Dr. Vonder Haar gave a talk featuring work conducted by students in the IRL as part of the virtual conference series.
Chris O'Hearn defended his thesis titled "Frontal Brain Injury: Effects on Flexibility, Impulse Control, and Attention" Michelle Frankot defended her thesis titled "The Role of High-Fat Diets in Exacerbating Cognitive Deficits After Traumatic Brain Injury."
Two students were recognized for their excellence in the psychology department. Lauren Giesler received Psychology's Outstanding Undergraduate Senior award and Trinity Shaver received a Certificate for Meritorious Achievement.
Dr. Vonder Haar was recognized by the Office of Undergraduate Research with an award for Distinction in Mentoring Undergraduate Research.
The Injury and Recovery Lab is primarily interested in behavioral dysfunction and the development of therapeutics to treat chronic deficits. We are particularly interested in the role of the frontal cortex in mediating a number of complex cognitive behaviors, including impulsivity, attention, and decision-making. These processes are affected by a variety of neural insults including traumatic brain injury, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Animal models of these various insults and disease states can provide critical insight into the human conditions and provide the ability to test therapeutics geared towards alleviating persistent, debilitating symptoms. To this end, our lab studies behavioral and neural processes in rats and how they are affected by injury in order to better understand the injury and recovery process in humans.
The lab is located within WVU's Department of Psychology and is also affiliated with the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, in the Basic and Translational Stroke Research Core.