A shocking 77-88% of people who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) do not receive rehabilitation. Furthermore, individuals who are hispanic, have public or no insurance are less likely to receive rehabilitation. Access to transportation is an additional barrier to receiving rehabilitation. The literature has shown immersive/interactive virtual reality (VR) to improve the memory of people with a TBI. Virtual reality can address geographical and financial barriers. The authors seek to contribute to the literature in support of the implementation of VR as a tool for rehabilitation. Therefore, the authors hypothesize that VR would benefit those with a traumatic brain injury with a below average PRMQ (prospective memory) score on identifying objects in the correct order over time more than those with above average PRMQ scores. This study was a randomized control pilot with an optional delayed intervention study on prospective memory. Using a convenience sampling method, participants were recruited from a local nonprofit: the Brain Injury Center of Ventura County via announcements at support groups, social media, and email. Inclusion criteria included participants who were one year post-TBI. Exclusion criteria included vision impairment and physical mobility limitations prohibiting the participant from performing the basic tasks in each scenario. The independent variable is the group receiving the virtual reality prospective memory intervention, the dependent variable are the PRMQ scores and the control group are those who played a memory card game. A survival analysis was used to test the hypothesis. Seventy-five percent of those who underwent the VR intervention showed an improvement in their memory compared to 50% in the control group.

Poster Presentation

Session 3

2:45pm – 4:00pm
Grand Salon

Health Science

In this study we will investigate the correlation between religiosity and attitudes towards cannabis. As a part of this examination, we will conduct a thorough analysis of data collected on 2,850 respondents. While processing this data, we will explore how religion affects cannabis use rate, self-reported health status, and quality of life. As an additional point of inquiry, we will also consider whether the cannabis use was medical or recreational, and how self-reported health status affects permissibility of violating religious principles. Although various studies have already supported the finding that religiosity decreases cannabis use, there is a lack of research concerning how the medicinal aspect of cannabis can override religious convictions. In this study we will question if low self-reported health status significantly alters the rate of cannabis use among religious respondents, inferring that imminent health concerns may alleviate the dissonance that arises by acting in contradiction to religious values. The data provided in the survey will be analyzed in SPSS to determine if the results are significant. We expect to find results supporting previous research that religion positively correlates with self-reported health status and quality of life. We also aim to establish the relationship between self-reported health status, religiosity, and medical cannabis use; specifically how cannabis use among religiously affiliated respondents is affected by self-reported health status.

Poster Presentation

Session 2

1:00pm – 2:15pm
Grand Salon

Health Science

The parabrachial nucleus (PBN) is located in the pons, surrounding the superior cerebellar peduncle. Data collected from rodent models have shown that it plays an integral role in various physiological functions, including sleep and wakefulness, taste, appetite, visceral sensation, nociception, temperature regulation, itch, and chemosensation. The present work aims to identify whether the primate PBN contains the diversity of neuropeptides that have been described in rodents.

We performed a detailed literature review on this region and also mapped the distribution of calbindin (CAL), cholecystokinin (CCK), dynorphin (DYN), galanin (GAL), neurotensin (NT), somatostatin (SOM), and substance P (SP) applying immunohistochemical techniques on horizontal brainstem cross-sections obtained from four neurologically normal human subjects and five male Cebus monkeys.

Overall, cell body morphology and fiber distribution in the external lateral and external medial subnuclei were similar in both primate species, but there were clear differences in peptide distribution. Both the external lateral and external medial subnuclei contained CAL, CCK, NT, SOM, and SP immunoreactivity. DYN was observed in the external lateral PBN, and GAL was present in the central lateral and dorsal medial PBN. The external lateral subnucleus exhibited a distinct topographical distribution of GAL, CAL, CCK, DYN, and SOM, with DYN and SOM overlapping in the ventral corner of the subnucleus.
 
The results of our literature review and histological analysis suggest that the neuropeptide distribution in the primate Lateral PBN is similar to the one described in rodents. This allows for inferences into possible physiological parallels.

Poster Presentation

Session 2

1:00pm – 2:15pm
Grand Salon

Health Science

Academics has historically utilized material such as needs assessments and problem statements to justify the initiation of community organizing efforts, convey a necessity for advocacy, and implement programs to improve the well-being of a population. This research study aims to identify if virtual reality (VR) establishes more empathy and understanding for a community than a traditional written needs assessment in an effort to continually improve individual understanding of cultural, social, and health-related experiences of a population, specifically those of older adults. By students exploring three VR scenarios, the findings within this study can provide insight into the effect of VR technology in promoting emotional connection to marginalized communities when compared with traditional written assessments in an effort to encourage community organizing and understanding of health needs. Through quantitative and qualitative data analysis, we will analyze the impacts of VR on the primary constructs of empathy, knowledge, and understanding. Pre- and post-surveys will also evaluate attitude, relatability, engagement, and action or likeliness to act. This valuable insight could foster the implementation of VR technology and contribute to the development of more effective treatments and inclusive advocacy in efforts to promote community health.

Poster Presentation

Session 1

9:15am – 10:30am
Grand Salon

Health Science

The topic of the study is to see how opioid dosage for adults with pain varies between Latinos and whites among non-cannabis and cannabis users. We are going to observe the difference in prescribed opioid dosage between two demographic groups using the Emergency room quantitative data surveys provided by Dr. Clobes. The background would be focused on Latinos and Whites with their use of cannabis. With the quantitative data survey provided by Dr. Clobes, the medical diagnosis would determine whether the subjects benefited from the use of cannabis compared to non-cannabis users. Some considerations to take note of would be the type of pain each user is experiencing. Theoretically, the use of cannabis should nullify some symptoms (e.g. chest pain, abdominal pain, etc.), but results may differ depending on the user, and whether it was combined with another opioid. Our research question is “How does opioid dosage for adults with pain vary between Latinos and whites among non-cannabis users and cannabis users?” By analyzing such data, we will be able to determine the differences in each racial group and consider why such differences occur. This will allow us to have more of a better understanding of the variety of different opioid dosages between individuals in each racial group. By using a two-way ANOVA test, we will determine how race and use of cannabis products change a person’s prescribed opioid dosage. The two independent variables for our research project are race and cannabis usage, and the dependent variable is the dose of opioids prescribed. We presume that our findings on the correlation of opioid dosage and cannabis usage between whites and latinos will have a significant difference. Given our data, the difference may be because each person may choose to either accept or decline opioids in the emergency room, and many people may choose to either participate in medical cannabis usage or choose to decline usage. Outliers in our data include people choosing to decline cannabis usage and will be factored into our analysis of the data when using the two-way ANOVA.

Poster Presentation

Session 1

9:15am – 10:30am
Grand Salon

Health Science