Category Archives: Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Monitoring Spinal Cord Activity During Surgery in Real-Time – Neuroscience News

Summary: fUSI technology is offering new hope to chronic back pain sufferers by providing high-resolution images of the human spinal cord during surgery. This innovative tool not only visualizes the spinal cord but also tracks the cords real-time response to treatments, marking a significant leap over traditional imaging methods like fMRI, with its superior sensitivity to neuroactivation and reduced susceptibility to motion artifacts.

Tested on six patients undergoing electrical stimulation for chronic pain, fUSI technology demonstrated an unprecedented ability to monitor treatment efficacy by observing blood flow changes in the spinal cord. This advancement promises to enhance the success rate of spinal surgeries and potentially improve treatments for other conditions, like bladder control issues, by enabling precise, individualized care.

Key Facts:

Source: UCR

With technology developed at UC Riverside, scientists can, for the first time, make high resolution images of the human spinal cord during surgery. The advancement could help bring real relief to millions suffering chronic back pain.

The technology, known as fUSI or functional ultrasound imaging, not only enables clinicians to see the spinal cord, but also enables them to map the cords response to various treatments in real time.

A paper published today in the journalNeurondetails how fUSI worked for six people undergoing electrical stimulation for chronic back pain treatment.

The fUSI scanner is freely mobile across various settings and eliminates the requirement for the extensive infrastructure associated with classical neuroimaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), said Vasileios Christopoulos, assistant professor of bioengineering at UCR who helped develop the technology.

Additionally, it offers ten times the sensitivity for detecting neuroactivation compared to fMRI.

Until now, it has been difficult to evaluate whether a back pain treatment is working since patients are under anesthesia and asleep. Thus, the patients cannot provide verbal feedback on their pain levels during treatment.

With ultrasound, we can monitor blood flow changes in the spinal cord induced by the electrical stimulation. This can be an indication that the treatment is working, Christopoulos said.

The spinal cord is an unfriendly area for traditional imaging techniques due to significant motion artifacts, such as heart pulsation and breathing.

These movements introduce unwanted noise into the signal, making the spinal cord an unfavorable target for traditional neuroimaging techniques, Christopoulos said.

By contrast, fUSI is less sensitive to motion artifacts. It emits sound waves into the area of interest, and red blood cells in that area echo the sound, producing a clear image.

Its like submarine sonar, which uses sound to navigate and detect objects underwater, Christopoulos said. Based on the strength and speed of the echo, they can learn a lot about the objects nearby.

Christopoulos partnered with the USC Neurorestoration Center at Keck Hospital to test the technology on six patients with chronic low back pain. These patients were already scheduled for the last-ditch pain surgery, as no other treatments, including drugs, had helped to ease their suffering.

For this surgery, clinicians stimulated the spinal cord with electrodes, in the hopes that the voltage would alleviate the patients discomfort and improve their quality of life.

If you bump your hand, instinctively, you rub it. Rubbing increases blood flow, stimulates sensory nerves, and sends a signal to your brain that masks the pain, Christopoulos said. We believe spinal cord stimulation may work the same way, but we needed a way to view the activation of the spinal cord induced by the stimulation.

The Neuron paper details how fUSI can detect blood flow changes at unprecedented levels of less than 1 millimeter per second. For comparison, fMRI is only able to detect changes of 2 centimeters per second.

We have big arteries and smaller branches, the capillaries. They are extremely thin, penetrating your brain and spinal cord, and bringing oxygen places so they can survive, Christopoulos said. With fUSI, we can measure these tiny but critical changes in blood flow.

Generally, this type of surgery has a 50% success rate. With improved monitoring of the blood flow changes, Christopoulos hopes this rate will increase dramatically. We needed to know how fast the blood is flowing, how strong, and how long it takes for blood flow to get back to baseline after spinal stimulation. Now, we will have these answers, Christopoulos said.

Moving forward, the researchers are also hoping to show that fUSI can help optimize treatments for patients who have lost bladder control due to spinal cord injury or age.

We may be able to modulate the spinal cord neurons to improve bladder control, Christopoulos said.

With less risk of damage than older methods, fUSI will enable more effective pain treatments that are optimized for individual patients, Christopoulos said. It is a very exciting development.

Author: Jules Bernstein Source: UCR Contact: Jules Bernstein UCR Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: The findings will appear in Neuron

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Monitoring Spinal Cord Activity During Surgery in Real-Time - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Scientists team up with jazz musicians to reveal the neuroscience of creative flow – PsyPost

Have you ever found yourself so deeply absorbed in an activity that the world around you seemed to disappear? This state of intense focus and enjoyment, known as flow, has been a subject of fascination and study across various disciplines. A groundbreaking study published in the journal Neuropsychologia by researchers from Drexel Universitys Creativity Research Lab sheds light on how our brains achieve this coveted state of creative flow.

Through examining jazz musicians during improvisation, the study reveals that the key to entering flow lies in a combination of extensive experience and the ability to let go, allowing for specialized brain networks to operate with minimal conscious oversight.

The research team, led by Drexel University professor John Kounios, sought to address a long-standing question in the fields of psychology and neuroscience: How does the human brain achieve a state of flow, particularly in creative endeavors?

Despite flow being a widely recognized and valued state of consciousness, characterized by an immersive sense of focus, enjoyment, and effortless productivity, there has been a significant gap in understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of this phenomenon. Previous research has offered various theories but lacked consensus, particularly regarding the role of focused attention versus the relaxation of executive control in initiating and maintaining flow.

Flow was first identified and studied by the pioneering psychological scientist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, said Kounios. He defined it as a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.

The study was driven by the need to reconcile competing theories about the nature of flow. One theory posited that flow might be a hyper-focused state that excludes external distractions, enabling heightened performance. An alternative theory suggested that flow results from a combination of extensive expertise and a deliberate reduction of conscious oversight, allowing for more automatic, intuitive processes to lead.

