Hola peoples

[squid]

Just figured I'd make myself known.  I ran across your forum by browsing for a psychology forum to drop in on every once in a while.

So, who am I?

Well, I'm a research health psych grad student in Texas (finally graduating in May) and I also am a contract research for the Army currently evaluating new medical technologies to diagnosis mTBI and/or PTSD effectively.  Even though I'm almost done with school I'm thinking about pursuing a second line of education in biology - specifically neurobiology but that remains to be seen.

So what's with the name?

The name is one I've used around the interwebs for a while (well, it's actually a shortened version - from the original "solidsquid") but it's basically a nod to my time spent in the U.S. Navy - sailors are often referred to as "squids".

Anything else?

Well, if anyone is curious enough to actually want to know more about me, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

[Enigma]

Look into using MDMA to treat PTSD. 

[SWM]

EMDR works too

Hola squid!

nice introduction, hope to see lots more of you here.

final year eh, is  that a tough one then?

[squid]

EMDR works too

Hola squid!

nice introduction, hope to see lots more of you here.

final year eh, is  that a tough one then?

The final one isn't so bad just the finishing of the thesis that's a pain although it'll all be over by April when I do my defense.  I'll be glad when it's over though.  I'm thinking about looking for an instructor position somewhere if I don't continue the contractor thing.

[SWM]

is the thesis the evaluation of technologies for ptsd? or is that a separate project?

[squid]

No, the technologies evaluation is for work.  My thesis is on light and moderate social drinkers and attentional bias to alcoholic distracter images on a 3 stimulus oddball task.  I'm proposing that drinking behavior falls upon a continuum from non-drinker to debilitated alcoholic and that as one moves along this continuum, from non-drinker to alcoholic, you will find greater attentional bias toward the alcoholic images as measured by simple reaction time to target images.  Much of this has been studied in alcoholics, heavy drinkers and binge drinkers but not light or moderate social drinkers - behavioral groups which there is no social stigma attached and many think that drinking in moderation does wonders for all. However, for the demographic I'm studying - college students (18-25), there really hasn't been much at all in the way of health benefits shown - much of the health benefit is found in middle age and older adults.

I'll also be looking at individual differences between groups such as sex, family history, DHEAS & Cortisol levels, stress scores, handedness, quantity and frequency of drinking, et cetera.  Looking at those aspects may reveal some factors which account for a large portion of variance within the groups and I hope to elucidate that.  I guess we'll find out this spring when I do data analysis.

[SWM]

thats interesting, i worked with alcohol misuse previously but i never needed to do any indepth studies like this. it will be interseting to see what kind of use this information can be put to in the future. do you make any proposals about how the data may be used?

what are the technologies you are looking at for PTSD?

[squid]

thats interesting, i worked with alcohol misuse previously but i never needed to do any indepth studies like this. it will be interseting to see what kind of use this information can be put to in the future. do you make any proposals about how the data may be used?

what are the technologies you are looking at for PTSD?

There's four different ones that we're primarily evaluating for use in diagnosing the mildest forms of TBI but also PTSD as well.  PTSD is often found in cases of TBI so being able to parse those two co-occurring problems would be of great help to providers.

We're looking at using various static balance leg positions, voice analysis, a computerized neuropsychological battery and a non-invasive cerebroaterial pressure wave monitor.