Category Archives: Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Munchies Mystery Solved: Cannabis Activates Brain’s Appetite Neurons – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers uncovered how cannabis triggers appetite in the brain. Using calcium imaging technology to observe brain cells in mice exposed to vaporized cannabis sativa, the team discovered that cannabis activates specific cells in the hypothalamus associated with the anticipation and consumption of food.

This finding could lead to novel treatments for appetite disorders in cancer patients, anorexia, and potentially obesity. The study highlights the cannabinoid-1 receptors role in controlling Agouti Related Protein neurons, essential for appetite, and demonstrates that disabling these neurons negates cannabiss appetite-stimulating effects.

Key Facts:

Source: Washington State University

While it is well known that cannabis can cause the munchies, researchers have now revealed a mechanism in the brain that promotes appetite in a set of animal studies at Washington State University.

The discovery, detailed in thejournalScientific Reports, could pave the way for refined therapeutics to treat appetite disorders faced by cancer patients as well as anorexia and potentially obesity.

After exposing mice to vaporized cannabis sativa, researchers used calcium imaging technology, which is similar to a brain MRI, to determine how their brain cells responded. They observed that cannabis activated a set of cells in the hypothalamus when the rodents anticipated and consumed palatable food that were not activated in unexposed mice.

When the mice are given cannabis, neurons come on that typically are not active, said Jon Davis, an assistant professor of neuroscience at WSU and corresponding author on the paper. There is something important happening in the hypothalamus after vapor cannabis.

Calcium imaging has been used to study the brains reactions to food by other researchers, but this is the first known study to use it to understand those features following cannabis exposure.

As part of this research, the researchers also determined that the cannabinoid-1 receptor, a known cannabis target, controlled the activity of a well-known set of feeding cells in the hypothalamus, called Agouti Related Protein neurons.

With this information, they used a chemogenetic technique, which acts like a molecular light switch, to home in on these neurons when animals were exposed to cannabis. When these neurons were turned off, cannabis no longer promoted appetite.

We now know one of the ways that the brain responds to recreational-type cannabis to promote appetite, said Davis.

This work builds onprevious research on cannabis and appetitefrom Davis lab, which was among the first to use whole vaporized cannabis plant matter in animal studies instead of injected THCin an effort to better mimic how cannabis is used by humans. In the previous work, the researchers identified genetic changes in the hypothalamus in response to cannabis, so in this study, Davis and his colleagues focused on that area.

Funding: The current research received support from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as by funds provided by the state of Washington Initiative Measure No. 171.

Author: Sara Zaske Source: Washington State University Contact: Sara Zaske Washington State University Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access. Cannabis Sativa targets mediobasal hypothalamic neurons to stimulate appetite by Jon Davis et al. Scientific Reports

Abstract

Cannabis Sativa targets mediobasal hypothalamic neurons to stimulate appetite

The neurobiological mechanisms that regulate the appetite-stimulatory properties ofcannabis sativaare unresolved. This work examined the hypothesis that cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1R) expressing neurons in the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) regulate increased appetite following cannabis vapor inhalation.

Here we utilized a paradigm where vaporized cannabis plant matter was administered passively to rodents. Initial studies in rats characterized meal patterns and operant responding for palatable food following exposure to air or vapor cannabis.

Studies conducted in mice used a combination of in vivo optical imaging, electrophysiology and chemogenetic manipulations to determine the importance of MBH neurons for cannabis-induced feeding behavior.

Our data indicate that cannabis vapor increased meal frequency and food seeking behavior without altering locomotor activity. Importantly, we observed augmented MBH activity within distinct neuronal populations when mice anticipated or consumed food.

Mechanistic experiments demonstrated that pharmacological activation of CB1R attenuated inhibitory synaptic tone onto hunger promoting Agouti Related Peptide (AgRP) neurons within the MBH.

Lastly, chemogenetic inhibition of AgRP neurons attenuated the appetite promoting effects of cannabis vapor. Based on these results, we conclude that MBH neurons contribute to the appetite stimulatory properties of inhaled cannabis.

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Munchies Mystery Solved: Cannabis Activates Brain's Appetite Neurons - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Male and Female Silkmoths Perceive Odors Differently – Neuroscience News

Summary: A study uncovers distinct olfactory worlds between male and female silkmoths, contrasting with the similar sense of smell in human males and females. Female silkmoths, previously thought to be attuned to mulberry tree odors for egg-laying, surprisingly respond more to silkworm feces odors, crucial after mating.

This discovery, made using electrophysiological methods and behavioral tests, challenges previous assumptions about female moth sensilla. Additionally, the study explores the uncharted territory of male silkmoth pheromones and reveals unique co-expression of olfactory receptors in silkmoths, expanding understanding of insect olfaction.

Key Facts:

Source: Max Planck Institute

In humans, the sense of smell is similarly developed in men and women, although women have slightly more olfactory neurons and therefore a slightly more sensitive nose. On the whole, however, they perceive the same odors.

Male moths, on the other hand, live in a completely different olfactory world to their female counterparts. For example, the antennae of male silkmoths their nose are highly specialized to detect female sex pheromones, while females cannot even smell their own pheromones.

There are thousands of sensilla on the antennae, hair-like structures, which can be divided into morphologically and functionally distinct groups. The most common sensilla in males are long and contain two sensory neurons.

One is specialized to detect bombykol, the sex pheromone of females, while the other responds to bombykal, a component of the pheromone of other moth species. While bombykol is highly attractive to male silkmoths, bombykal is a deterrent.