At the heart of the investigation were thirty-two jazz guitarists, whose brain activities were recorded using high-density electroencephalograms (EEGs) while they engaged in musical improvisation tasks. This participant pool was carefully selected to cover a wide spectrum of experience levels, ranging from novices to seasoned professionals, allowing the researchers to examine the impact of expertise on the ability to achieve flow.

The experimental procedure began with each musician performing improvisations to six different jazz lead sheets, which included pre-recorded drum, bass, and piano accompaniments. These musical pieces were specially designed to present an equal level of challenge across all takes while incorporating familiar jazz patterns.

This setup aimed to simulate a live performance environment where musicians could naturally engage in the creative process. Following each improvisation, participants rated the intensity of their flow experience, providing subjective data on their state of immersion and enjoyment during the task.

To objectively evaluate the creative output, the 192 recorded improvisations were reviewed by four jazz experts, who were unaware of the studys specific research questions to avoid bias. These judges rated each improvisation on creativity, aesthetic appeal, and technical proficiency using the Consensual Assessment Technique. This approach ensured a comprehensive assessment of the improvisations quality from both the performers and experienced observers perspectives.

In analyzing the EEG data, the researchers focused on identifying brain activity patterns associated with high and low flow states. This involved comparing the EEGs of improvisations rated as high-flow against those considered low-flow, while controlling for the musicians experience levels. Special attention was given to areas involved in auditory and tactile processing and regions associated with executive control, to test the hypothesis that flow state involves a reduction in conscious oversight (transient hypofrontality).

Moreover, advanced EEG source reconstruction techniques were utilized to pinpoint the neural origins of flow-related activity, offering insights into the large-scale brain networks implicated in creative flow.

The analysis of EEG data revealed that high-flow states, as self-reported by the musicians, were characterized by increased activity in the left-hemisphere regions associated with auditory and tactile processing, which are crucial for musical performance. This suggests that a high level of engagement with the task at a sensory level is a key component of the flow state.

More strikingly, high-flow states were also associated with decreased activity in the superior frontal gyri, a brain region implicated in executive functions and conscious control. This finding aligns with the concept of transient hypofrontality the temporary downregulation of prefrontal cortex activity, theorized to reduce the cognitive load and allow for more fluid and intuitive task execution.

Furthermore, the study differentiated between musicians based on their level of experience, revealing that those with greater experience were more likely to enter high-flow states. This observation underscores the importance of domain-specific expertise as a prerequisite for achieving flow.

Expert musicians exhibited not only more frequent and intense flow experiences but also a distinct neural signature during these states, including reduced activity in the default-mode network (DMN), which is often associated with mind-wandering and self-referential thought processes. The reduction in DMN activity suggests that, for experts, entering a flow state means moving away from introspection and towards a more outward-focused engagement with the task.

Interestingly, the study also found that the low-experience musicians demonstrated little flow-related brain activity, highlighting the crucial role of expertise in facilitating the flow experience. The researchers propose that achieving flow requires not only the ability to engage deeply with the task at hand but also sufficient mastery over the domain to allow for the letting go of conscious control. This mastery enables the specialized neural circuits developed through extensive practice to take over, guiding the creative process more efficiently and intuitively.

A practical implication of these results is that productive flow states can be attained by practice to build up expertise in a particular creative outlet coupled with training to withdraw conscious control when enough expertise has been achieved, said Kounios. This can be the basis for new techniques for instructing people to produce creative ideas.

Kounios added, If you want to be able to stream ideas fluently, then keep working on those musical scales, physics problems or whatever else you want to do creativelycomputer coding, fiction writingyou name it. But then, try letting go. As jazz great Charlie Parker said, Youve got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.

However, the study is not without its limitations. The specificity of the task (jazz improvisation) and the use of EEG, while insightful, may not fully capture the complexities of flow states across different creative domains or provide the spatial resolution to identify all relevant brain activity. Future research could expand the participant pool, explore other creative tasks, and employ methods like fMRI for more detailed brain imaging.

The study, Creative flow as optimized processing: Evidence from brain oscillations during jazz improvisations by expert and non-expert musicians, was authored by David Rosen, Yongtaek Oh, Christine Chesebrough, Fengqing (Zoe) Zhang, and John Kounios.

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Scientists team up with jazz musicians to reveal the neuroscience of creative flow - PsyPost

Neuroscience

Peer Pressure Persists Through Adulthood – Neuroscience News

Summary: Adults, not just teens, face the challenges of peer pressure and social conformity. By surveying 157 adults aged 18 to 80, researchers discovered that younger adults are more susceptible to peer influence, whereas middle-aged and older individuals exhibit greater self-control.

This research, which explores everyday desires and their conflict with personal goals, demonstrates that resistance to social conformity increases with age, highlighting the complexity of self-regulation across the adult lifespan. The studys findings challenge previous beliefs about peer pressure dissipating after adolescence, suggesting ongoing development in managing desires in social contexts.

Key Facts:

Source: UT Dallas

The term peer pressure is often linked to experiences of children or teenagers in extreme situations. One University of Texas at Dallas researcher wondered if adults continue to succumb to similar pressures of social conformity in everyday situations.

Dr. Kendra Seaman, assistant professor of psychology in theSchool of Behavioral and Brain Sciences(BBS), and her colleagues recently examined the battle between self-control and peer pressure in the over-18 crowd.

In astudypublished Dec. 7 inPsychology and Aging, the researchers asked 157 adults ages 18 to 80 to respond to randomly timed surveys via text message in order to monitor participants self-control over spontaneous desires in daily life.

The researchers found that the influence of peer pressure continues into early adulthood, while middle-aged and older adults are better at controlling their desires.

Seaman, the senior author of the study and director of theAging Well Labat theCenter for Vital Longevityat UT Dallas, said that susceptibility to peer pressure had been thought to peak in adolescence and gradually disappear in early adulthood.

