Psyclone

Vol. 49 No. 1

The longest running departmental newsletter on campus. Written by students.

Greetings:

Hello everyone! We hope that this fall semester has gone well for all of you!

Your department assistants from this semester are Sarah Hochstetler and Grace Schmitt. Sarah is a Senior with a Psychology major and ASL minor. Grace is a Junior Psychology major and a Criminal Justice & Restorative Justice minor.

Fall Semester Forum Speakers

This year we had many great speakers at the psychology forums, which occur 4 times per semester. In our first and last forums of the semester, we got to learn more about our psychology professors and get some tips. The other two of our speakers discussed their professional responsibilities, and how psychology may be integrated into their work. This gives all the students who attended the forum a new insight and understanding of how they can use their psychology degree after they graduate.

We heard from our two Psychology professors Julie Reese and Amanda Sensenig at our first forum this semester. They both shared about their backgrounds and how they got to where they are today. In giving advice about how to be successful in college, they encouraged students to use the resources available to them and to act in a way so that they can get a strong recommendation letter from their professors.

At our second forum this semester, staff and members of Cora Dale House came in and shared about what Cora Dale House is and how it has helped them find a community in the face of mental health struggles. The members shared their own journeys and how finding this community has changed their lives for the better. The staff members also talked about the day to day activities and what life at Cora Dale house is like, and even how our students can get involved.

For our third forum, we had Sarah Yoder who is a Goshen College Psychology Alum. She works at Bethany Christian School as the Special Education Coordinator. She shared how while psychology might not be in her title, she still uses her psychology degree all the time in her work and in her life.

Our final forum of the year was a Kahoot about a variety of psychology topics. This was a way for students to take a bit of a break from studying and have some fun. Our psychology professors and department assistants also shared some different study tips, such as quizzing yourself and spacing it out over a period of time rather than just trying to cram last minute.

In the Research:

A recent research study has found that cerebellar inhibitory neurons are essential to fear memory. These inhibitory neurons act as gatekeepers and control the output of the cerebellar cortex. This study found that activity in cerebellar interneurons drives fear memory formation through a learning specific increase in intrinsic excitability. (Intrinsic excitability regulates the distribution of memory to specific neurons.) This idea leads them to seeing the importance in moving beyond synaptic-plasticity (neurons being able to modify their connections) focused investigations of memory formation and also suggest these findings may lead to a new approach to PTSD treatment.

Potential new approach to PTSD treatment. (2023, September 23). ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230913122754.htm