Category Archives: Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Neurological Symphony of Taste: Unraveling the Brain’s Flavor Pathways – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers are delving into the intricacies of taste perception and its impact on the brain. Their goal is to understand how the brain processes sensations like the sweet pleasure of a dessert or the fiery burn of a hot pepper.

The team found that taste and touch sensations can stimulate the same neurons in the midbrain. This intriguing overlap hints at the brains multitasking abilities, where limited cells perform multiple functions.

By exploring the interplay between taste and touch, and the emotional responses they elicit, this five-year project hopes to shed light on fundamental principles of brain organization, potentially leading to health and disease insights.

Key Facts:

Source: University of Oklahoma

Taste is a complex neurological experience that has the potential to provide extensive, and perhaps surprising, information on how the brain makes sense of sensations and the organization of brain pathways.

A research project funded by the National Institutes of Health, led byChristian H. Lemon, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Biology in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, aims to better understand how the brain processes taste and how those neural pathways can evolve.

Taste is connected to a range of neural activities such as the pleasure of tasting something sweet. Taste is a part of flavor, which includes the pain experienced in tasting a hot pepper. However, there is a gap in knowledge about how taste and flavor preferences develop and evolve over time.

Taste is a component of flavor; it contributes sensations like saltiness and sweetness. When were eating food, we get a lot of pleasure from taste and flavor, but taste is actually a sensory system that we really dont fully understand in terms of how it works in guiding eating behavior and also how it works in the brain, Lemon said.

This project will build on a discovery made by Lemons research group while studying a part of the brain where taste sensations can excite neurons in the midbrain region.

Importantly, many other senses from various parts of the body are processed in the same neural location, with preliminary data suggesting somebodys senses can activate brain cells excited by tastes.

By determining how neurons are receiving signals for taste and touch sensations, Lemons study hopes to better understand how these integrations happen and whether it is reflective of an emotional correlation.

There is a part of the brain that takes in sensory information from basically almost all over the body, and taste is a part of this.

Were wanting to understand, essentially, how taste is mapping into this part of the brain, along with all of these other body sensations as well, with the idea that if we can understand this it might actually tell us more about how taste works and how the taste system and other senses are organized, and why there appears to be neural overlap between them, he said.

Lemon believes this neural correlation may be evidence of the brain multitasking, making use of limited brain cells to perform multiple functions for the body.

Past research suggests there is a pattern to the way these brain signals are being put together that Lemon believes to be reflecting the emotions elicited by different sensations.

Studies in the new grant will combine molecular, genetic and neurophysiological testing to examine the organization of brain circuits that support the intersection of taste and touch sensations, and how these circuits work to influence behavior, he said.

Throughout the five-year project, Lemon aims to better understand how and why these signals come together and further define basic organizational principles of the brain relevant to health and disease.

Funding: The project Taste and Somatosensory Processing is funded by an expected $1.9 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Project no. 2R01DC011579-12A1.

Author: Chelsea JulianSource: University of OklahomaContact: Chelsea Julian University of OklahomaImage: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

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Neurological Symphony of Taste: Unraveling the Brain's Flavor Pathways - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Thought Power: Altering Tactile Perception With the Power of Imagination – Neuroscience News

Summary: Researchers have discovered that our beliefs, when strongly held, can actually change how we physically experience the world around us.

In a new study, participants were hypnotized and convinced to believe their index finger was either five times smaller or five times larger than its actual size. When participants believed their finger was larger, they could feel two close-together needle pricks as separate points, something they couldnt do before.

However, when they believed their finger was smaller, their ability to distinguish between the two points got worse.

The findings show how our minds can impact our physical sensations, suggesting that our beliefs can reshape our perception of reality.

Key Facts:

Source: RUB

Two needles feel like one

The researchers measured the tactile perception of their 24 test participants using the two-point discrimination method. This involves the index finger lying relaxed on a device with two needles repeatedly touching the finger painlessly but perceptibly.

If the needles are far enough apart, we can easily distinguish two points of contact, explains Hubert Dinse from the Neurological Clinic of Berufsgenossenschaftliches Universittsklinikum Bergmannsheil.

But if the needles are very close together, we only feel the touch in one place.

At a certain distance between the needles, the sensation changes from feeling two needles to feeling just one, although two are presented. This discrimination threshold is stable for each person given normal everyday consciousness.

If the finger were five times bigger

We wanted to find out whether its possible to change this sensation threshold by activating a verbally articulated thought in a person, explains Albert Newen from the Philosophy Institute II at Ruhr University Bochum.

The research team chose two thought cues: Imagine your index finger is five times smaller and Imagine your index finger is five times bigger.