Because female silkmoths cannot smell their own pheromone, it was long thought that their long sensilla also have a very specific function that is only found in females. After mating, the females only task is to find a suitable plant on which to lay her eggs.

It has therefore been suggested that the long sensilla of females are specialized to detect the attractive odor of mulberry trees. We wanted to test this assumption, says Sonja Bisch-Knaden, who leads a project group in the Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology.

Long sensilla of female silkmoths recognize silkworm feces

Electrophysiological methods, such as measuring the activity of individual sensilla (single-sensillum recording), were crucial for the studys results. The scientists not only tested many different individual odors, but also natural odor mixtures, such as those found in the leaves of the mulberry tree, caterpillar droppings, the body odor of moths or the meconium, a liquid that moths secrete when they hatch.

All these odors, which play an ecological role in the silkmoths environment, had been collected. The research team was also able to match the expression of olfactory receptors to the corresponding sensillum type.

We were surprised to find that neurons in the long sensilla of female silkmoths were not specialized to detect the odor of the host plant, as expected, but that one of the two neurons in the long sensilla is very sensitive to odors such as isovaleric acid and benzaldehyde. The detection of the odor of the mulberry leaf itself is carried out by neurons in medium-length sensilla, summarizes Sonja Bisch-Knaden.

Isovaleric acid and benzaldehyde are odor components of silkworm feces. Using a simple Y-maze test with an entrance arm that splits into two side arms through which either an odor or clean air (control) is introduced, the research team was able to elicit behavior in the otherwise immobile females that expressed attraction or aversion. Major differences became apparent when comparing virgin and mated females.

The researchers showed that odors associated with caterpillar droppings did not trigger a specific reaction in virgin females, but had a deterrent effect on mated females. Presumably, the smell of feces helps females avoid mulberry trees, which are already full of silkworms when they lay their eggs.

In search of the male silkmoth pheromone

The pheromone of female silkmoths, bombykol, was chemically characterized as early as 1959 the first insect pheromone ever. So far, scientists have not been able to identify a male counterpart. The current study provides clues, but no answers to the question of a male pheromone.

The second neuron in the females long sensilla is highly specific for (+)-linalool, an odor already identified as a component of the male pheromone in other butterfly species. However, no linalool could be found in the body odor of male silkmoths, and (+)-linalool alone had neither an attractive nor a repellent effect on female silkmoths in behavioral experiments, says Sonja Bisch-Knaden.

Special features of the odor perception of silkmoths

While investigating the molecular basis of odor detection in female silkmoths, the researchers noticed a peculiarity in the spatial organization of olfactory receptors. There are two families of olfactory receptors, the evolutionary older ionotropic receptors (IRs), which detect mainly acids, and the odorant receptors (ORs), which detect a wide range of chemically diverse compounds.

Based on studies in the model flyDrosophila melanogaster, it was long thought that neurons expressing IRs or ORs usually occur in different types of sensilla, and that IRs never occur in long sensilla. In the silkmoth, however, an IR co-receptor for the detection of acids and the obligate OR co-receptor are both found in the same neurons located in long sensilla.

This co-expression of IRs and ORs increases the chemical receptivity of the sensory neurons. Odors detected by both receptor types are processed and transmitted together, which could be advantageous for the unambiguous detection of ecologically important odor mixtures.

It is amazing that research on insect olfaction continues to produce surprising results. Our study shows that it is important to study more than just one model, says Bill Hansson, head of the Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology.

The researchers also found this co-expression of the two receptor types in the long sensilla of male silkmoths, which is why they assume that the detection of acids could also play an important ecological role in males. Further investigations will now clarify this.

Author: Angela Overmeyer Source: Max Planck Institute Contact: Angela Overmeyer Max Planck Institute Image: The image is credited to Markus Knaden, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

Original Research: Open access. Females smell differently: characteristics and significance of the most common olfactory sensilla of female silkmoths by Sonja Bisch-Knaden et al. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

Abstract

Females smell differently: characteristics and significance of the most common olfactory sensilla of female silkmoths

In the silkmothBombyx mori, the role of male sensilla trichodea in pheromone detection is well established. Here we study the corresponding female sensilla, which contain two olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) and come in two lengths, each representing a single physiological type.

Only OSNs in medium trichoids respond to the scent of mulberry, the silkworms exclusive host plant, and are more sensitive in mated females, suggesting a role in oviposition.

In long trichoids, one OSN is tuned to (+)-linalool and the other to benzaldehyde and isovaleric acid, both odours emitted by silkworm faeces. While the significance of (+)-linalool detection remains unclear, isovaleric acid repels mated females and may therefore play a role in avoiding crowded oviposition sites.

When we examined the underlying molecular components of neurons in female trichoids, we found non-canonical co-expression ofIr8a, the co-receptor for acid responses, andORco, the co-receptor of odorant receptors, in long trichoids, and the unexpected expression of a specific odorant receptor in both trichoid sensillum types.

In addition to elucidating the function of female trichoids, our results suggest that some accepted organizational principles of the insect olfactory system may not apply to the predominant sensilla on the antenna of femaleB. mori.

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Male and Female Silkmoths Perceive Odors Differently - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Plant Protein-Based Diet Is Key to Healthier Aging for Women – Neuroscience News

Summary: A new study reveals that women consuming higher amounts of plant-based protein experience fewer chronic diseases and maintain better health as they age.

Analyzing data from over 48,000 women in the Harvard-based Nurses Health Study, the research showed a significant link between plant protein intake and reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and cognitive decline. Protein source matters, with plant proteins being more beneficial for long-term health compared to animal proteins.