Most existing theories suggest that once youre an adult, youre good at resisting urges, she said. But we dont know when or how people get there in early adulthood, and we dont know how it develops across adulthood.

While older people generally regulate emotions more effectively, indicating greater self-control and resistance to conformity pressures, Seaman said they also face a new set of priorities that might make it more difficult to resist such influences, especially as they observe their peers partaking.

As we age, the dilemmas we face change, she said. Should I have a slice of chocolate cake at my nieces birthday party if Im trying to lose weight? Should I grab an expensive latte with co-workers if Im trying to save money?

Study participants were asked if they had experienced a craving or desire in the last three hours. If they said yes, there were follow-up questions: Did the desire conflict with personal goals, such as healthy living or saving money? Were other people around them during this event? Did they follow the urge to participate? They were also asked to judge the scale of both the urge and the conflict.

Results showed that when desires were experienced in the presence of others enacting that desire, middle-aged and older adults were better at controlling their desires than younger adults.

While we all know that there is a steep developmental curve for self-control during adolescence, thats not the end of the story, Seaman said.

Consistent with other studies on emotion regulation improving with age, these results indicate that resistance to social-conformity pressure grows across the adult lifespan.

Seaman said the research addressed largely unexplored facets of peer pressure.

Almost all of the studies done on adolescents focus on risky activities: binge drinking, unprotected sex and so on, she said. This study is about much more mundane urges: having a glass of wine or checking social media, for instance.

The study also focused on immediate memories, which are more reliable than recollections of experiences.

Other studies have asked people to think across the last week, month or year, she said. Were removing that long-term memory component and only doing experience sampling, asking about events in the last three hours, capturing people as they go about their day.

Social conformity and self-control across adult life is a relatively new frontier in human behavior research, Seaman said.

Our results reveal that adult age-related differences partially explain sensitivity to social-conformity pressure in real-world self-control decisions. Younger adults are less successful at regulating desires when others are around enacting those desires, she said.

While other studies suggest that this influence nearly disappears after late adolescence, we find it here though more limited in young adulthood and even in middle age.

Dr. Jaime Castrellon, currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, was the lead author of the study, which also involved researchers from Duke University School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University.

Funding: The research was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging (R01-AG044838,R01-AG043458) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R21-DA033611), both components of the National Institutes of Health.

Author: Stephen Fontenot Source: UT Dallas Contact: Stephen Fontenot UT Dallas Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access. Adult age-related differences in susceptibility to social conformity pressures in self-control over daily desires by Kendra Seaman et al. Psychology and Aging

Abstract

Adult age-related differences in susceptibility to social conformity pressures in self-control over daily desires

Developmental literature suggests that susceptibility to social conformity pressure peaks in adolescence and disappears with maturity into early adulthood.

Predictions about these behaviors are less clear for middle-aged and older adults. On the one hand, while age-related increases in prioritization of socioemotional goals might predict greater susceptibility to social conformity pressures, aging is also associated with enhanced emotion regulation that could support resistance to conformity pressures.

In this exploratory research study, we used mobile experience sampling surveys to naturalistically track how 157 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 80 practice self-control over spontaneous desires in daily life. Many of these desires were experienced in the presence of others enacting that desire.

Results showed that middle-aged and older adults were better at controlling their desires than younger adults when desires were experienced in the presence of others enacting that desire.

Consistent with the literature on improved emotion regulation with age, these results provide evidence that the ability to resist social conformity pressure is enhanced across the adult life span.

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Peer Pressure Persists Through Adulthood - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Mary Bartlett Bunge, 92, Dies; Pioneer in Spinal Injury Treatment – The New York Times

Mary Bartlett Bunge, who with her husband, Richard, studied how the body responds to spinal cord injuries and continued their work after his death in 1996, ultimately discovering a promising treatment to restore movement to millions of paralyzed patients, died on Feb. 17, at her home in Coral Gables, Fla. She was 92.

The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a nonprofit research organization with which Dr. Bunge (pronounced BUN-ghee) was affiliated, announced the death.

She definitely was the top woman in neuroscience, not just in the United States but in the world, Dr. Barth Green, a co-founder and dean at the Miami Project, said in a phone interview.

Dr. Bunges focus for much of her career was on myelin, a mix of proteins and fatty acids that coats nerve fibers, protecting them and boosting the speed at which they conduct signals.

Early in her career, she and her husband, whom she met as a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin in the 1950s, used new electron microscopes to describe the way that myelin developed around nerve fibers, and how, after because of injury or illness, it receded, in a process called demyelination.

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Mary Bartlett Bunge, 92, Dies; Pioneer in Spinal Injury Treatment - The New York Times

Neuroscience

Rethinking Reminiscence: Theater’s Ageism Dilemma Unveiled – Neuroscience News

Summary: A new study highlights the unintended ageist outcomes of Applied Theater, specifically reminiscence theater, which risks reducing older adults to mere storytellers of the past, overshadowing their current identities and contributions.

The research calls attention to how these practices, despite their positive intentions, may inadvertently perpetuate stereotypes and neglect the present lives and agency of participants. To combat this, the study introduces an Anti-Ageism Praxis (AAP) framework focusing on co-creation, present responses, and challenging stereotypes, aiming to foster more ethical and inclusive applied theatre practices that truly value older adults voices and experiences.

Key Facts:

Source: University of Surrey

Imagine your grandmothers life story distilled into a performance, applause washing over her as strangers dissect her past. Sounds heart-warming, doesnt it? Not so fast, warns a new study from the University of Surrey.

The study found that Applied Theater practices, particularly reminiscence theater, could encourage ageism. This happens when we only see older adults as sources of stories from the past and forget to listen to their current thoughts, opinions, and hopes for the future.

