For undergraduate students, most of their science education consists of learning facts, practicing skills in the laboratory, and developing critical thinking. Conducting a research project requires all three of those facets plus the exploration of the unknown and hands on experience in how the facts they learn in the classroom get discovered in the first place. Students also gain a greater appreciation for the difficulty of progress in science including the fact that there are often many more failures on the way to a successful outcome when testing unknown hypotheses. Experience conducting publication-quality research is one of the most sought after traits in applicants to Ph.D. graduate programs.
Here are some examples of past neuroscience research projects conducted by Wofford students.
Avoidance of sweet stimuli following conditioned taste aversions to glucose or fructose – Ashlyn Fox, Olivia Miller, Allie Newman, Amita Patel and Emma Pyle
The role of relatedness and distinctiveness in memory of visual stimuli – Betsy Covington, Avery Jucksch, Timmy Phillips, Eileen Robertson and Sam Teigen
A specific role for GABA-A receptors in modifying taste perceptions in rats – Kentrice Cameron, Elizabeth Haltiwanger, Brittany Joyce, Taylor Owen, Banks Reigel and Belle Scott
Effect of social stress on working memory in women – Kim Arjune, Gabi Champion, Amber Parnell, Sophia Tan and Vanessa Zarubin
Manipulating the n-back paradigm: Presentation time effects depend on memory load and age – Lindsay Cooke, Lani Smith, and Ellie Varn
Examining the N1 response to motivational stimuli: An Event Related Potential ERP study – Kim Arjune, Paige Bolton, Abbey Brasington and Vanessa Zarubin
The palatability of a new formulation for LPV/r, an antiretroviral HIV treatment – Alexandra Drobonick, Hannah King, Cody Mesta and Callie Richards