Key Facts:

Source: Tufts University

Women who consume higher amounts of protein, especially protein from plant-based sources, develop fewer chronic diseases and are more likely to be healthier overall as they age, according to astudyled by researchers at theJean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging(HNRCA) at Tufts University and published Jan. 17 inThe American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Analyzing self-reported data from more than 48,000 women, the researchers saw notably less heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, and cognitive and mental health decline, in those who included more protein in their diets from sources such as fruits, vegetables, bread, beans, legumes, and pasta, compared to those who ate less.

Consuming protein in midlife was linked to promoting good health in older adulthood, saidAndres Ardisson Korat, a scientist at the HNRCA and lead author of the study. We also found that the source of protein matters. Getting the majority of your protein from plant sources at midlife, plus a small amount of animal protein seems to be conducive to good health and good survival to older ages.

Findings were derived from the seminal Harvard-basedNurses Health Study, which followed female health care professionals from 1984 to 2016. The women were between the ages of 38 and 59 in 1984 and deemed to be in good physical and mental health at the start of the study.

Ardisson Korat and fellow researchers, including senior author Qi Sun of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, examined thousands of surveys collected every four years from 1984 to 2016 on how frequently people ate certain foods to pinpoint dietary protein and its effects on healthy aging. They calculated protein intake by multiplying the number of times each food item was consumed by its protein content and then, using the Harvard University Food Composition Database, totaling the amount of protein across all food items.

The researchers then compared the diets of women who didnt develop 11 chronic diseases or lose a lot of physical function or mental health, with the diets of those who did.

Women who ate more plant-based protein, which in 1984 was defined as protein obtained from bread, vegetables, fruits, pizza, cereal, baked items, mashed potatoes, nuts, beans, peanut butter, and pasta, were 46 percent more likely to be healthy into their later years.

Those who consumed more animal protein such as beef, chicken, milk, fish/seafood, and cheese, however, were 6 percent less likely to stay healthy as they aged.

Those who consumed greater amounts of animal protein tended to have more chronic disease and didnt manage to obtain the improved physical function that we normally associate with eating protein, said Ardisson Korat.

Animal protein was modestly tied with fewer physical limitations in older age, but plant protein had a stronger, more consistent correlation across all observed models, and was more closely linked with sound mental health later in life.

For heart disease in particular, higher plant protein consumption came with lower levels of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), blood pressure, and insulin sensitivity, while higher animal protein intake was tied to higher levels, along with increased insulin-like growth factor, which has been detected in multiple cancers.

Dairy protein alone (mainly milk, cheese, pizza, yogurt, and ice cream) was not significantly associated with better health status in older adulthood.

The team acknowledged that the benefits of plant protein might derive from components in plant-based food, rather than the proteincompared to animal foods, plants contain a higher proportion of dietary fiber, micronutrients, and beneficial compounds called polyphenols that are present in plants, rather than exclusively protein.

Ardisson Korat also said data from other groups is needed, as the Nurses Health Study surveyed primarily white females working in health care. The data from the study tended to be very homogeneous in terms of demographic and socioeconomic composition, so it will be valuable to follow up with a study in cohorts that are more diverse. Its a field that is still evolving, said Ardisson Korat.

But the teams findings so far support the recommendationthat women eat most of their protein in the form of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, although they should also consume some fish and animal protein for their iron and vitamin B12 content.

Dietary protein intake, especially plant protein, in midlife plays an important role in the promotion of healthy aging and in maintaining positive health status at older ages, Ardisson Korat said.

Funding: Research reported in this article was supported by the U.S. Department of AgriculturesAgricultural Research Service, and by the National Institutes of Health under award numbers UM1CA186107 (National Cancer Institute), P01CA87969 (National Cancer Institute), R01DK120870 (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases), U2CDK129670 (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases), R01DK127601 (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases), R01HL060712 (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute), R01HL034594 (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute), R01HL035464 (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute), and R01HL088521 (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute). Andres Ardisson Korat was supported by training grant KL2TR002545 from the National Institutes of Healths National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. Complete information on authors, funders, limitations and conflicts of interest is available in the published paper.

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the National Institutes of Health.

Author: Lisa LaPoint Source: Tufts University Contact: Lisa LaPoint Tufts University Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: The findings will appear in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

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Plant Protein-Based Diet Is Key to Healthier Aging for Women - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Memory Loss from TBI Reversed – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers made a breakthrough in understanding memory loss due to repeated head impacts, as often experienced by athletes. Their study reveals that memory issues following head injury in mice are linked to inadequate reactivation of neurons involved in memory formation.

This discovery is significant because it demonstrates that the memory loss is not a permanent, degenerative condition but potentially reversible. By using lasers to activate specific memory neurons, the researchers successfully reversed amnesia in mice, opening new avenues for treating cognitive impairments in humans caused by repeated head impacts.

Key Facts:

Source: Georgetown University

A mouse study designed to shed light on memory loss in people who experience repeated head impacts, such as athletes, suggests the condition could potentially be reversed. The research in mice finds that amnesia and poor memory following head injury is due to inadequate reactivation of neurons involved in forming memories.

The study, conducted by researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, is reported January 16, 2024, in theJournal of Neuroscience.

Importantly for diagnostic and treatment purposes, the researchers found that the memory loss attributed to head injury was not a permanent pathological event driven by a neurodegenerative disease. Indeed, the researchers could reverse the amnesia to allow the mice to recall the lost memory, potentially allowing cognitive impairment caused by head impact to be clinically reversed.

