From the NBB Department Facebook Page:
"This is a long post but start with "Do you love dogs?" If that answer is YES, read on!
This year the Canine Cognitive Neuroscience Lab plans to continue
research using awake, unrestrained fMRI to investigate concepts in
domestic dogs. There are two ongoing projects in the lab, both of which
would be beneficial for an undergraduate researcher to participate in:
The first project is investigating associative learning rates in the
brain based on the presentation of three different
modalities of stimuli. This study requires that the dog participate in
three different MRI scans, during which an experimenter is required to
control the presentation of stimuli to the dogs during fMRI data
acquisition. The second study will be examining how dogs process two
dimensional and three-dimensional objects, and whether they treat 2D and
3D objects as equivalent stimuli. A researcher is required to control
the presentation of 2D and 3D stimuli to the dog during fMRI data
acquisition.
Aside from conducting experiments, an undergraduate
researcher would learn how to process and analyze fMRI data, as well as
introductory python programing. Undergraduates who enter the lab begin
by learning the basics of MRI, how to run scripts on the computer, as
well as basic canine anatomy. All members of the lab, graduate and
undergraduate, work on drawing masks over the regions of interest of the
brain based on the hypotheses of the study. Undergraduate researchers
will learn how to integrate computer scripts with basic python to parse
timing files created during the presentation of stimuli. After learning
to process data, students will analyze the results to generate design
matrices with the appropriate contrasts of interest for the current
study.
Undergraduates will learn the skills necessary for the
preprocessing, analyses, and completion of a study. However, student
researchers will also have the opportunity to design their own study.
There are several possibilities for future fMRI studies of canines, as
well as an available pool of canine subjects with which to conduct
behavioral studies. Additionally, recent contacts at the Atlanta Zoo
have offered the opportunity to conduct research with other nonhuman
animals investigating cognition and behavior.
Should an
undergraduate wish to capitalize on this opportunity, they will have
support for the design and implementation of their project.
Undergraduates who have participated in research in the past have
presented posters about their individual projects at the SIRE program’s
research fair at Emory University, and have also had the opportunity to
be co-authors on manuscripts submitted for publication.
