Using resistance exercise to treat depression
Uncovering whether strength training can help individuals combat depression is at the heart of a four-year, $2.7 million National Institutes of Health-funded project led by Department of Kinesiology Assistant Professor Jacob Meyer.
Meyer says the clear outcomes of resistance exercise could be the key to bolstering an individual’s mental health.
“In resistance exercise, people can see results a lot more easily: lifting one more rep is more easily understandable than running a mile a second faster,” he says.
Research has also shown brain blood flow is lower in adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder, and resistance training may be able to improve that flow. Jill Barnes, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology who specializes in the study of brain blood flow and its effects on health, is part of the research team.
Simon Goldberg, an associate professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology, will also contribute to the effort, bringing his deep expertise in mental health treatment and data analysis.
The study aims to recruit 200 participants, beginning this summer.
“This is the first large-scale test as a scientific community to see if resistance exercise can treat depression,” Meyer says. “It could lay the foundation for a new treatment that could reduce the widespread, substantial burden of mood disorders and serious mental illnesses.”
Racism and infant brain development
Maternal experiences with racism could affect brain development of children in utero, according to a study co-authored by Sarah Short, assistant professor and the Dorothy King Chair in the Department of Educational Psychology, and Camille Williams, a doctoral student in the Department of Counseling Psychology.
The study, published in Scientific Reports, found preliminary evidence that mothers who experienced racism during pregnancy gave birth to newborns who showed changes in brain activity, particularly in areas of the brain related to vigilance and emotional memory. The analysis of 25 mothers and their children involved self-reported experiences with racism by mothers and MRI imaging of newborns’ brains two weeks after birth.
Vulnerability for tuition promise programs
Programs that guarantee free tuition to some college students led to financial aid packages that rely more on state support, according to a new study published in The Journal of Higher Education.
Taylor Odle, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies, and Adalberto Castrejón, a doctoral student in the same department, are co-authors of the study.
“If promise programs increase reliance on state-backed financial aid for students — a potentially precarious source of funding that can be quickly altered by political changes — that could have serious implications for the sustainability of these programs and the student outcomes they support,” Odle says.