The Georgetown investigators had previously found that the brain adapts to repeated head impacts by changing the way the synapses in the brain operate. This can cause trouble in forming new memories and remembering existing memories. In their new study, investigators were able to trigger mice to remember memories that had been forgotten due to head impacts.

Our research gives us hope that we can design treatments to return the head-impact brain to its normal condition and recover cognitive function in humans that have poor memory caused by repeated head impacts, says the studys senior investigator, Mark Burns, PhD, a professor and Vice-Chair in Georgetowns Department of Neuroscience and director of the Laboratory for Brain Injury and Dementia.

In the new study, the scientists gave two groups of mice a new memory by training them in a test they had never seen before. One group was exposed to a high frequency of mild head impacts for one week (similar to contact sport exposure in people) and one group were controls that didnt receive the impacts. The impacted mice were unable to recall the new memory a week later.

Most research in this area has been in human brains with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is a degenerative brain disease found in people with a history of repetitive head impact, said Burns. By contrast, our goal was to understand how the brain changes in response to the low-level head impacts that many young football players regularly experience.

Researchers have found that, on average, college football players receive 21 head impacts per week with defensive ends receiving 41 head impacts per week. The number of head impacts to mice in this study were designed to mimic a week of exposure for a college football player, and each single head impact by itself was extraordinarily mild.

Using genetically modified mice allowed the researchers to see the neurons involved in learning new memories, and they found that these memory neurons (the memory engram) were equally present in both the control mice and the experimental mice.

To understand the physiology underlying these memory changes, the studys first author, Daniel P. Chapman, Ph.D., said, We are good at associating memories with places, and thats because being in a place, or seeing a photo of a place, causes a reactivation of our memory engrams. This is why we examined the engram neurons to look for the specific signature of an activated neuron.

When the mice see the room where they first learned the memory, the control mice are able to activate their memory engram, but the head impact mice were not. This is what was causing the amnesia.

The researchers were able to reverse the amnesia to allow the mice to remember the lost memory using lasers to activate the engram cells.

We used an invasive technique to reverse memory loss in our mice, and unfortunately this is not translatable to humans, Burns adds.

We are currently studying a number of non-invasive techniques to try to communicate to the brain that it is no longer in danger, and to open a window of plasticity that can reset the brain to its former state.

In addition to Burns and Chapman the authors include Stefano Vicini at Georgetown University and Sarah D. Power and Toms J. Ryan at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Funding: This work was supported by the Mouse Behavior Core in the Georgetown University Neuroscience Department and by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) / National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) grants R01NS107370 & R01NS121316. NINDS also supported F30 NS122281 and the Neural Injury and Plasticity Training Grant housed in the Center for Neural Injury and Recovery at Georgetown University (T32NS041218). Seed funding is from the CTE Research Fund at Georgetown.

The authors report having no personal financial interests related to the study.

Author: Karen Teber Source: Georgetown University Contact: Karen Teber Georgetown University Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Closed access. Amnesia after repeated head impact is caused by impaired synaptic plasticity in the memory engram by Mark Burns et al. Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

Amnesia after repeated head impact is caused by impaired synaptic plasticity in the memory engram

Sub-concussive head impacts are associated with the development of acute and chronic cognitive deficits. We recently reported that high-frequency head impact (HFHI) causes chronic cognitive deficits in mice through synaptic changes. To better understand the mechanisms underlying HFHI-induced memory decline, we used TRAP2/Ai32 transgenic mice to enable visualization and manipulation of memory engrams.

We labeled the fear memory engram in male and female mice exposed to an aversive experience and subjected them to sham or HFHI. Upon subsequent exposure to natural memory recall cues, sham, but not HFHI mice, successfully retrieved fearful memories.

In sham mice the hippocampal engram neurons exhibited synaptic plasticity, evident in amplified AMPA:NMDA ratio, enhanced AMPA-weighted tau, and increased dendritic spine volume compared to non-engram neurons. In contrast, although HFHI mice retained a comparable number of hippocampal engram neurons, these neurons did not undergo synaptic plasticity.

This lack of plasticity coincided with impaired activation of the engram network, leading to retrograde amnesia in HFHI mice. We validated that the memory deficits induced by HFHI stem from synaptic plasticity impairments by artificially activating the engram using optogenetics, and found that stimulated memory recall was identical in both sham and HFHI mice.

Our work shows that chronic cognitive impairment after HFHI is a result of deficiencies in synaptic plasticity instead of a loss in neuronal infrastructure, and we can reinstate a forgotten memory in the amnestic brain by stimulating the memory engram. Targeting synaptic plasticity may have therapeutic potential for treating memory impairments caused by repeated head impacts.

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Memory Loss from TBI Reversed - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

NEUROSCIENCE PROFESSOR (ASSISTANT, ASSOCIATE OR FULL PROFESSOR) job with University of Medicine … – The Chronicle of Higher Education

NEUROSCIENCE

Rank: Assistant, Associate or FullProfessor

UMHS Campus in St. Kitts, West Indies

The University of Medicine and Health Sciences-St. Kitts (UMHS) invites applications for a faculty position in Neuroscience.Neuroscience/Neuroanatomy is focused on team-teaching and, as such, faculty have adequate time to engage in research and/or writing. The UMHS academic year has three semesters; therefore, teaching responsibilities occur throughout the year.

