Snakes and Spiders in the Apartment, Yiiii!

Even humans who aren't naturally phobic about spiders and snakes can be provoked into a certain "fear avoidance" towards them, tests in a Duke Department of Psychology and Neuroscience laboratory show. But, just one day later, most of those bad "contextual" memories seem to dissipate, unless...!

Unless those memories are formed in the Duke Immersive Virtual Environment (DiVE), the university's six-sided "virtual reality" theater. Seeing "virtual" snakes and spiders in a computer-created DiVE setting somehow gives the experience more staying power than does a more-mundane lab setting, Duke postdoctoral researcher Nicole Huff reported at the final Spring 2009 Visualization Friday Forum held on April 24 at Duke's Computer Science Department.

Immersive experiences "may engage brains more intensely than a normal laboratory study," Huff said. "Could DiVE be too real?"

The continuing experiments' purpose is to test how and for how long the human brain stores memories of a disturbing experience in a particular place -- in this case seeing images of snakes and spiders.

Huff and her faculty advisor, associate professor Kevin LaBar, conducted initial investigations in a sparse laboratory cubicle or in a fancier room at Duke's Levine Science Research Center. People saw 2-D computer images of real open jawed rattlesnakes and lurking tarantulas, partially reinforced with a mild electrical wrist stimulation designed to be annoying.

Those experiences created a sense of "fear," measured as extra sweat on their skin. But just 24 hours later, test subjects returning to the same lab settings to see those images again (but without any new shocking) had lost most of that fear.

People undergoing similar tests in the DiVE had their initial three-dimensional encounters with cyber creatures amid a pleasant and realistic faux suburban setting -- either a series of indoor apartment rooms or an outdoor yard.

Though computer created, these "snakes" emit realistic rattling noises while "spiders" send out crustacean-like scuttling sounds. Those first encounters are again reinforced with mild electroshocks.

On the second day, these DiVE subjects will express the same "strong fear," Huff said, if they see and hear virtual spiders and snakes again, even though there is no additional electrical shocking. "There is a huge difference," she added.

However, people having their initial bad experiences in the apartment's living room and kitchen don't have similar bad memories if they next see spiders and snakes in the yard -- and vice versa. While the studies continue, Huff thinks the virtual experience may engage the brain in a different way.

LEMUR CAM!

The Duke Lemur Center has added a webcam that overlooks an indoor enclosure shared by several Coquerel's sifakas, the striking brown and white leapers.

You can tilt and pan to your heart's delight, unless a thousand other users are in there too.

Nature on the Move

The global level of carbon in the atmosphere is beyond the tipping point proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (350 ppm), according to Thomas Lovejoy, founder of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment.

“Four hundred and fifty parts per million is not an acceptable target,” Lovejoy said at Duke's 2009 Oosting Memorial Lecture and Student Symposium April 15. “The last time the Earth was 2 degrees (C) warmer, sea level was 4 to 6 meters higher.”

The rise of both sea level and temperature will have immense repercussions for the natural world. Animal species, in an attempt to survive, will be forced to migrate to cooler, higher altitude areas, and areas above sea level. This migration is already starting to occur, Lovejoy said. “Nature is on the move.”

With the fragmented landscapes humans have created and the tendency of species to move at different rates in different directions, this massive re-location may result in tattered ecosystems, he warned. The changes will not be linear, and may in fact result in changes of weather patterns.

But what can be done? The Earth would continue warming for more than a hundred years, even if carbon emissions were to cease immediately. In addition to preserving wildlife corridors, clamping down harder on human energy consumption and setting more stringent greenhouse gas goals, Lovejoy advises asking the Earth itself for some help.

“The answer is biology,” Lovejoy said. “Twice in the history of the planet, high levels of CO2 have decreased from industrial levels: the origin of land plants and the expansion of angiosperms. If we act quickly, the biosphere may be able to perform this service again."

Visible Thinking

Duke Senior Megan Kuhfeld wanted to know if starting class later in the morning helps the teenaged brain work better. To find out, she surveyed principals and school district officials across the country about their opinions, before and after their high schools switched to a late-start system.

Last week, she was one of dozens of Duke students presenting their senior theses in posters during Visible Thinking, the annual wrap-up presentation of undergraduate research.

Previous studies have shown that teenagers need 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night, and that they often don’t get it when they have to wake up early for school. Later start times have been linked to improved attentiveness during school. However, opponents argue that later start times disrupt extracurricular activities, and that students will stay up later at night and get the same amount of sleep as before.

Kuhfeld found that most high school principals and school district officials who had tried it approved of the change, and that slightly higher student attentiveness was reported. Interestingly, elementary school principals were not as supportive, namely because later high school start times often force elementary school times to start earlier, to allow for bus scheduling.

Along a similar vein, senior Jill Kahane delved into the factors affecting students’ goal-setting, which is primarily influenced by parents. She found that certain types of goal orientation were associated with high parental confidence.

"I learned a lot about the research process,” Kahane said. Preparing a poster and standing by it engaging curious Visible Thinking attendees was really useful. “It’s helpful for wrapping my mind around everything I learned.”

“Communication and not procrastinating is really important for this type of thing,” added senior Tim Chi. “On the whole, it’s a good experience to go through if you’re interested in research. You learn a lot about yourself by doing this.”