Another semester of "Zoom University" has come and gone in a flash! The ever-changing landscape of in-person, virtual, and hybrid classes and research opportunities took a big toll on us all. We are so proud of our Skidmore community for doing everything they can to keep us safe and keep us connected. Even though this was another tough semester, our lab team made great strides and accomplishments.
Our Spring 2021 research initiatives focused on the work of our senior thesis student, Bryanna Mackey, looking at the moderating effect of social support on the negative relationship between stress and cognitive ability in older adults. Alongside her underclassman research assistants, Olive, Emilie-Anne, Miriam, and Abby, Bryanna lead us in a new direction for our lab. Her work allowed us to explore a rich, open-source dataset from the Nathan Kline Institute (NKI) and review literature on stress in the aging brain, the importance of social support for older communities, and the role both these factors play in the aging process of memory, attention, and decision-making. Bryanna and the team spent the Spring curating and analyzing a sample of data from the NKI Rockland sample which included a wide array of physiological and psychological assessments, genetic information, and advanced neuroimaging measures. This project culminated in an insightful senior thesis paper and poster presentation Bryanna delivered to psychology faculty and students. We are so proud of the work you accomplished this past year in the lab, Bryanna! Thank you for bringing a new research interest to the lab. It was a great learning experience for us all!
Lastly, we want to give a big CONGRATULATIONS to the 2021 graduating class! We wish you all the best of luck!
We are eager to move forward in the Fall 2021 semester with another new project that follows-up on Dr. Crocco's prior Master's thesis research from 2018! Stay tuned for updates!
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