Responsibilities include:

Minimum qualifications:

Course Description: MNEU 0810 Neuroscience/Neuroanatomy 7 credits. Neuroscience begins with an overview of the entire nervous system. As the course progresses, the focus is on comprehending the basic structure and function of each level of the nervous system, integrating both the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system. The principles that underlie the anatomical structure of each system of the brain are correlated with its physiology; correlations between the functional deficits, and the pathological anatomy in several neurological diseases which require working knowledge of anatomy and physiology are stressed. Special attention is given to integrating current understandings of human neurological and psychiatric diseases, and each topic is supplemented by relevant lab exercises which include detailed brain dissection and exposure to angiograms, CT scans, MRI, etc.

About UMHS.Students complete the Basic Science Program at the UMHS at our state-of-the-art campus in St Kitts. The fifth semester occurs at the UMHS campus in Portland, Maine. Students complete their third year of core clinical rotations and fourth year of elective rotations in one of our many affiliated, accredited teaching hospitals throughout the United States. To graduate, students must successfully complete the UMHS medical program and pass the USMLE Step1 and Step 2. Our graduates have obtained residencies through the United States and Canada. Please visit our website for further details about our academic program and student successes

Course Benefits:The position is full time and the salary is commensurate with teaching experience and degree. The faculty member is provided with an excellent health care plan which covers both the US and St. Kitts health care. Since there are three fifteen week semesters, the faculty member has seven weeks vacation a year which comes as the last two weeks of May and August and three weeks in December. Faculty are also provided an annual one week leave with expenses to attend a pre approved professional convention. Please note that we recruit highly credentialed faculty worldwide to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. UMHS offers a tax-free annual salary within certain limits, a state of the art institution on an idyllic island, the opportunity to become involved in the growth and success of the institution, and most importantly the opportunity to educate and nurture a new generation of physicians.

Send letter of interest, CV, and references to: Dr. Jerry Thornton, Executive Vice President at drjerrythornton@gmail.com andhr@umhs-sk.net

See more at:http://www.umhs-sk.org

We are an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer M/F/D/V

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NEUROSCIENCE PROFESSOR (ASSISTANT, ASSOCIATE OR FULL PROFESSOR) job with University of Medicine ... - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Neuroscience

Acetaminophen Use in Pregnancy Linked to ADHD in Kids – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers found a connection between the increased use of acetaminophen during pregnancy, particularly in the second trimester, and attention and behavior problems in young children. The research, part of the Illinois Kids Development Study, involved tracking prenatal chemical exposures and assessing the behaviors and traits of children at ages 2, 3, and 4.

While acetaminophen is deemed the safest painkiller during pregnancy, the study reveals a trend where higher usage, especially in the second trimester, corresponds to more attention-related problems and ADHD-type behaviors in children. However, the studys authors emphasize the need for more research and caution against interpreting the findings as an indication of ADHD or other disorders.

Key Facts:

Source: University of Illinois

A new study links increased use of acetaminophen during pregnancy particularly in the second trimester to modest but noticeable increases in problems with attention and behavior in 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds.

The study adds to a growing body of evidence linking the frequent use of acetaminophen in pregnancy to developmental problems in offspring.

The findings are detailed in the journalNeurotoxicology and Teratology.

The research is part of theIllinois Kids Development Studyat the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which explores how environmental exposures influence child development. The study tracked hundreds of children, collecting data on their prenatal chemical exposures and asking caregivers to assess their behaviors and traits at ages 2, 3 and 4.

While acetaminophen is considered the safest painkiller and fever reducer available during pregnancy, previous studies have found evidence of a range of possible negative outcomes for children exposed to the drug in gestation, said Megan Woodbury, who led the research as a graduate student at the U. of I. withcomparative biosciencesprofessor emeritaSusan Schantz, the principal investigator of the IKIDS program at Illinois. Woodbury is now a postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University in Boston. Schantz is a faculty member of theBeckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technologyat the U. of I.

Arecent studyled by Woodbury and Schantz linked higher acetaminophen exposure in pregnancy to language delays in children.

Some previous studies have found no relationship between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and attention and behavior in childhood, while other, usually larger studies found relationships between more frequent use of the medication during pregnancy and attention-related and behavioral problems in offspring.

Most of the latter studies were conducted in older children and questioned pregnant participants about their use of acetaminophen at most once per trimester.

The new study asked pregnant parents about their acetaminophen use six times over the course of the pregnancy roughly once every four-to-six weeks offering a more precise picture of the magnitude and timing of the drug exposures.

The researchers also asked caregivers to answer dozens of standardized questions about their childs behavior and ability to pay attention at ages 2, 3 and 4. More than 300 children were assessed at age 2, with 262 assessed again at 3, and 196 at age 4.

Our most important finding was that with increasing acetaminophen use by pregnant participants, especially during the second trimester, their children showed more attention-related problems and ADHD-type behaviors, which we call externalizing behaviors, at every age we measured, Woodbury said.

The kinds of behaviors the caregivers reported included things like the child talking out of turn, not paying attention, not being quiet when they were supposed to be quiet, not sitting down when they were supposed to be sitting down, and being a little aggressive with other children, Schantz said.

The findings are not an indication that the children have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or that they will be diagnosed with ADHD at a later date, Schantz said. But the children seem to be having more trouble with attention than peers of the same age who were less exposed or not exposed to acetaminophen in the womb.

Woodbury, who herself is pregnant, says she does not want to scare others away from using acetaminophen in pregnancy when needed. Extreme headaches or other painful episodes and fevers can be debilitating and even dangerous, calling for use of the drug. She said she has turned to acetaminophen once per trimester so far. But she also chooses not to use it for minor aches, pains or slight fevers.

More research is needed to test whether more frequent use of acetaminophen during the second trimester of pregnancy may be particularly problematic for the developing brain, the researchers said.