Reminiscence theater is a form of interactive drama in which older adults share memories and experiences through dialogue, storytelling, and creative activities.

The study, led byDr Georgia Bowersfrom the Guildford School of Acting, has shown that unconscious biases and assumptions can lead practitioners to unknowingly reinforce negative stereotypes about older adults. This can be particularly evident in reminiscence theatre, where focusing on extracting memories risks neglecting participants present experiences and agency.

Dr Georgia Bowers, Lecturer and Programme Leader of Applied and Contemporary Theatre BA (Hons) at the Guildford School of Acting and lead author of the study, said:

Its crucial to acknowledge that ageism exists within even well-intentioned practices like applied theatre. While reminiscence theatre offers valuable benefits, it can become problematic if we dont prioritize co-creation, shared power, and a focus on participants present responses to their memories.

The research proposes a new Anti-Ageism Praxis (AAP) framework to address these concerns. AAP emphasizes:

Dr Bowers continued:

This research opens important conversations about ethical practice in applied theatre. The proposed AAP framework offers a valuable guide for practitioners to ensure older adults are central to the work and their voices are truly heard.

The research demonstrates the University of Surreys contribution towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Particularly: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 10 (Reduce Inequalities).

Author: Georgina Gould Source: University of Surrey Contact: Georgina Gould University of Surrey Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access. Invading Capitalist Ageism in Applied Theatre through Anti-Ageism Praxis by Georgia Bowers. Performance Research

Abstract

Invading Capitalist Ageism in Applied Theatre through Anti-Ageism Praxis

This article highlights how in the UK ageism derives from invasive and pervasive capitalist practices, where our cultural understanding of being old is driven by institutional exit from the labour market.

The article explores how ageism has bled into applied theatre practices and problematizes the widespread use of reminiscence theatre as an ageist methodology, as it restricts older peoples experiences to the past.

Issues of power between the facilitator and practitioner are also explored by questioning the exclusive nature of reviewing and editing older peoples personal recollections and who determines what memories have creative value.

This article advocates that the field must now fracture away from reminiscence models and instead I propose an Anti-Ageism Praxis (AAP), which functions as a resistance against the invasion of capitalist informed ageism and oppressive ageist theatrical engagement. Instead, AAP places emphasis on shared power, co-collaboration, being present and creating theatre that is informed by real time moments, feelings and thoughts.

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Rethinking Reminiscence: Theater's Ageism Dilemma Unveiled - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

PTSD: Virtual Reality and Magnetic Stimulation Provide Relief – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers demonstrated promising results for PTSD treatment in military veterans by combining brain stimulation with virtual reality exposure therapy. The clinical trial showed significant reductions in PTSD symptoms among participants who received low electrical current brain stimulation during virtual reality sessions designed to simulate warzone experiences.

This innovative approach, which outperformed traditional exposure therapy in both efficacy and participant retention, represents a novel method of addressing the complex challenge of treating PTSD. The study underscores the potential of integrating neuroscientific interventions with psychological therapy to enhance treatment outcomes for individuals struggling with PTSD, offering new pathways for recovery.

Key Facts:

Source: Brown University

Combining two treatments could be a promising option for people, especially military veterans, whose lives are negatively affected by post-traumatic stress disorder, a new study shows.

In a clinical trial conducted among U.S. military veterans at the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center, participants who received brain stimulation with a low electrical current during sessions of virtual reality exposure reported a significant reduction in PTSD symptom severity.

The results were reportedon March 6 inJAMA Psychiatry.

Study author Noah Philip, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown Universitys Warren Alpert Medical School, said the findings are exciting considering existing challenges in treating patients with PTSD.

This is a different and innovative way of approaching treatment where were combining the best aspects of psychotherapy, neuroscience and brain stimulation to help people get better, said Philip, who leads mental health research at the Providence V.A. Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology.

Theres a lot of promise here, and that offers hope.

PTSD is a common psychiatric disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts and recollections, avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, hyperarousal and disturbed mood, the study noted. Initial PTSD treatments often include trauma-focused exposure therapy and medication.

Yet PTSD is particularly difficult to treat in military veterans, Philip said. Medications have significant adverse effects, and exposure therapy can be difficult to tolerate, since it involves describing highly traumatic experiences repeatedly. Up to 50% of patients drop out of traditional exposure therapy, and others decline to even start it.

For the study, Philip, whose background is in psychiatric research of brain simulation, teamed up with Mascha van t Wout-Frank, an associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior (research) at the Warren Alpert Medical School who studies the effect of non-invasive brain stimulation on fear extinction, or learning that things that are regarded as harmful can actually be safe and can therefore become tolerable.

Through exposure therapy, the brain is reprocessing the trauma, and learning that even though the traumatic experience was dangerous, the memories of the traumatic experience, as well as the thoughts and feelings that are conjured up by those memories, are not dangerous they are safe, said van t Wout-Frank, an investigator at the V.A. Providence Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology.

This results in a decline in conditioned fear response.

A leading theory of PTSD posits that the effectiveness of exposure as a therapy is impaired due to ineffective top-down control of the brains amygdala by the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and other brain regions. Affected individuals thus have impaired safety learning and memory, which in healthy people is supported by intact brain function, van t Wout-Frank said.

Transcranial direct current stimulation, which involves administering a constant, low, pain-free electrical current to a part of the brain, is well-suited to potentially augment trauma-focused exposure therapy, van t Wout-Frank said. The non-invasive current may boost neural activity, facilitating top-down control by the ventromedial prefrontal cortex to improve safety learning.

The research team decided to combine transcranial direct current stimulation with virtual reality exposure, which provides a highly immersive sensory experience including visual, tactile and even olfactory stimuli to simulate real-world environments.

To test the combined treatment, the researchers expanded a previous pilot study to conduct a larger, more robust, double-blind study of 54 U.S. military veterans with chronic PTSD. Participants were randomly assigned to receive transcranial direct current stimulation or a sham experience that provided some sensation but not a significant amount or duration of electrical current.

