Department of Psychology

Postdoctoral Scholar:

Terrance J. Williams

Sensory filtering or gating refers to the brain's capacity to suppress incoming irrelevant sensory information to allow complete processing of initial important information. Studies suggest that schizophrenia patients have deficits in sensory gating. I am interested in what psychological factors may influence sensory gating mechanisms, such as suppression of the P50 component of the event-related brain potential (EPR) or prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex, especially as related to schizophrenia. I am currently completing several studies examining whether manipulations of voluntary attention, various emotional states, and social stress may impact P50 suppression in both healthy controls and schizophrenia patients. With my dissertation project, I am taking this investigation one step further by using EEG source methodology to identify brain structures involved in P50 suppression and attentional modulation of the response.

Publications and Presentations

Williams, T.J., Pepitone, M.E., Christensen, S.E., Cooke, B.M., Huberman, A.D.,
Breedlove, N.J., Breedlove, T.J., Jordan, C.L., & Breedlove, S.M. (2000). Finger-length ratios and sexual orientation. Nature, 404, 455-456.

Jordan, C.L., Williams, T.J., & Christensen, S.E. (2001). Cellular localization of
androgen receptors in the levator ani muscle of the rat. Society for Neuroscience Abstract, 26.

Jordan, C.L. & Williams, T.J. (2001). Testosterone regulates terminal schwann cell number and Junctional size during developmental synapse elimination. Developmental Neuroscience, 23, 441-451.

Yee-Bradbury, C.M., Morris, S.E., Nuechterlein, K.H., Williams, T.J., & Kesler-West, M. (2002). One-year longitudinal stability of the P50 event-related potential in schizophrenia patients and normal comparison participants. Poster presented at the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Washington D.C., 2002.

Williams, T.J., Yee-Bradbury, C.M., Nuechterlein, K.H., & Kesler-West, M. (2003). The Influence of attentional resources on P50 suppression in recent-onset schizophrenia. Poster presented at the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Chicago, Il, 2003.

twilliam@ucla.edu

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