Laboratory

Wesley & Lorene Artz Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center

cogneurolab.hu@gmail.com

Director

Erik W. Asp, Ph.D. (easp02@hamline.edu)

Current Lab Manager

Alec Jonason (ajonason01@hamline.edu)

Bio: I am a junior at Hamline University pursuing a double major in biochemistry and neuroscience. I’m currently working on research studying the N400 and how it relates to belief processes. I plan to apply to medical school after my time at Hamline.

Current Research Assistants

Emilia Nolan (enolan01@hamline.edu)

Bio: I am a senior pursuing a double major in neuroscience and psychology with a minor in biology, as well as with a certificate in Spanish fluency and a certificate in crisis counseling. I am currently assisting with the publication of a study on the CRT and with the study concerning the effects of sleep deprivation on the brain. As of August 2021, I will be attending University of Massachusetts Medical School, Graduate School of Nursing to pursue my doctorate of nursing practice for family medicine and research.

Mohammed Mashal (mmashal01@hamline.edu)

Bio: I am a senior majoring in neuroscience and minoring in religion. For my strong passion for biomedical research, I plan to apply for an MD/PhD program after graduation. As my future career, I hope to be a pediatrician who also leads a lab, investigating neurological diseases and disorders in children. Fortunately, since my freshman year, I have had the chance to work on many different research projects from a wide range of fields. Currently, I’m a research assistant for Dr. Erik Asp at the department of psychology here at Hamline, working on a few research projects regarding credulity, belief, and doubt mental processes.

Alec Wendelboe (awendelboe02@hamline.edu)

Bio: I am a junior pursuing a major in Neuroscience, hoping to specialize in psychopharmacology and addiction studies. After graduation I plan to continue onto graduate school to hopefully receive my PhD. In the future I hope to do research in the treatment and prevention of addiction.

Doug Voigts (dvoigts01@hamline.edu)

Bio: I am a sophomore majoring in neuroscience with a minor in philosophy. With the Artz Lab, I am currently researching belief/doubt mechanisms with a focus on how credulity is affected by a number of things, including various external stimuli and sleep deprivation. After graduation, I plan on attending medical school with the intent of becoming a neurologist.

Former Lab Members:

Cora Stallcup (cstallcup01@hamline.edu)

Bio: I am a junior majoring in Neuroscience, and I play on the softball team at Hamline University. Currently I am working on researching the differences in ERP’s between various age groups in falsification, specifically looking at the N400. When I graduate I plan to work in the health sciences for a couple years and then apply to graduate school.

Hayley Elbe (helbe01@hamline.edu)

Bio: I am a senior pursuing majors in elementary education and psychology. After graduation I plan to teach for a few years before applying to graduate school to obtain my Master’s in the Art of Teaching.

Emily Haefner (ehaefner01@hamline.edu)

Laura Epding (lepding01@hamline.edu)

Bio:  I am a sophomore studying Neuroscience and Conflict Studies at Hamline. I am currently examining how time constraints affect cognition. After graduation, I intend to take a gap year and apply to graduate school.

Madison Nowling-Kjellberg (mnowlingkjellberg01@hamline.edu)

Bio:  My name is Madison Nowling and I am currently a junior studying Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience with a Sociology minor. Currently, I am researching the effects of stressors on cognition. After college I plan to take a gap year for service work then pursue a career in clinical research.

Tonya Le (tle07@hamline.edu)

Bio:  I am a sophomore studying Neuroscience at Hamline University. I’m currently working on research examining the effects of physiological stressors on cognition and analyzing attitudes regarding the cognitive reflection test.  After graduation, I plan to take a couple years off and after apply to graduate school.

Former Lab Managers

Lila Kise (lkise01@hamline.edu)

Bio:  I am a sophomore majoring in Neuroscience at Hamline. I am currently assisting with studies examining the effects of sleep deprivation on cognition, and attitudes regarding the cognitive reflection test. After graduation, I plan to attend a graduate program in Neuroscience.