In the patients receiving transcranial direct current stimulation, a low (2 milliamp) amount of electricity was targeted to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex during six 25-minute sessions of standardized warzone virtual reality exposure, delivered over two to three weeks.

Participants in the active transcranial direct current stimulation group reported a superior reduction in self-reported PTSD symptom severity at one month.While all participants had meaningful reductions in PTSD symptoms (attributed to the VR procedure), active transcranial direct current stimulation significantly accelerated psychological and physiological adjustment to the virtual reality events between sessions compared with the sham treatment patients.

In the experiment, the virtual reality was generalized to include trauma-inducing elements, but didnt replicate any one participants personal experience.

It can be difficult for patients to talk about their personal trauma over and over, and thats one common reason that participants drop out of psychotherapy, Philip said. This VR exposure tends to be much easier for people to handle.

In just two weeks, the combination of electric stimulation plus VR treatment accelerated a process that happens normally during prolonged exposure therapy, but usually takes around 12 weeks to show effects.

Whats more, Philip added, the effects continued to build over time.

What we found was that people continued to get better after they were done with the treatment, and we started seeing the biggest effects one month later, Philip said.

The team is continuing to review the study results to better understand how the treatment caused brain changes over time. Future studies would explore a larger group of study participants, a longer follow-up time, and perhaps even the effects of re-treatment.

Other Brown researchers involved with this study included Amanda R. Arulpragasam, M. Tracie Shea and Benjamin D. Greenberg.

Funding: This studywas supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (I01 RX002450, I50 RX002864)

Author: Corrie Pikul Source: Brown University Contact: Corrie Pikul Brown University Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access. Virtual Reality and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder A Randomized Clinical Trial by Noah Philip et al. JAMA Psychiatry

Abstract

Virtual Reality and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder A Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common psychiatric disorder that is particularly difficult to treat in military veterans. Noninvasive brain stimulation has significant potential as a novel treatment to reduce PTSD symptoms.

Objective

To test whether active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) plus virtual reality (VR) is superior to sham tDCS plus VR for warzone-related PTSD.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This double-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted among US military veterans enrolled from April 2018 to May 2023 at a secondary care Department of Veterans Affairs hospital and included 1- and 3-month follow-up visits. Participants included US military veterans with chronic PTSD and warzone-related exposure, recruited via referral and advertisement. Patients in psychiatric treatment had to be on a stable regimen for at least 6 weeks to be eligible for enrollment. Data were analyzed from May to September 2023.

Intervention

Participants were randomly assigned to receive 2-mA anodal tDCS or sham tDCS targeted to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, during six 25-minute sessions of standardized warzone VR exposure, delivered over 2 to 3 weeks.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The coprimary outcomes were self-reported PTSD symptoms, measured via the PTSD checklist forDSM-5(PCL-5), alongside quality of life. Other outcomes included psychophysiological arousal, clinician-assessed PTSD, depression, and social/occupational function.

Results

A total of 54 participants (mean [SD] age, 45.7 [10.5] years; 51 [94%] males) were assessed, including 26 in the active tDCS group and 28 in the sham tDCS group. Participants in the active tDCS group reported a superior reduction in self-reported PTSD symptom severity at 1 month (t=2.27,P=.02; Cohend=0.82). There were no significant differences in quality of life between active and sham tDCS groups. Active tDCS significantly accelerated psychophysiological habituation to VR events between sessions compared with sham tDCS (F5,7689.8=4.65;P<.001). Adverse effects were consistent with the known safety profile of the corresponding interventions.

Conclusions and Relevance

These findings suggest that combined tDCS plus VR may be a promising strategy for PTSD reduction and underscore the innovative potential of these combined technologies.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT03372460

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PTSD: Virtual Reality and Magnetic Stimulation Provide Relief - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

The Partisan Morality Divide: When Politics Shapes Right and Wrong – Neuroscience News

Summary: In todays polarized political climate, a recent study uncovers a stark divide in moral judgment based on political affiliation, revealing a complex interplay between personal beliefs and political loyalty.

Researchers found that individuals are more lenient towards the misdeeds of political allies while adopting a punitive stance towards opponents, a phenomenon that challenges the notion of universal moral standards. This discrepancy is attributed to the evolutionary need for group success, which allows moral boundaries to flex in the face of political competition.

The study, based on four independent samples, also highlights that ingrained antipathy towards political outgroups exacerbates this divide, suggesting that deeply rooted political biases significantly influence moral judgment and ethical behavior.

Key Facts:

Source: Neuroscience News

In the fervent arena of politics, where the clash of ideologies often reaches fever pitch, a groundbreaking study sheds light on the intricate dance between moral judgment and political affiliation.

At the heart of this exploration lies a provocative question: Why do similar transgressions elicit starkly different reactions based on political loyalty?

The Fluidity of Moral Judgment in Political Contexts

The study, conducted across four independent samples, reveals a fascinating phenomenon: individuals exhibit a marked tendency to be more forgiving of the transgressions committed by those within their political camp, while simultaneously adopting a punitive stance towards their political adversaries.

This partisan morality, as it has been dubbed, not only challenges the notion of universal moral standards but also uncovers the deep-seated biases that influence ethical behavior in the political realm.

An Evolutionary Perspective on Morality and Politics

The researchers propose an evolutionary framework to explain this malleable moral landscape. According to their hypothesis, moral valuesoften considered as nonnegotiable pillars of right and wrongmay, in fact, serve a more adaptive purpose.

The study suggests that moral boundaries are inherently flexible, shaped by the evolutionary need to ensure the success of ones ingroup. In the competitive environment of politics, where the stakes of ingroup versus outgroup rivalry are high, this flexibility allows for a loosening of moral constraints to serve the interests of the ingroup.

