Information for
Prospective Graduate Students Interested in Working with Dr. Nigg
Last Updated October 23,2007
Yes, there are openings for graduate students to join this lab for fall
2008. Therefore, if you are applying to MSU and interested in working
with Dr. Nigg, it is appropriate to so indicate in your application
materials.
Note that there is not much advantage in writing to Dr. Nigg ahead of
time about your interests. The selection of graduate students at MSU is
by the admissions committee. Membership on this committee rotates each
year. The faculty on that committee review all applications by the
general admissions criteria, then look for potential matches to faculty
research projects. Most important is to explain in your application
materials how you match to particular faculty research projects.
1. What you should consider in
deciding whether working in the Nigg ADHD Project is for you:
We have a heavy research
focus. Dr. Nigg is looking for students with the following
characteristics
* interested
in and have ideas about ADHD
* really want
to conduct research in this area
* seriously
considering a scientific career
* sufficient
background to know that enjoy working with behaviorally difficult
children
* strong
analytic-logical thinkers
* good writers
* well
organized, able to meet objectives and deadlines
* enjoy and
curious about statistics and math
You will gain broad and deep
expertise in child behavior problems and in ADHD. Do these areas of
learning match your career goals? You will have the opportunity to learn
* how to
correctly assess and diagnose ADHD and other behavior disorders in
children
* how to
carry out experimental designs involving chronometric cognitive taska
and neuropsychological measures
* how to work
with children with ADHD in a testing room
* how to
conduct structured psychiatric interviews of parents and children
* how to
carry out a thorough child clinical psychological evaluation and
consult to parents and teachers
* how to
identify near-neighbor conditions of ADHD such as learning disorders
and white matter syndromes
* how to make
appropriate, effective recommendations for child with disruptive
behavior and learning problems
* how to
analyze data using modern methods
* how to
think about genetic effects versus epigenetic and experiential effects
in developmental psychpathology
* how to
write and publish scientific papers
2. Areas of scientific interest that
students can readily pursue if they enter in 2008 (it helps if your
record shows past activity in these areas, but that is not essential if
you have a realistic basis for your interest).
*Genetic bases
of ADHD. What genes are involved? How do these genes work? How do they
relate to specific components of the disorder?
*Endophenotypes for ADHD. What is the best cognitive system in the
brain to assess in understanding ADHD? If we look at response
inhibition, working memory, temporal information processing,
which of these best explain ADHD symptoms in children?
*Role of
environmental toxins in ADHD. Do lead or manganese affect ADHD
symptoms? What are the moderators of these effects?
*Gene by
environment interplay in ADHD. How do specific genes and environmental
toxins interact? Which children, by genotype, are most susceptible to
family or environmental adversity?
*How does ADHD
develop over time? Which children are going to get better, and which
are going to get worse? What are the predictors of those effects?
*What is the
peripheral psychophysiology of ADHD? How do heart rate measures, which
reflect sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity and
thus also reflect central nervous system regulatory process, indicate
risk for ADHD or ability to recover from ADHD? How do these measures
relate as endophenotypes for genes involved in ADHD?