack A, Becker KM, Heinrichs-Graham E, McDermott TJ, Ryan T, Wilson TW (2014). Magnetoencephalography reveals combat veterans’ resting state is much less restful than matched-controls. To be presented at the 26th Annual APS Convention, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Heinrichs-Graham E, Wilson TW, Santamaria PM, Heithoff SK, Torres-Russotto D, Hutter-Saunders JAL, Estes KA, Meza JL, Mosley RL, Gendelman HE (2013). Aberrant beta oscillations during movement planning in Parkinson’s using MEG. Presented at the 19th Annual Conference of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Seattle, WA, USA.

Wilson TW, Heinrichs-Graham E, Robertson KR, Sandkovsky US, O’Neill J, Fox HS, Swindells S (2013). MEG oscillatory activity during visual processing in HIV-infected and uninfected older adults. Presented at the 19th Annual Conference of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Seattle, WA, USA.

Wilson TW, Heinrichs-Graham E, Becker KM, White ML, Wetzel MW (2013). Revisiting medial prefrontal cortex dysfunction in adults with ADHD: Evidence from Pharmaco-MEG imaging. Presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry (SoBP), San Francisco, CA, USA.

Arpin DJ, Becker KM, Heinrichs-Graham E, Wilson TW, Kurz MJ (2013). Neuromagnetic activity of the sensorimotor cortices during the motor planning and execution stages in children with cerebral palsy. Presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, Omaha, NE, USA.

Kurz MJ, Arpin D, Heinrichs-Graham E, Becker KM, Wilson TW. (2013). The neuromagnetic activity of the sensorimotor cortices and the ankle force control is altered in children with cerebral palsy. Presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics. Omaha, NE, USA.

Schroeder CL, Heinrichs-Graham E, Becker KM, Wilson TW, Bonasera SJ. (2013). Magnetoencephalography evaluation of a computerized cognitive assessment battery. Presented at the 2013 Conference of the American Geriatrics Society. Grapevine, TX, USA.

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Local Presentations

Buttner, A. P. (2014). Does the human stress response to competitive loss influence dogs’ cortisol concentration? Oral presentation at the UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair, Omaha, NE.

Buttner, A. P. (2014). Does the human stress response to competitive loss influence dogs’ cortisol concentration? Oral presentation at the UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair, Omaha, NE.

Cavanaugh, J. & French, J.A. (2013). Temporal patterns of sociality and steroid
metabolite excretion during pair-bond formation in marmosets. Poster presented at the
Nebraska Neuroscience Symposium, sponsored by EPSCoR, Omaha, NE.

Cavanaugh, J., Mustoe, A.C., Taylor, J.H., & French, J.A. (2014). Oxytocin facilitates fidelity in well-established marmoset pairs. Paper presented at the 6th Annual Student Research and Creative Activity Fair at the University of Nebraska – Omaha.

Davis, J.M. (2014). Taste receptor cell counts following oral capsaicin desensitization. University of Nebraska at Omaha, Research and Creative Activities Fair.

Davis, J.M. (2013). Chronic oral capsaicin highlights relationship between chorda tympani and lingual nerves.  University of Nebraska at Omaha, Research and Creative Activities Fair.

Huffman, M. C., Birnie, A. K., Topf, E. G., & French, J. A. (2014, March). The role of CRF-R2 on alloparental care in Mongolian gerbils.Poster presented at Research and Creative Activity Fair, Omaha, NE.

Martin, L. J., & Sollars, S. I. (2014). Neonatal Chorda Tympani Transection Reduces NaCl Responses in the Glossopharyngeal Nerve of the Adult Rat. University of      Nebraska at Omaha Research and Creative Activity Fair.

Martin, L. J., & Sollars, S. I. (2013). Functional profile of the adult glossopharyngeal nerve following neonatal chorda tympani transection in rats. University of Nebraska Medical Center Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Symposium. Omaha, NE.

Martin, L. J., & Sollars, S. I. (2013). Altered Glossopharyngeal Nerve Functioning Following Neonatal Chorda Tympani Transection in Rats. Nebraska Research and Innovation Conference, Omaha, NE.

Martin, L. J., & Sollars, S. I. (2013). Taste activity in the adult glossopharyngeal nerve following neonatal chorda tympani nerve injury in rats. University of Nebraska at Omaha Research and Creative Activity Fair

Mustoe, A.C., Harnisch, A., & French, J.A. (2014). Marmosets’ response to inequity following manipulation of the oxytocin system. Presented at the 6th Annual UNO Student Research and Creativity Fair. Omaha, NE.

Mustoe, A.C., Harnisch, A., Cavanaugh, J., French, J.A. (2013). Care to Share? Exploring the relationship between altruism and oxytocin in marmosets. Presented at the 5th Annual UNO Student Research and Creativity Fair. Omaha, NE.

Mustoe, A.C., Harnisch, A., Cavanaugh, J., French, J.A. (2013). Do marmosets care to share? Other-regarding preferences following manipulation of the oxytocin system. Presented at the Nebraska Neuroscience Symposium, Omaha, NE

Placzek, R. & Strasser, R. (2013).  The Influence of Short-term Increases in Testosterone on Status-relevant Aggressive Behaviors.Nebraska Psychological Society, Nov. 2nd, 2013.
Riquier, A. (2014). An examination of microglia presence following chorda tympani transection across rat development. University of Nebraska at Omaha Research and Creative Activity Fair.

Riquier, A. (2013). Microglia levels in response to taste nerve transection in developing rats.  Presentation of Research Proposal.Nebraska Psychological Society Meeting.

Riquier, A. (2013).  Astrocyte, microglia, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels In response to neural insult in developing rats. Presentation of Research Proposal. Nebraska's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Conference.

Taylor, JH & French, JA (2013). A Pilot Study Examining Parental Interest in Marmosets. Poster presented at the EPSCoR Nebraska Neuroscience Symposium.

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