The Role of Ingroup Antipathy

A critical finding of the study is the role of ingroup antipathyinternalized dislike of the outgroupin driving the partisan morality divide. Individuals with a strong aversion to their political outgroups were found to be more willing to deviate from their personal moral values in political situations.

This insight provides a compelling explanation for the often observed moral hypocrisy in politics, where loyalty to ones political group can override core ethical principles.

Implications for Political Polarization

The implications of these findings are profound, particularly in the context of increasing political polarization. The study highlights how deeply ingrained political biases can influence moral judgment, potentially exacerbating divisions and eroding bipartisan norms.

As politics becomes more about winning at all costs, the study raises important questions about the impact of partisan morality on democratic processes and the fabric of society.

A Closer Look at the Study

The studys methodology involved a systematic examination of moral behavior and tolerance, both in personal and political contexts, across four independent samples.

The researchers employed a range of measures, including moral foundations theory and the Motivation to Express Prejudice Scale, to investigate the relationship between moral judgment and political affiliation.

Their analysis revealed consistent support for the hypothesis that people are more likely to engage in and tolerate immoral behavior in the political realm compared to the personal realm.

Moral Judgment: Trait-Like or Context-Dependent?

The fluidity of moral judgment observed in the study challenges traditional conceptions of morality as a stable, trait-like attribute. Instead, the findings suggest that moral judgment and behavior are highly context-dependent, influenced by the salient features of the decision-making environment. This raises intriguing questions about the nature of moral values and their application across different spheres of life.

The Adaptive Function of Morality

At its core, the study posits that morality evolved as a solution to the challenges of social living, requiring a balance between individual self-interest and group cooperation. The selective application of moral values in group-competitive environments, such as politics, can be understood as an adaptive response to these challenges.

This perspective offers a fresh lens through which to view the complexities of moral judgment in the modern political landscape.

A Call for Further Research

While the study provides compelling evidence for the existence of partisan morality, it also underscores the need for further research to explore the nuances of this phenomenon.

Future studies could delve deeper into the individual and group-level variations in moral judgment, as well as the potential for interventions to mitigate the impact of political biases on ethical behavior.

Navigating the Partisan Morality Divide

As society grapples with the implications of the partisan morality divide, the study serves as a timely reminder of the power of political biases to shape our perceptions of right and wrong. In an era of heightened polarization, understanding the interplay between moral judgment and political affiliation is more critical than ever.

By shedding light on the adaptive roots of morality and the role of ingroup antipathy, this research offers valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities for fostering a more inclusive and ethically grounded political discourse.

Author: Neuroscience News Communications Source: Neuroscience News Contact: Neuroscience News Communications Neuroscience News Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access. Politics makes bastards of us all: Why moral judgment is politically situational by Kyle Hull et al. Political Psychology

Abstract

Politics makes bastards of us all: Why moral judgment is politically situational

Moral judgment is politically situationalpeople are more forgiving of transgressive copartisans and more likely to behave punitively and unethically toward political opponents. Such differences are widely observed, but not fully explained.

If moral values are nonnegotiable first-principle beliefs about right and wrong, why do similar transgressions elicit different moral judgment in the personal and political realm?

We argue this pattern arises from the same forces intuitionist frameworks of moral psychology use to explain the origins of morality: the adaptive need to suppress individual behavior to ensure ingroup success.

We hypothesize ingroups serve as moral boundaries, that the relative tight constraints morality exerts over ingroup relations loosen in competitive group environments because doing so also serves ingroup interests.

We find support for this hypothesis in four independent samples and also find that group antipathyinternalized dislike of the outgrouppushes personal and political moral boundaries farther apart.

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The Partisan Morality Divide: When Politics Shapes Right and Wrong - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Biological Sciences Professor Terrence Sejnowski Wins Brain Prize – University of California San Diego

Professor Terrence Sejnowski, Department of Neurobiology, School of Biological Sciences, and Salk Institute.

It is inconceivable to imagine modern brain sciences without the concomitant development of computational and theoretical neuroscience, says Professor Richard Morris, chair of The Brain Prize Selection Committee. These three scientists have applied novel and sophisticated approaches from physics, mathematics and statistics to study the brain. They have developed vital tools for the analysis of highly complex datasets acquired by modern-day experimental neuroscientists.

The three prize winners have also proposed conceptual frameworks for understanding some of the brains most fundamental processes, such as learning, memory, perception and how the brain generates maps of the external world. They have also provided crucial new insights into what may go awry in several devastating disorders of the nervous system, such as epilepsy, Alzheimers disease and schizophrenia. In addition, their scientific achievements have paved the way for the development of brain-inspired artificial intelligence, one of the emerging and transformational technologies of our time.

Sejnowski, a distinguished professor in the UC San Diego Department of Neurobiology, head of Salks Computational Neurobiology Laboratory and holder of the Frances Crick Chair, has helped shape the fields of neuroeconomics, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, psychology and artificial intelligence. In 1985, while at Johns Hopkins University, he collaborated with computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton to invent the Boltzmann machine, the first algorithm to solve the problem of learning in multilayered neural networks. It remains the most biologically plausible of all subsequent learning algorithms for artificial neural networks.

I am incredibly honored to receive the 2024 Brain Prize, says Sejnowski. Im proud that this award recognizes the remarkable computational advances being made by computer scientists and neuroscientists to our understanding of brain function.

Soon after announcing the Boltzmann machine, Sejnowski created NETtalk, a computer program that, like the human brain, was able to learn how to turn written text into speech. Not only was this an astounding engineering accomplishment, but it also marked a major cultural milestone as it raised new challenges for philosophy, linguistics and cognitive science.

Sejnowski also helped develop the first unsupervised learning algorithm for independent component analysis, which is now a mainstay in brain imaging. In addition, he has shown that sleep spindles (brain wave patterns during nonrapid eye movement sleep) are not synchronous across the cortex, as previously believed, but instead create circular traveling waves.