The study also is limited as participants were mostly white, non-Hispanic and of higher economic status. Schantz and her team are working to broaden the cohort of participants in IKIDS to include pregnant people from a greater diversity of social, economic and racial backgrounds.

Funding: This research was supported by the Childrens Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes program.

Author: Diana Yates Source: University of Illinois Contact: Diana Yates University of Illinois Image The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access. The relationship of prenatal acetaminophen exposure and attention-related behavior in early childhood by Susan Schantz et al. Neurotoxicology and Teratology

Abstract

The relationship of prenatal acetaminophen exposure and attention-related behavior in early childhood

Acetaminophenis currently the only analgesic considered safe for use throughout pregnancy, but recent studies indicate thatprenatal exposureto acetaminophen may be related to poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes. Multiple studies have suggested that it may be associated with attention problems, but few have examined this association by trimester of exposure.

The Illinois Kids Development Study is a prospective birth cohort located in east-central Illinois. Exposure data were collected between December 2013 and March 2020, and 535 newborns were enrolled during that period. Mothers reported the number of times they took acetaminophen at six time points across pregnancy.

When children were 2, 3, and 4years of age, caregivers completed the ChildBehaviorChecklist for ages 1.55years (CBCL). Associations of acetaminophen use during pregnancy with scores on the Attention Problems andADHDProblems syndrome scales, the Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior composite scales, and the Total Problems score were evaluated.

Higher acetaminophen exposure during the second trimester of fetal development was associated with higher Attention Problems, ADHD Problems, Externalizing Behavior, and Total Problems scores at ages 2 and 3. Higher second trimester exposure was only associated with higher Externalizing Behavior and Total Problems scores at 4years.

Higher cumulative exposure across pregnancy was associated with higher Attention Problems and ADHD Problems scores at ages 2 and 3. Findings suggest that prenatal acetaminophen exposure, especially during the second trimester, may be related to problems with attention in early childhood.

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Acetaminophen Use in Pregnancy Linked to ADHD in Kids - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Personality Traits and Social Media’s Influence on Teen Depression – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers explored how different social media platforms relate to depressive symptoms in teens. The study, involving 237 participants aged 14 to 16, found that personality traits, particularly extraversion, significantly influence how teens experience social media.

Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube varied in their impact, with TikTok associated with higher depressive symptoms in teens prone to negative thoughts. The research underscores the importance of considering individual differences in how social media affects mental health.

Key Facts:

Source: West Virginia University

Teens using social media are vulnerable to depressive symptoms and some platforms, like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, may be linked to higher levels of depression than others, according toWest Virginia Universityresearch.

Amy Gentzler, professor ofpsychologyat theWVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, as well as graduate students Jacob Alderson, Jeff Hughes and Matty Johnston,published an articlefrom a National Institutes of Health-funded study on how teens use social media and how specific platforms relate to depressive symptoms. They considered attributes like gender, personality and self-esteem.

While studies have looked at social medias effects on overall teen mental health, Gentzler wanted to see how individuals are differentially affected.

The goal was to consider the individual people more than research has done in the past, she said. Its good to look at your teen and ask, Who are they as a person? How does that influence how they navigate these apps? I think thats a much more interesting question as a researcher, and its also much more important for parents and educators to consider.

Gentzlers research revealed a subjects personality in particular the degree of extraversion can determine how they experience social media. Findings indicated teens with higher levels of extraversion who use Instagram often may not experience depression, whereas those with low and average levels of extraversion may be at risk for greater depressive symptoms.

Alderson focused on the role personality played in the study.

When were thinking about personality and social media, were thinking about how your general disposition influences how you navigate and interact with these platforms, he explained, adding that social media platforms use predictive algorithms to match the content users see to their personality and interests.

If your teen is highly extroverted or has even average levels of extraversion, the social media content they see and how they interact with that content may differ relative to teens lower in extraversion, Alderson continued.

I think that gets at some of the negative affective reactions to social media that we saw as well, particularly for an app like TikTok thats tailored to them through an algorithm.

The researchers believe its important for teens to take note of how they feel on a social media platform.

Those cognitions you have while youre navigating an app are important, Alderson said. A teen could take a step back and think, What is it Im consuming on this platform? And when Im scrolling through, what am I thinking about? Do I feel better or worse after Ive scrolled TikTok for 30 minutes? As the study talks about, there are different ways of interacting with social media platforms, which in turn may influence how you feel after using them.

This may be because extroverted teens are likely to have more friends who will like and interact with their posts, thereby making their experiences on Instagram more rewarding. Also, extroverted people tend to have more positive outlooks and may interpret negativity on social media in a more positive way.

Gentzler said passively using social media rather than actively communicating directly with others has been found to be particularly problematic for teens mental health. While Instagram users often interact with friends, TikTok users usually watch videos from strangers.

TikTok was also associated with higher depressive symptoms, but only for teens who said they were likely to have negative thoughts and feelings while using social media. For the teens who reported they were unlikely to have negative reactions to social media, TikTok was unrelated to depressive symptoms.

Social comparison is common for adolescents both in person and online, she said. Thus, it is possible that these teens who already said theyre prone to negative thoughts and feelings may be comparing themselves to people they see on TikTok and feeling badly about themselves as a result.

This study also suggested teens who were more often on YouTube reported higher levels of depressive symptoms, and the association did not vary based on gender, self-esteem or personality.

The study included 237 participants, most from West Virginia, aged 14 to 16. Gentzler employed the help of students in the research.

Through the NIH funding, I was able to support graduate students with research stipends, she said. And regarding undergraduate students, there were probably 12 to 15 in the lab at a time, and they really had a lot of hands-on experience with this project.

