In this issue, learn about the tremendous expansion of a research tool to measure the pulse of America, find out the truth regarding mixed emotions and discover the science behind Doctor Who’s alien anatomy.
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1 Big Thing: $59M to Better Understand America |
The Understanding America Study (UAS) administered by USC Dornsife’s Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) will expand significantly and support new studies regarding Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, thanks to $59 million in grants from the National Institute on Aging.
In brief: The UAS provides researchers with data on American attitudes toward various topics such as health, work, politics and religion.
Why it matters: A $42 million grant will increase the number of study participants by over 40% and integrate new data sources, including wearable technologies like smartwatches.
Two grants totaling $17 million will fund two novel research projects using UAS data.
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- One study will help identify U.S. populations most at risk for cognitive decline later in life, combining genetic information with UAS data, insights from wearable devices, socioeconomic and geographic factors, and much more.
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Another study will look at the well-being of caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and dementia, an understudied group.
- About 16 million Americans provide over 18 billion hours of unpaid care for family and friends with cognitive decline.
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In his words: “The UAS is already an unparalleled tool for giving researchers a broad, long-term view of what influences the daily lives of Americans. These grants will help us create a much more detailed picture for the research community, with important and unprecedented insight into Alzheimer’s disease and dementia that should help improve life for those needing care and their caregivers,” says Arie Kapteyn, CESR’s founder and director.
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Mixed Emotions Feel Real, But Are They? |
In Pixar’s latest film, Inside Out 2, complex feelings like nostalgia make an appearance, but USC Dornsife research on “mixed emotions” could help give them a bigger role.
What’s new: USC Dornsife neuroscientists recently found that brains display distinct neural activity when experiencing mixed emotions like bittersweetness.
Why it matters: Experiencing mixed emotions is common, yet the phenomenon has not been studied much.
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- Researchers have long debated whether mixed emotions are a unique brain activity or just flip-flopping between positive and negative feelings.
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Mixed feelings elicited unique activity in the amygdala and nucleus accumbens areas of the brain.
- This activity was different from that seen when a subject reported a purely positive or negative emotion.
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In his words: “You’re not ping-ponging between negative and positive. It’s a very unique, mixed emotion over a long period,” says Anthony Vaccaro, lead author of the study and a postdoc at USC Dornsife’s Neuroendocrinology of Social Ties Lab.
How they did it: Study participants viewed an animated short film that simultaneously evoked feelings of happiness and sadness while researchers monitored their brain activity using MRI.
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On a second viewing without MRI scans, participants reported their positive, negative or mixed emotions, allowing researchers to align the self-reported feelings to the brain imaging data.
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Opportunity: The study lays out groundwork for scientific research into this understudied area, research that study co-author Jonas Kaplan of psychology says would help in understanding human psychology.
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The Science of Mixed Emotions: Are They Real? |
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Alumna Explains Doctor Who’s Alien Anatomy |
Doctor Who fan and USC Dornsife alumna Amelia Marvit wrote an article for Scientific American exploring the science behind the main character’s dual-heart physiology.
Why it matters: By combining her interests in hard science and science fiction, Marvit epitomizes the cross-disciplinary thinking that’s encouraged at USC Dornsife.
In brief: The protagonist of the long-running, popular television show Doctor Who comes from an alien species called the Time Lords, who travel through space and time and live for centuries.
Marvit analyzed data on cardiac incidents from 13 seasons of Doctor Who, looked over the cardiovascular literature on humans and other species and consulted experts.
A cardiovascular system with two hearts could be configured in two ways, she writes.
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In series, blood flows through one heart and then the other.
- In parallel, each heart pumps blood separately.
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Earth creatures like cephalopods evolved multiple hearts to catch prey more effectively. Time Lords might have evolved two hearts for enhanced endurance and redundancy against cardiac injuries.
Did You Know? Some humans have two hearts.
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- They’ve undergone transplants that connect the donor heart directly to their damaged heart.
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| Doctor Who’s Two Hearts, Explained
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Among the Best Books of the 21st Century |
The New York Times has released its “Best Books of the 21st Century” list, and it includes three professors from USC Dornsife.
Why it matters: The honor reflects the excellence of USC Dornsife’s English department and the opportunity for students to learn from some of the nation’s top writers.
In brief: The New York Times Book Review surveyed 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and other literary luminaries, asking them to name the 10 best books published since Jan. 1, 2000.
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What she said: “Having some of the most accomplished authors of the century on our faculty is a testament to the caliber of our department and the exceptional talent within it,” said Dana Johnson, chair of the English department. “I couldn’t be more proud that our students have the opportunity to learn from some of the nation’s greatest thinkers and writers.”
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The American Revolution ignited a global era of political upheaval, paving the way for representative governments worldwide. Go deeper >>
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Food entrepreneurs in Los Angeles have a new resource; USC Dornsife’s Food Equity Institute launched tools to help them succeed. Go deeper >>
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Themes of loneliness and the search for companionship in Frankenstein resonate deeply, suggesting that reading can help with feeling isolated. Go deeper >>
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Alumna Wows on Shark Tank |
Multiple investors on Shark Tank offered deals to Samantha Coxe, a USC Dornsife psychology alumna who pivoted from corporate lawyer to entrepreneur.
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