Interest in how the brain works led Lauren Bousquet ‘08 to
pursue a summer research project examining how testosterone levels
in the brains of men and women affect the ability to navigate in
both real and virtual worlds. The results of her study of spatial
abilities could have implications for space flight: for a person’s
orientation in a new place, or for keeping track of where you are in a
space ship.
Bousquet, a psychology major and English and art double minor, says
she was motivated by a physiological
psychology course, taught by Assistant Professor Anthony Richardson, to look further into brain function. She devised the
project titled, “The Effect of Testosterone Levels on the Navigation
of Real and Virtual Worlds,” and was awarded a summer research grant
from the NASA
Fellowship Program.
“Essentially, we’re using simulations to test people’s spatial
abilities,” said Bousquet, a member of Psi Chi, the national
psychology honor society.
The
NASA grant provided $3,500 to Bousquet, $750 for equipment, and
$1,500 for the advising professor. Additional funds
of $1,500 were provided for the two researchers to travel to NASA to
present the results of their project.
The
project set up tests for people to go through in the real world and
in a virtual, computer world. Bousquet created the real world course
in a maze meandering through the Saint Michael’s College library.
She created a maze using sophisticated computer programs to form the
virtual world on the computer. She spent hours learning the
difficult software of 3-D Studio to create the mazes and Vizard to
access the mazes. She recruited paid volunteers to participate in
the tests. She then took saliva samples from the participants and
coordinated, anonymously, the person’s testosterone level as shown in
the saliva with his or her performance on the tests.
Past
research has shown that men who perform better in the spatial tests
tend to have lower testosterone levels, Professor Richardson
explained. And women with higher testosterone levels have shown
better spatial abilities, he said. The professor agreed that this
appears to be counter-intuitive. “It’s a poorly researched area,” he
said. “That’s why we’re doing this study.”
Bousquet put in full-time hours for eight weeks working on this
study. She has tentative plans to pursue a career in clinical
psychology after Saint Michael’s, but her interest in English
literature is also a potential shaper of her future.
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