Alexandra Lessard (alessard01@hamline.edu)

Bio:  I am a junior studying Psychology and Criminal Justice at Hamline. I am currently working on research examining the effects of physiological stressors on cognition. After graduation, I plan to attend graduate school where I would like to research the neuropsychological roots of psychopathy.

James Gullickson (jgullickson02@hamline.edu)

Bio:  I graduated from Hamline University in January of 2017 with a major in Psychology emphasizing cognitive neuroscience. During my time at Hamline, I managed the Artz Lab’s studies on resource depletion and cognition, and I continue to collaborate with Dr. Asp on these and other projects. Currently, I am employed in Dr. Nicholas Davenport’s lab at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, where I perform MRI data acquisition and analysis for two studies examining mild traumatic brain injury and PTSD in veterans. I plan to attend a neuroscience graduate program in the near future. My research interests include the lesion method in cognitive neuroscience, traumatic brain injury, aging, neurodegeneration, neuropsychology, cognitive biases, and the neural correlates of social/moral judgement.

Hannah Freske (hfreske01@hamline.edu)

Bio:  I graduated from Hamline University in May of 2017 with a major in psychology and a minor in nursing. While at Hamline, I was a research assistant at the Artz Lab where I studied the effects of physiological stressors on cognition. In the fall, I will begin working for Integrity Living Solutions as an independent living skill specialist, where I will assist individuals with mental illness, disabilities, and brain injuries to identify and implement the skills needed to promote independence. In the future I intend to complete a post baccalaureate nursing program before obtaining my doctorate as a psychiatric nurse practitioner.

Dedication

10/7/16

Personal remarks:  Thank you all so much for coming to the opening of the Wesley & Lorene Artz Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center.  When our Leadership Gift Officer at Hamline, Marcia Yanz, told me that Jerry was going to donate a substantial sum of money to establish a cutting-edge Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, I was immediately humbled and a bit surprised.  I had just got here and I didn’t know Jerry particularly well.  But soon after I learned of Jerry’s mothers’, Lorene Artz, long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.  I also learned of Jerry’s deep desire to help prevent others from succumbing to a similar fate, through education, science, and research.  Indeed, Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia appear to be a vexing problem of our times.  My own grandmother, Dorothy Farmer, battled Alzheimer’s for over a decade and I saw first-hand how it slowly erodes who we are.  They say our science has lengthened life-times long enough so all of us will now have to deal with some cognitive decline; some loss of our faculties; indeed, maybe even the loss of ourselves.  It can be such a bitter end to a sweet and fulfilled life.  Under my stewardship, one of the primary aims of the Artz Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center will be to examine what neural areas are most vulnerable to decline during aging and their associated functional declines.  One early result from this work suggests that the prefrontal cortex (the very front part of your brain) is critical for doubting; and as this structure begins to decline during aging, individuals tend to be generally more credulous….that is, they accept more information uncritically.  This of course has a lot of implications for why older adults with cognitive decline tend to fall prey to scams and other types of deception more often than younger adults and older adults without cognitive decline.  This area and other related questions will be the primary focus of the Artz laboratory research.  I am incredibly honored to accept Jerry’s gift.  He is not the CEO of a large company or a lucrative businessman.  He is a “mere” professor (I can say “mere” because I am one as well).  But as a professor, Jerry knows how much of an impact his gift can have here at Hamline.  Jerry has seen how education can transform uncertain, first-year students into mature and confident adults ready to change the world. Sure, you can donate to Harvard, but your money will likely be another drop in the bucket to them.  Donate to Hamline?  You directly allow a first-generation student to get a bachelor’s degree.  You directly allow a student to see another country firsthand.  You directly allow a student to test their own hypothesis with their own cutting edge research.  This is what is so unique and wonderful about Hamline.  Our central focus at Hamline is to lift students up, to empower them with a top-notch education.  We mine these diamonds out of the rough.  We polish.  We give them the opportunity to shine.  Here donations actually matter; they transform lives.  Jerry, from the bottom of my heart, thank you; and I know generations of Pipers will be grateful for the opportunity you have given them.  So, without further ado, I would like all of us to give a warm welcome to the person that has made this wonderful lab possible, Professor Jerry Artz.