Sejnowski has received numerous other awards, including being named the 2024 Scientist of the Year by the ARCS Foundation of San Diego, winning the Gruber Prize in Neuroscience, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Frank Rosenblatt Award, Neural Network Pioneer Award, Hebb Prize and Wright Prize. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Inventors.

About the Brain Prize:

The Brain Prize is the worlds largest neuroscience research prize, and it is awarded each year by the Lundbeck Foundation. The Brain Prize recognizes highly original and influential advances in any area of brain research, from basic neuroscience to applied clinical research. Recipients of The Brain Prize may be of any nationality and work in any country in the world. Since it was first awarded in 2011, The Brain Prize has been awarded to 47 scientists from 10 different countries. Brain Prize recipients are presented with their award by His Royal Highness, King Frederik of Denmark, at a ceremony in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

Adapted from a Salk Institute release

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Biological Sciences Professor Terrence Sejnowski Wins Brain Prize - University of California San Diego

Neuroscience

Pioneering work in computational and theoretical neuroscience is awarded the world’s largest brain research prize – afp.com

COPENHAGEN, Denmark

The Lundbeck Foundation has announced the recipients of The Brain Prize 2024, the worlds largest award for outstanding contributions to neuroscience. This years award recognizes the pioneering work of three leading neuroscientists Professor Larry Abbott at Columbia University (USA), Professor Terrence Sejnowski at the Salk Institute (USA), and Professor Haim Sompolinsky at Harvard University (USA) and the Hebrew University (Israel).

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Credit: The Lundbeck Foundation

Theoretical and computational neuroscience permeates neuroscience today and is of increasingly growing importance. The winners of The Brain Prize 2024 have made pioneering contributions to these scientific areas by uncovering some of the principles that govern the brains structure, function, and the emergence of cognition and behaviour.

The Brain Prize 2024 worth DKK 10 million (1.3 million) is awarded to: Larry Abbott (USA), Terrence Sejnowski (USA), and Haim Sompolinsky (Israel/USA) for their Foundational work in Computational and Theoretical Neuroscience.

Chair of The Brain Prize Selection Committee, Professor Richard Morris, explains the reasoning behind this years award:

It is inconceivable to imagine modern brain sciences without the concomitant development of computational and theoretical neuroscience. The three scientists have applied novel and sophisticated approaches from physics, mathematics, and statistics to study the brain. They have developed vital tools for the analysis of highly complex datasets acquired by modern day experimental neuroscientists.

The three prize winners have also proposed conceptual frameworks for understanding some of the brains most fundamental processes such as learning, memory, perception and how the brain generates maps of the external world. They have also provided crucial new insights into what may go awry in several devastating disorders of the nervous system, such as epilepsy, Alzheimers disease, and schizophrenia. In addition, their scientific achievements have paved the way for the development of brain-inspired artificial intelligence, one of the emerging and transformational technologies of our time.

On behalf of the Lundbeck Foundation, CEO Lene Skole extends her warmest congratulations to each of the three Brain Prize recipients:

Their pioneering research has created trailblazing knowledge and paved the way for other scientists to better understand critical brain functions, also in relation to diseases. It aligns fully with our purpose of bringing discoveries to lives. Each of their scientific endeavours began in the 70s, and their determination, courage and persistence over decades should serve as inspiration for other scientists, and indeed be rewarded.

FACTS

The human brain consists of approximately 100 billion neurons connected by trillions of synaptic connections. Every function the brain performs relies on the flow of information through these staggeringly complex networks of neurons. A fundamental goal of neuroscience is to understand how these networks are wired together, and how the patterns of neural activity within them give rise to cognition and behaviour. The sheer complexity of the brain means that understanding its language requires theoretical and computational approaches.

Theoretical and computational neuroscience uses mathematics, computer science, theoretical analysis, and abstractions of the brain to understand the principles that govern its structure, how it processes information, generates behaviour, and gives rise to cognitive abilities as perception, imagination, intelligence, the formation of knowledge, memory, problem-solving, decision-making, and the production of language. The field has laid the foundations for the development of AI - one of the most revolutionary developments in modern science.

MORE INFO

Find out more see the information pack of The Brain Prize 2024 >>

About The Brain Prize

The Brain Prize is the worlds largest neuroscience research prize, and it is awarded each year by the Lundbeck Foundation. The Brain Prize recognises highly original and influential advances in any area of brain research, from basic neuroscience to applied clinical research. Recipients of The Brain Prize may be of any nationality and work in any country in the world. Since it was first awarded in 2011, The Brain Prize has been awarded to 47 scientists from 10 ten different countries. The Brain Prize recipients are presented with their award by His Royal Highness, King Frederik of Denmark, at a ceremony in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

About the Lundbeck Foundation

The Lundbeck Foundation is an enterprise foundation encompassing a comprehensive range of commercial and philanthropic activities all united by its strong purpose; Bringing Discoveries to Lives. The Foundation is the long-term and engaged owner of several international healthcare and medtech companies Lundbeck, Falck, ALK, Ellab, and Ferrosan Medical Devices and an active investor in business, science and people through its commercial investments in the financial markets; in biotech companies based on Danish research and through philanthropic grants to science talents and programmes in Danish universities. The Foundations philanthropic grants amount to more than DKK 500m annually primarily focusing on the brain including the worlds largest personal prize awarded in neuroscience, The Brain Prize.

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For media enquiries and more information please contact:

Martin Meyer | Director of the Brain Prize | Lundbeck Foundation mm@lundbeckfonden.com

Anne Sophie Tnnesen | Sr Communications Partner | Lundbeck Foundation ast@lundbeckfonden.com

Business Wire, Inc.

Disclaimer: This press release is not a document produced by AFP. AFP shall not bear responsibility for its content. In case you have any questions about this press release, please refer to the contact person/entity mentioned in the text of the press release.

