Tulane University - Jambalaya Yearbook (New Orleans, LA)

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HighlightsResearchHighlightsResearchHighli . D. Witt Tulane psychologist Jeff Lockman spends much of his time studying how infants react to toys. Lockman, along with graduate students Laurie Heffer- nan and James McHale, is among many researchers who are finding out that children appropriately relate their actions to objects at a much earlier age than previously thought. The question is when do infant actions become non- random and appropriate for the objects, Lockman said. Appropriate action would be shaking a toy that rattles or squeezing a soft toy. We ' re finding that even at six months of age infants ' play is appro priate to the object they are exploring. Until recently, psychologists thought it was between nine and 12 months before children learned that hard ob- lects are to be banged and soft ones touched more gently. Lockman ' s findings, as well as those by many other psy- :hologists, will be included in Action in Social Context: Perspectives on Early Development, a book he is co-edit- ng with University of Texas professor Nancy Hazen. Lockman is also exploring how mothers help their in- ants discover objects and what actions mothers use when slaying with the infants. Video tapes show that in playing vith their babies, mothers would direct the babies fin- ;ers across a soft object and actually take their hands and lelp them bang (a hard toy). Lockman tapes children for ibout six minutes, then goes over the tape in slow motion ind codes each of the child ' s actions. Code categories he vatches for are banging, squeezing, mouthing, touching md whether the child used one hand or two. One reason for studying this is to estimate the develop- -Tiental milestones for infants. With this as a guide, physi- cians and psychologists can better diagnose when a child is not developing properly. At the end of this study, Lockman is hoping to have some practical information to pass on to parents about how chil- dren develop and how to play with their babies, especially their handicapped babies. From watching the tapes, Lockman has already conclud- ed that parental involvement is critical and is trying to show that babies are a lot more competent than people have giv en them credit for in the past. — Inside Tulane, S.W. In an effort to make the faculty section more interesting, we wanted to introduce you to a few of the outstanding members who have recently been recognized for their work. It is a necessary requirement for professors to en- deavor in research in their respective field sometime dur- ing their employment at Tulane. This gives the faculty an opportunity to pursue dreams, to search for answers, to prove hypotheses — all with the aid of Tulane facilities. Funding is also available through several agencies for those projects which require greater amounts of money for extensive travel or equipment. Tulane ' s office of sponsored projects is a department solely dedicated to the purpose of finding funds so the faculty can concentrate on their re- search rather than dealing with technicalities such as ap- proval, financing, etc. We at the Jambalaya feel that you should be informed of these extra endeavors made by your professors. Won ' t you be surprised when your engineering professor creates a new satellite or your psychology professor makes a major breakthrough in treating the mentally ill, or . . . This research increases not only the respect fpr Tulane as a learning institution but also the value of your degree as a Tulane graduate. — Marcey Dolgoff

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Office of the Provost Unwersit]f Relations Seated: Ashley Scott (coordinator of institutional surveys), Christine Haska (assistant provost), Helen Jones (adminis- trative assistant II), Larry Pedroza (special research assis- tant), and Nancy McDuff (assistant provost). Standing: Francis L. Lawrence (academic vice-president and provost), Clara Dawes (assistant to the provost), and Danna Teicheira (assistant to the provost). Missing: Trudy Waguespack (bud- get assistant). 28 provost

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(egeneration Reserach The idea of growing back severed limbs and restoring their function is a fascinating concept. But for some Tulane scientists, human regeneration may become a reality. Assistant Professor of Biology Charles Ide, PhD., has been studying the process by which the retinas in embryo frogs can regenerate. Ide said he hopes his results will provide a meaningful look into human applications as well as aid in cancer research. The main focus in the project so far, has been to get at the cell biology and the principles of retinal regeneration. The two major events that occur in this regeneration are wound healing and the physical growth that restores the size of the retina. Ide said that examining the early stages of wound heal- ing is crucial in understanding the cell make-up of regen- eration. In successful wound healing, the retinal tissue rounds up and the original patterning scheme in the cells are re- tained. Normal vision is restored. In some situations, the retinal cells move around and pick up new neighboring cells which in turn divide to form regeneration growth. Because the positional informa- tion needed to trigger nerve pulses is sometimes lost, nor- mal vision is not always realized. It is the cell movement, however, that allows Ide to study closely how the cell patterning process works, how the differences in lost tissue are reconciled, and how the phys- ical growth occurs. According to Ide, an embryonic frog can regenerate a full retina, starting with only one-sixth of its original size, in two to three weeks. At this point in the research, Ide and his colleagues know which regions in the retina regenerate and also the role cell division plays in the patterning process. By further study- ing the molecular aspects of retinal regenerations, they hope to draw a parallel between the cell biology of regen- eration and that of cancer. The researchers plan to distinguish the genes that are active in regeneration from those that cause cancerous growth. Hopefully, they will also be able to turn these genes on or off depending on their connection to the molecules. Ide and fellow Tulane researcher, Robert Tompkins, have been working on their project for a year and a half with a three year grant of 219,000 dollars from the National Sci- ence Foundation. Ide said he hopes the N.S.F. grant will be renewed so he can probe further into the molecular code of the regenera- tion process. — Stephen Powell Hullabaloo A Hopeful Outlook Larr Block Larry Block 30 academic highlights