MSU encourages those to participate in cognitive research
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Mississippi State University is looking for participants for a research program
The Department of Psychology is studying memory loss and other neurological disorders.
The Cognitive Science Program at MSU uses data from its research to help those affected by memory loss and language issues.
Much of the research in the Psychology Department at Mississippi State University is focused on people between the ages of 60 and 80.
Work for this project begins in the Cognition of Language lab.
“It involves a lot of paper and pencil and computer tests so people are going to be filling out surveys, vocabulary questions, and then they are going to take some test on the computer,” Hossein Karimi said. “They can take breaks whenever they want, of course, but normally it takes about three hours, although we can break it down to like two or one and half hour sessions. If that’s what they prefer.”
The sessions can take up to three hours and the department is paying participants for their time.
Researchers said the project could have a wide-ranging impact.
“An increasingly aging population in the United States, and with it comes a lot of health issues and cognitive issues,” Karimi said. “Understanding these issues and how they work may help us understand how the brain works, and understanding how the brain works then opens ways and avenues to come up with treatments. So, how can we look into memory decline?”
Graduate students assisting with the study are glad to have the opportunity to get meaningful, clinical experience.
“I would say that it makes me very proud to be able to participate in a lab like this where we are focusing on very real and concrete questions, involving how research can directly relate to people’s lives,” Jaden Zinn said.
If you would like to be a participant in this program or others at MSU, you can visit the cognitive science website or email collab.msstate@gmail.com for more information.