In addition to creating surveys and planning, her undergraduate research assistants assisted with data collection while the study leads met with parents and teens.

They would pile in the cars with us at five in the morning to get to high schools because we were not just going to Monongalia County we were all over, Gentzler said.

Sometimes the undergraduates would present to entire homerooms, trying to get students interested in our study. The undergraduate students got a lot of experience, and it was nice to see a lot of them go on to graduate school and use what theyve learned.

According to Gentzler, the big takeaway is how people react differently to social media.

Researchers are often trying to find direct associations between time on social media and depressive symptoms, she said. Sometimes that holds, but its not going to be the same association for everyone. Some people might be prone to more bad feelings than good when using social media, so we need to recognize that were all different.

Author: Jake Stump Source: West Virginia University Contact: Jake Stump West Virginia University Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access. Which social media platforms matter and for whom? Examining moderators of links between adolescents social media use and depressive symptoms by Amy Gentzler et al. Journal of Adolescence

Abstract

Which social media platforms matter and for whom? Examining moderators of links between adolescents social media use and depressive symptoms

Despite extensive research on social media and risks for mental health, not enough is known about individual differences in these risks.

The present study, with data collected from 2018 to 2020, investigated the association between social media use (total and for specific platforms) and depressive symptoms in a sample of 237 American adolescents (Mage=15.10; SD=0.49; 51.1% girls and 48.5% boys). We investigated several moderators: gender, self-esteem, personality, and negative reactions to social media. Covariates were gender, timing of the follow-up (pre vs. during the pandemic), and depressive symptoms a year earlier.

Results indicated that greater total time spent on social media was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. This effect held for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube (but not Snapchat, Facebook, or Twitter). Several moderated effects were found. Twitter was associated with more depressive symptoms for girls but not boys. More frequent Instagram use was linked to more depressive symptoms for less or average-level extraverted teens but not for more extraverted teens, suggesting extraversion may be protective. More frequent TikTok use was associated with more depressive symptoms, particularly for teens who said they have more or average-level negative reactions to social media a year earlier.

This study suggests that certain adolescents may be at increased risk for serious mental health challenges, like elevated depressive symptoms, when using TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter more frequently, underscoring the importance of examining individual differences and particular social media platforms.

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Personality Traits and Social Media's Influence on Teen Depression - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Inflammation and Poverty Increase Health and Mortality Risks – Neuroscience News

Summary: Recent research highlights a synergistic relationship between chronic inflammation and poverty, exacerbating health risks and reducing life expectancy in the U.S.

Analyzing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), researchers found that individuals suffering from both poverty and chronic inflammation face significantly worse health outcomes than those affected by either factor alone. The study used high sensitivity C-reactive protein levels to measure inflammation and considered household income against the poverty threshold.

The findings suggest that the combined effect of poverty and inflammation on mortality is not merely additive but synergistic, emphasizing the need for targeted healthcare interventions.

Key Facts:

Source: Frontiers

In the US, approximately 37.9 million people, or 11.4% of the population, lived below the poverty line in 2022. It has been well demonstrated that poverty negatively affects physical and mental health. For example, people living in poverty run a greater risk of mental illness, heart disease, hypertension, and stroke, and have a higher mortality and lower life expectancy.

The mechanisms by which poverty impacts on health outcomes are manifold: for example, people experiencing poverty have reduced access to healthy food, clean water, safe housing, education, and healthcare.

Now, researchers have shown for the first time that the effects of poverty may combine in a synergistic manner with another risk factor, chronic inflammation, to reduce health and life expectancy even further. They found that health outcomes for Americans living in poverty and with chronic inflammation are significantly worse than expected from their separate health effects.

The results are published inFrontiers in Medicine.

Here we show that clinicians need to consider the effect of inflammation on peoples health and longevity, especially on those experiencing poverty, said lead author Dr Arch Mainous, a professor at the University of Florida.

Inflammation is a natural physiological reaction to infections or injuries, essential for healing. But chronic inflammation caused by exposure to environmental toxins, certain diets, autoimmune disorders such as arthritis, or other chronic diseases like Alzheimers is a known risk factor for disease and mortality, just like poverty.

NHANES

Mainous and colleagues analyzed data from adults aged 40 and older, enrolled between 1999 and 2002 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and followed them until 31 December 2019. The NHANES, conducted since 1971 by the National Center for Health Statistics, tracks the health and nutritional status of US adults and children.

The NHANES allows for estimates of the US population represented by the cohort, and this study represented nearly 95 million adults. The authors combined NHANES data with records from the National Death Index, to calculate mortality rates over a period of 15 years after enrollment.

Among other demographics, NHANES records the household income. The authors divided this by the official poverty threshold to calculate the poverty index ratio, a standard measure of poverty.

Chronic inflammation

Whether participants suffered from severe inflammation was deduced from their plasma concentration of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), produced by the liver in response to the secretion of interleukins by immune and fat cells.

The concentration of hs-CRP, included among NHANES data, is a readily available, informative, and well-studied measure of inflammation: for example, elevated concentrations are known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality.

Typically, a concentration of greater than 0.3 mg/dl hs-CRP is taken to indicate chronic systemic inflammation, but Mainouset al.also considered the more stringent threshold of 1.0 mg/dl in a separate analysis.

The authors classified participants in four groups: with or without chronic inflammation, and living below the poverty line or not. By comparing the 15-year mortality rate between these, they could thus study the effects of poverty and inflammation separately and jointly.

