UI researchers open hub in Cedar Rapids

Facility in large population center has potential to strengthen findings in psychological and brain sciences

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

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The University of Iowa has a new research hub in eastern Iowa.

In June, researchers in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences opened a multipurpose space in Cedar Rapids to tap into the city's larger and more diverse population, with the goal to enroll hundreds of participants in studies involving topics such as language learning, reading, exercise, and cognitive aging, and behavioral markers for alcohol use disorder in older teenagers and young adults.

UI researchers have conducted work in Cedar Rapids before - the Growing Words Project, which seeks to understand how school-age children learn to recognize both spoken and written words, has been in Cedar Rapids for five years. But the 1,900-square-foot space at 2740First Ave. NE provides investigators a shared hub for activity, with four testing rooms and an EEG (brain-wave measuring) wing.

Growing Words shares the facility with these projects:

• A study into how humans across the life span process language, including the relationship between the richness of people's social lives and language processing. The project is led by Bob McMurray, F. Wendell Miller Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Sarah Colby, a postdoctoral fellow in that department. (McMurray also leads the Growing Words Project.)
• Characterizing Alcohol Risks in Development (CARD), which aims to understand factors that predict whether adolescents may experience alcohol-related problems later in life. The project is led by Bruce Bartholow, professor and Ketchel Family Chair in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
• A study to find out which cognitive skills are most importantfor middle-aged and older adults to overcome limited-time, negative feelings that can be associated with higher-intensity exercise, and needs for planning to access spaces to maintain an active lifestyle.The project is led by Michelle Voss, associate professor and Ronnie Ketchel Faculty Fellow in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

Expanding to Cedar Rapids and broadening the research applicant pool could strengthen, and even solidify, findings from previous studies with fewer or less diverse participants.

"It will give us a better view of how cognition and development and aging work in the population at large," McMurray says. "We will get a better, richer swath of humanity."

Participants of all ages are needed for the studies.

"Our goal with setting up satellite research sites such as Cedar Rapids is to meet people where they are at, rather than requiring a trip to labs in Iowa City," Voss says. "We want to make it as easy as possible to participate, and in turn, our findings will be more applicable to more people and their daily lives."

This photo gallery by Office of Strategic Communication photographer Tim Schoon showcases the work taking place within the Cedar Rapids facility.