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Pioneering work in computational and theoretical neuroscience is awarded the world's largest brain research prize - afp.com

Neuroscience

Substance Abuse Beyond Dopamine and Impulsivity – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers shed new light on why some individuals are more vulnerable to substance abuse than others, focusing on the relationship between impulsivity, dopamine production, and cocaine use. Through a study on rats, they discovered that impulsivity predicts cocaine consumption not through dopamine production capacity but possibly through the control of its release.

This groundbreaking work challenges the conventional belief that regular cocaine use diminishes the brains ability to produce dopamine, suggesting that the mechanisms of vulnerability to drug abuse are more complex than previously thought.

Key Facts:

Source: University of Geneva

Why do some people who try drugs struggle with substance abuse while others dont? This question has long puzzled scientists.

A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) explored the complex interplay between personality traits and brain chemistry. The scientists studied the role of impulsivity and the production of dopamine the so-called happiness hormone in influencing the risk of cocaine abuse.

These results, published ineNeuro, offer new keys to understanding vulnerability to drug abuse, which could lead to the development of more targeted interventions for people at risk.

When a person consumes an addictive drug, his or her dopamine release surges, creating a high feeling. With repeated drug use, this dopamine release drops, potentially driving the person to increase drug consumption. This mechanism varies between individuals, with some showing a greater propensity to consume the drug while others dont. However, the reasons for these differences are unknown.

Cocaine does not affect dopamine production capacity

In a recent study, a UNIGE team explored the complex interaction between different impulsive behaviors, the production of dopamine and the use of drugs, more specifically cocaine. Does an impulsive personality increase the vulnerability to drug abuse? Does an impulsive individual produce more or less dopamine?

To find out, the scientists studied two groups of rats, one made up highly impulsive individuals, the other of less impulsive ones. These animals were trained to self-administer cocaine at a dose that triggers dopamine neuroadaptations without harming their health.

Scientists first trained the animals in a gambling task to measure two impulsive behaviors: impulsive action the inability to control automatic actions and risky decision-making the acceptance of more risk when making decisions.

Scientists then measured the level of dopamine synthesis using a non-invasive neuroimaging technique before and after cocaine intake in the two groups of rats. They found that impulsive action, but not risky decision-making, predicted a greater number of cocaine injections and faster cocaine use.

However, we observed that there was no difference in the capacity to produce dopamine between the highly impulsive and less impulsive animals. In other words, impulsivity and vulnerability to cocaine abuse might not be linked to dopamine production, but to mechanisms controlling its release, explains Ginna Paola Uruea-Mndez, PhD. student in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Basic Neurosciences in the Faculty of Medicine at the UNIGE, and first author of the study.The team then assessed repeated cocaine use and its impact on dopamine levels in the two groups of rodents.

Until now, the idea that regular cocaine consumption could reduce the ability to produce dopamine was accepted. Our results contradict this assumption as both populations of rats retained the same capacity to produce dopamine, despite chronic consumption, explains Nathalie Ginovart, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Basic Neurosciences at the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, who led this research.

Identifying other mechanisms

These results suggest dopamine synthesis is probably not the main driver of impulsivity or vulnerability to cocaine use. They also contradict the hypothesis that cocaine use may directly reduce the capacity to produce dopamine.

This work represents a significant advance in research into the risk of drug abuse. It opens the door to exploring other mechanisms that could explain individual vulnerability to drugs.

This variation in vulnerability could be linked to differences in the relative reactivity of dopaminergic neurons, so that certain stimuli, including drugs, are more salient for more impulsive animals, say the researchers. The team is currently continuing its research to assess how mechanisms controlling dopamine neuron reactivity influence vulnerability to abuse drugs.

Author: Antoine Guenot Source: University of Geneva Contact: Antoine Guenot University of Geneva Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access. Decoupling Dopamine Synthesis from Impulsive Action, Risk-Related Decision-Making, and Propensity to Cocaine Intake: A Longitudinal [18F]-FDOPA PET Study in Roman High- and Low-Avoidance Rats by Ginna Paola Uruea-Mndez et al. eNeuro

Abstract

Decoupling Dopamine Synthesis from Impulsive Action, Risk-Related Decision-Making, and Propensity to Cocaine Intake: A Longitudinal [18F]-FDOPA PET Study in Roman High- and Low-Avoidance Rats

Impulsive action and risk-related decision-making (RDM) are two facets of impulsivity linked to a hyperdopaminergic release in the striatum and an increased propensity to cocaine intake.

We previously showed that with repeated cocaine exposure, this initial hyperdopaminergic release is blunted in impulsive animals, potentially signaling drug-induced tolerance.

Whether such dopaminergic dynamics involve changes in dopamine (DA) synthesis as a function of impulsivity is currently unknown.

Here, we investigated the predictive value of DA synthesis for impulsive action, RDM, and the propensity to take cocaine in a rat model of vulnerability to cocaine abuse. Additionally, we assessed the effects of cocaine intake on these variables.

Rats were tested sequentially in the rat Gambling Task (rGT) and were scanned with positron emission tomography and [18F]-FDOPA to respectively assess both impulsivity facets and striatal DA synthesis before and after cocaine self-administration (SA).

Our results revealed that baseline striatal levels of DA synthesis did not significantly predict impulsive action, RDM, or a greater propensity to cocaine SA in impulsive animals.

Besides, we showed that impulsive action, but not RDM, predicted higher rates of cocaine taking. However, chronic cocaine exposure had no impact on DA synthesis, nor affected impulsive action and RDM.

These findings indicate that the hyper-responsive DA system associated with impulsivity and a propensity for cocaine consumption, along with the reduction in this hyper-responsive DA state in impulsive animals with a history of cocaine use, might not be mediated by dynamic changes in DA synthesis.

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