Haley Bryan

Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Cook, Peter

Area of Concentration

Biopsychology

Abstract

Neural oscillations, or the collective activity of an ensemble of neurons firing in rhythmic patterns, subserve myriad cognitive and behavioral functions, from physical movement to the perception of time. While neural entraining, i.e., modulating oscillatory patterns through synchronization of an external rhythmic stimulus such as sound, is understood to influence mechanisms driving perception and behavior, it is unclear whether entrainment techniques can manipulate mechanisms subserving temporal processing, which determines behavior on time-dependent tasks. In this thesis, I have attempted to manipulate temporal processing to enhance abilities to make decisions that involve time, i.e., intertemporal choice. In a within-subject study design, participants received a traditional intertemporal decision-making task, which offers a choice between a small, immediate, monetary reward, or a larger reward that is received after a delay of 25 minutes. All subjects completed the task across two conditions: during exposure to auditory isochronic tones in the beta frequency range at 16 Hz, or with no entrainment stimuli (control). Data on participants' ability to delay gratification was studied and compared to self-report measurements on factors across impulsiveness and time perspective, and mindfulness during the decision process. Additionally, subjects’ ability to effectively represent events in time, reflected through estimation accuracy of the retrospective waiting period, was compared across auditory and control conditions. I hypothesized that participants completing the choice task during beta-range isochronic tone exposure would demonstrate more effective temporal reasoning and representation, as well as more successful abilities to delay gratification, compared to control conditions. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed borderline significant effects of condition on duration estimation accuracy, and a significant interaction between condition, trait impulsivity, and state mindfulness scores for duration estimation accuracy. These primary findings suggest the potential of isochronic tones in the beta frequency range to enhance abilities to represent temporal information relevant to successful and patient intertemporal decision-making outcomes.

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