Yeterian arrived at Colby in 1978 after completing his post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard and made an immediate impact on the community. We spoke with Yeterian about his experiences on campus and were able to uncover a narrative that cannot be found on record. He noted the research being conducted at Colby upon his arrival to be prescribed to a select few departments. The chemistry and biology department, along with other science departments, conducted the majority of experimental research on the Hill. These departments were well funded by the administration. The biology department, for example, was fitted with countless microscopes for research and educational purposes (Figure 1). In contrast, the psychology department did not have access to a laboratory for experimental research nor did it have a single microscope. Yeterian said that upon his arrival, “What the college had said was going to be a laboratory turned out to just be walls in a large room with nothing in it.” Yeterian wanted to make a change and spent much effort equipping the barren psychology department (Figure 2) with much needed technology. While at Harvard, he had access to state-of-the-art microscopes that Colby had not yet invested in, so he argued for the college to buy him a particular Nikon research microscope (Figure 3) saying, “if I bought this particular Nikon scope, this will last my career.” The administration seemed perplexed at first and met Yeterian with some resistance. They asked him, “‘why do psychologists need microscopes?’” Amused, Yeterian responded, “Well, some psychologists do neuroscience.” The field of neuroscience remained a buzzword throughout Yeterian’s first few years at Colby. The society for neuroscience had only been established in the late 1960s, just a handful of years prior to Yeterian’s arrival. The field had not yet made a name for itself, nor had it gained the respect it holds today. Yeterian changed this sentiment, at least on the Hill. After pleading his case, Colby eventually purchased the Nikon that Yeterian would use throughout his 40 years at Colby.
Sources:
Yeterian, Edward. Interview by Jeremy Cafritz, Lily Chapman, and Christo Dragnev. April 26, 2021.
“Chapter II: Establishing the Society for Neuroscience, 1968-1970,” Society for Neuroscience, accessed May 4, 2021, https://www.sfn.org/About/History-of-SfN/1969-2019/Chapter-2.
Melissa Glenn, the current Associate Professor and Chair of Psychology at Colby, has played a massive role in the expansion and success of rat research at Colby. Upon Glenn’s arrival in 2007, Yeterian handed her over the reins of rat research at Colby. Within her fourteen years on campus, Glenn and her student researchers have made major contributions to the body of knowledge on behavioral neuroscience. In 2017, for example, Glenn, Medical Director Paul Berkner, and three of Glenn’s student researchers conducted a study on the effects of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in female and male rats on behavior, cognition, and neural plasticity. Lead author Peter Wirth ‘16 and fellow classmates and coauthors Waylin Yu ’15 and Jennifer Liao ’15 were able to take part in a study most undergraduate students could only dream of participating in. They eventually published a paper on their work in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods. A key achievement in this study was the development of a new model for inducing mTBI in lab rats (Figure 4). The rat would be fixed to a rotating arm by straps, which would then allow the experimenter to position the arm to a desired angle with the assistance of the compass and release to result in a collision between the head of the rat and the impact block. This new method filled a gap in mTBI research as previous methods did not reliably replicate natural motions that would lead to mTBI in rodents. Differences in weight, bone structure and density, and musculature can impact the profile of an injury and were all recognized as important variables. The apparatus also allows for variable drop height and angles as well different head positions upon impact. This development allows each rat to experience a more realistic impact based on their build, an aspect that most previous mTBI models failed to account for.
Sources:
“Glenn, Berkner, and Students Publish Paper in Journal of Neuroscience Methods,” Colby Magazine, September 19, 2017, https://www.colby.edu/news/2017/09/19/glenn-berkner-and-students-publish-paper-in-journal-of-neuroscience-methods/.
Peter Wirth et al., “New Method to Induce Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Rodents Produces Differential Outcomes in Female and Male Sprague Dawley Rats,” Journal of Neuroscience Methods 290 (2017): pp. 133-144.
Curated by Jeremy Cafritz