To specifically activate these semantic contents, the researchers used hypnotic suggestion. During a controlled state of hypnosis induced by a professional hypnotist, the participant was asked to sincerely accept the first belief for a series of tests and then the second.

The subjects took part in a total of four experiments to determine the sensation threshold in each case: under normal everyday consciousness, under hypnosis without suggestion, and under two hypnotic conditions with the suggestions of a bigger or smaller index finger.

Changes in the sense of touch

Discrimination thresholds did not differ when measured during normal consciousness and hypnosis without suggestion. This supports our preliminary assumption that hypnosis alone doesnt lead to changes, says Martin Tegenthoff.

However, if the beliefs are induced as suggestions under hypnosis, we observe a systematic change in the tactile discrimination threshold.

When a test person imagined that their index finger was five times bigger than it actually was, their discrimination threshold improved and they were able to feel two needles, even when they were closer together. When the suggestion was that their index finger was five times smaller, the discrimination threshold worsened.

This means that it is the beliefs that change perception. The behavioral results were supported by parallel recordings of brain activity such as spontaneous EEG and sensory evoked potentials.

The scientific community is divided on the question of whether or not perceptual processes can be influenced by semantic content alone experts refer to this as the question of cognitive penetrability of perception.

Our study provides another building block supporting the idea that such top-down influences of beliefs on perception do indeed exist, stresses Hubert Dinse.

The beliefs we hold do indeed change how we experience the world.

Cooperation partners

The interdisciplinary team at Ruhr University Bochum consisted of researchers from the fields of neuroscience, medicine and philosophy. In addition to team leaders Hubert Dinse, Albert Newen and Martin Tegenthoff, the experiment was conducted by Marius Markmann and Dr. Melanie Lenz from Bergmannsheil.

They were assisted in data collection by Agn Steponaviite and in evaluation by Professor Oliver Hffken. The basic concept was developed by the lead team together with Professor Martin Brne (LWL University Clinic for Psychiatry, Bochum).

Author: Meike DriessenSource: RUBContact: Meike Driessen RUBImage: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access.Hypnotic suggestions cognitively penetrate tactile perception through top-down modulation of semantic contents by Hubert Dinse et al. Scientific Reports

Abstract

Hypnotic suggestions cognitively penetrate tactile perception through top-down modulation of semantic contents

Perception is subject to ongoing alterations by learning and top-down influences. Although abundant studies have shown modulation of perception by attention, motivation, content and context, there is an unresolved controversy whether these examples provide true evidence that perception is penetrable by cognition.

Here we show that tactile perception assessed as spatial discrimination can be instantaneously and systematically altered merely by the semantic content during hypnotic suggestions. To study neurophysiological correlates, we recorded EEG and SEPs.

We found that the suggestion your index finger becomes bigger led to improved tactile discrimination, while the suggestion your index finger becomes smaller led to impaired discrimination. A hypnosis without semantic suggestions had no effect but caused a reduction of phase-locking synchronization of the beta frequency band between medial frontal cortex and the finger representation in somatosensory cortex.

Late SEP components (P80N140 complex) implicated in attentional processes were altered by the semantic contents, but processing of afferent inputs in SI remained unaltered.

These data provide evidence that the psychophysically observed modifiability of tactile perception by semantic contents is not simply due to altered perception-based judgments, but insteadis a consequence of modified perceptual processes which change the perceptual experience.

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Thought Power: Altering Tactile Perception With the Power of Imagination - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Class of 2023: Alyssa Guthrie, a ‘Literally So Perfect’ Neuroscience … – Duke Today

Published May 9, 2023 All Meta Credits

Dan Vahaba Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

When first-year student Alyssa Guthrie landed in Durham in the Fall of 2019, she knew she wanted to do research at Duke. Unfortunately, she hit a roadblock right away.

I was having trouble finding a research opportunity my freshman year because a lot of them require that you have lab experience, said Guthrie, who came from Petersburg, Alaska, a town of 3,043 on the panhandle of the state, where most folks work in tourism or commercial fishing. One of my best friends here had research experience starting her sophomore year of high school, and specialized coding classes. I don't know how I could have gotten that in high school.

To help remove barriers that many students like Guthrie face, a team of graduate students affiliated with the Duke Center for Cognitive Neuroscience created a program in the Fall of 2020 called the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Internship (CNRI).

When I learned about the CNRI program, I was like, This is literally so perfect! Guthrie said.

Now in its third year and sixth cohort, the semester-long CNRI program aims to make research experience more accessible by paying participants about $1,200 per semester for their time (most undergraduate lab positions are on a volunteer basis), and explicitly recruiting students who have little or no prior research experience.

