Campus News Briefs – Summer 2017

For Heartbreak, Try...Anything 

We might have more control over the pain of romantic rejection than we realize, according to new research led by CU Boulder scientists.

In a brain-imaging study of 40 subjects recently involved in an “unwanted romantic breakup,” researchers found that administering a placebo — basically, a fake medicine — diminished both negative feelings and also activity in brain regions associated with rejection.

“Doing anything that you believe will help you feel better will probably help you feel better,” said CU’s Leonie Koban, a postdoctoral research associate in psychology and neuroscience and the study’s lead author.

The research paper, “Frontal-brainstem pathways mediating placebo effects on social rejection,” was published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

For further details, visit here. 

Heard Around Campus 

"There is probably not as much gang-joining happening in prison as we once thought." 

— CU Boulder criminologist David Pyrooz, author of recent research that casts doubt on the common belief that prisons foster gangs. 

Venture Capital 

A sports-related film editing platform, an adjustable socket for prosthetic legs and a digital networking platform for aspiring musicians took home the top prizes at CU Boulder’s ninth annual New Venture Challenge competition in April.

In all, entrepreneurs won nearly $100,000 in awards and investments.

Established in 2009, the challenge is a business development and mentorship program for CU Boulder students, faculty and staff. Teams form in the fall, develop their ideas during the academic year and pitch them to a panel of judges in the spring.

The 2016-17 winners are, respectively, Give & Go (film), ReForm (prosthetic socket) and Gigsicians (musician networking).

The challenge maintains lists of winners at colorado.edu/nvc.