Synergistic effect

We found that participants with either inflammation or poverty alone each had about a 50% increased risk in all-cause mortality. In contrast, individuals with both inflammation and poverty had a 127% increased heart disease mortality risk and a 196% increased cancer mortality risk, said Dr Frank A. Orlando, an associate professor at the University of Florida and the studys second author.

If the effects of inflammation and poverty on mortality were additive, youd expect a 100% increase in mortality for people where both apply. But since the observed 127% and 196% increases are much greater than 100%, we conclude that the combined effect of inflammation and poverty on mortality is synergistic.

Routine screening for both risk factors?

A wide variety of treatments for systemic inflammation exists, ranging from diet and exercise to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and steroids. The present results suggest that clinicians might consider screening socially disadvantaged people already a medically vulnerable group for chronic inflammation, and if necessary treat them with such anti-inflammatory drugs.

However, steroids and NSAIDS arent without risks when taken long-term. More research will thus be needed before patients are routinely prescribed them in clinical practice to decrease systemic inflammation.

Its important for guidelines panels to take up this issue to help clinicians integrate inflammation screening into their standard of care, particularly for patients who may have factors that place them at risk for chronic inflammation, including living in poverty. It is time to move beyond documenting the health problems that inflammation can cause, to trying to fix these problems, concluded Mainous.

Author: Mischa Dijkstra Source: Frontiers Contact: Mischa Dijkstra Frontiers Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: The findings will appear in Frontiers in Medicine

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Inflammation and Poverty Increase Health and Mortality Risks - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Universal Emotional Hubs in Language – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers made a breakthrough in understanding the universality of emotions across languages by using colexification analysis, a method of studying word associations. Their study identifies four central emotion-related concepts GOOD, WANT, BAD, and LOVE as having the highest number of associations with other emotional words in multiple languages.

This finding aligns with traditional semantic methods and natural semantic metalanguage (NSM), reinforcing the universality of these emotions. The studys insights can significantly impact natural language processing and cross-cultural communication, aiding the development of language processing algorithms and large language models (LLMs).

Key Facts:

Source: Tokyo University of Science

Emotions exert a profound influence on human behavior, prompting extensive explorations in the realms of psychology and linguistics. Understanding central emotions also has practical utility since it can help organizations create messages that resonate better with people. For instance, businesses can enhance their connection with their customers, and non-profits can prompt quicker action by skillfully leveraging the salient emotions in humans.

Colexification is a phenomenon in which the occurrence of a single word is associated with multiple concepts that share semantic relationships. The analysis of colexification is an innovative linguistic method for indirect semantic associativity analysis, leveraging existing semantic relations without the need for additional data.

In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers from Japan have identified emotional hubs that exist across languages. Their work,published online in Scientific Reportson December 09, 2023, analyzed word associations by employing a colexification network and revealed that the emotion-related concepts GOOD, WANT, BAD, and LOVE have the highest number of associations with all other words that represent emotions.

The researchers, including Dr. Tohru Ikeguchi, Ms. Mitsuki Fukuya, and Dr. Tomoko Matsumoto from the Tokyo University of Science, and Dr. Yutaka Shimada from Saitama University, built a network by connecting concepts in several languages. In doing so, they ensured that the connection between two words represented the strength of colexification.

Colexification is the phenomenon of a single word with multiple concepts. For example, the Spanish word malo has two meanings BAD and SEVERE. It means that the two concepts of BAD and SEVERE are colexified in Spanish. In this paper, by focusing on colexification, we succeeded in detecting central emotions that share semantic commonality with many other emotions, explains Dr. Ikeguchi, the lead author of the study.

In a discovery that affirms the universality of their findings, the team discovered that three of the four emotions they identified are identical to core emotions discovered through traditional semantic methods and the natural semantic metalanguage (NSM), which corresponds with their previous study findings.

In this context, Dr. Ikeguchi notes, To identify the semantic primes, NSM researchers studied numerous languages using traditional semantic methods. Intriguingly, the set of semantic primes includes three of our four central emotion-related concepts: GOOD,BAD, and WANT. This agreement supports our conclusion that the central concepts identified by colexification analysis could be shared by many languages rather than specific to English.

The findings of this study may offer novel insights into the evolution of languages and cross-cultural communication since words are considered to be intricately connected to emotions. The outcomes gain significance amid the increasing importance of comprehending natural language processing.

As Dr. Ikeguchi explains, Concepts associated with sentiments or emotions play an important role in the field of natural language processing, particularly sentiment analyses. The analysis methods enable us to identify semantically positive and negative orientations of written texts and have various applications in the real world.

A better understanding of natural language processing will also aid in the development of language processing algorithms and large language models (LLMs). LLMs are now used extensively for information processing and content generation. Globally, there is a trend of increasing investments aimed at enhancing and refining these models. Therefore, the findings of this study may have useful implications for the future of online communication.

Author: Hiroshi Matsuda Source: Tokyo University of Science Contact: Hiroshi Matsuda Tokyo University of Science Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access. Central emotions and hubs in a colexification network by Tohru Ikeguchi et al. Scientific Reports

Abstract

Central emotions and hubs in a colexification network

By focusing on colexification, we detected central emotions sharing semantic commonalities with many other emotions in terms of a semantic relationship of both similarity and associativity. In analysis, we created colexification networks from multiple languages by assigning a concept to a vertex and colexification to an edge.

We identify concepts of emotions with a large weight in the colexification network and specify central emotions by finding hub emotions. Our resultant central emotions are four: GOOD, WANT, BAD, and LOVE.

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Universal Emotional Hubs in Language - Neuroscience News