Threat Perception in the Brain: A Meta-Analysis Project
Marika Landau-Wells, Professor
Political Science
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
Neuroscientists have studied the brain's response to threatening stimuli since the earliest days of brain imaging. Yet there is no single catalogue of threat perception studies and their findings. Meta-analysis involves using data from many studies to characterize the collective state of knowledge in a field. This project seeks to understand the collective knowledge generated by decades of brain research into threat perception using a type of meta-analysis designed for use with functional neuroimaging data. The resulting brain maps will represent the most consistent findings of the brain's activation under threat.
Qualifications: This project requires some basic understanding of brain research, through course work in cognitive science or psychology, or through a prior apprenticeship. Familiarity with the outputs generated by neuroscience research (brain coordinate tables, etc.) would be extremely helpful.
The primary tasks, outcomes, and skills required for the apprentice on this project are:
1) Evaluation of studies for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The goal here is to gain a comprehensive understanding of how researchers have tried to induce and measure threat perception in the brain. This will require close reading and attention to detail. The apprentice will also develop large-scale data management skills. Prior experience with spreadsheet tools is required (Sheets, Excel).
2) Compilation and execution of coordinate-based meta-analyses. The goal here is to learn how to use opensource software that allows for large-scale brain data analysis. No prior knowledge of meta-analyses is expected, but familiarity with text editors (Notepad, TextEdit) is helpful.
Hours: to be negotiated
Related website: http://https://www.marikalandau-wells.com/threat-perception
Social Sciences