The CNRI program aims to promote equitable access to undergraduate research opportunities in psychology and neuroscience, said Jenna Merenstein, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at Duke and the CNRI visibility & recruitment co-leader. As a first-generation college graduate, I know first-hand how important these kinds of programs are. I love being able to help students become a part of the next generation of scientists.

Combined, those elements create a much-needed entry point for students who would otherwise need to take on a non-academic job during the semester, as well as those without previous research opportunities, such as current first-year Tatiana Taylor.

Taylor spent the spring 2023 semester in the lab of neurobiology professor Richard Mooney, Ph.D. studying how a set of specialized brain regions help songbirds learn how to communicate. Like the zebra finches she studied, Taylor also learned a new language in a supportive environment during her time as a CNRI scholar: the programming language Python.

I thought I was going to struggle with it, Taylor said. But the mentors and support system are really great. You feel a lot of pressure on you as a student being at a top university, but when I'm in my coding group, I just like the atmosphere of learning and I don't feel judged when I don't know something.

In addition to lab experience and a Python coding course, CNRI scholars are treated to a series of professional development workshops across the semester and partake in a weekly journal club to help them gain confidence in understanding and evaluating technical scientific research papers.

Funding for the CNRI program was initially provided by the Charles Lafitte Foundation, which covered the programs main expense of paying the student participants. A generous recent gift from Beth and Ron Ostrow will help sustain the program for future students and their mentors, as has a co-sponsorship with Dukes Center for Computational Thinking.

CNRI organizers hope to continue to improve and grow the program by increasing the diversity of neuroscience labs and research that students can take part in, as well as compensating graduate students and postdoctoral mentors for their time and effort with the interns.

While the program is still young, many of the CNRI alumni have gone on to do things they didnt think were possible before their research experience. One former CNRI scholar accepted a data science internship at the streaming music service Spotify, and another went on to contribute what they learned to a Bass Connections team on language, music, and dementia.

Guthrie followed an impressive and productive path as a CNRI research assistant in the lab of psychiatry professor Alison Adcock, M.D., Ph.D., where she recently completed her honors thesis work. Now shes looking at graduate programs in clinical psychology, in large part due to her time early on as a CNRI scholar.

When I first came to Duke, I thought I was pre-med all the way, Guthrie said. But after going through CNRI, I was told to keep an open mind, and learned how med school wasnt the only future for a science degree after undergrad.

Guthrie hopes to draw and build on what shes learned about neuroscience during her time at Duke to inform her future work as a clinician and researcher.

Theres a lot of work on how trauma can affect the growing brain, Guthrie said. As an Alaska Native, I also think there are a lot of traumas unique to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and other Indigenous peoples. So I really want to work with Indigenous populations in Alaska, both with research and as a psychologist.

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Class of 2023: Alyssa Guthrie, a 'Literally So Perfect' Neuroscience ... - Duke Today

Neuroscience

Reality Blur: How Our Eyes Fool Us Into Misjudging Size – Neuroscience News

Summary: In a fascinating twist of perception, a recent study reveals that our eyes can trick our brains into misjudging the size of objects around us. By cleverly blurring parts of images, researchers demonstrated how participants misperceived full-scale railway scenes as smaller than their model counterparts.

This surprising finding not only sheds light on the flexibility and occasional flaws of our visual system, but also hints at profound implications for everyday situations, from driving to criminal justice.

The bottom line? Size matters, but our eyes might not always get it right.

Key Facts:

Source: University of York

A new study has shown that the human visual system can trick the brain into making inaccurate assumptions about the size of objects in the world around them.

The research findings could have implications for many aspects of everyday life, such as driving, how eye witness accounts are treated in the criminal justice system, and security issues, such as drone sightings.

The research team from the University of York and Aston University presented participants with photographs of full-scale railway scenes, which had the upper and lower parts of the image blurred, as well photographs of small-scale models of railways that were not blurred.

Participants were asked to compare each image and decide which was the real full-scale railway scene. The results were that participants perceived that the blurred real trains were smaller than the models.

Dr Daniel Baker, from the University of Yorks Department of Psychology, said: In order for us to determine the real size of objects that we see around us, our visual system needs to estimate the distance to the object.

To arrive at an understanding of absolute size it can take into account the parts of the image that are blurred out a bit like the out-of-focus areas that a camera produces which involves a bit of complicated mathematics to give the brain the knowledge of spatial scale.

This new study, however, shows that we can be fooled in our estimates of object size. Photographers take advantage of this using a technique called tilt-shift miniaturisation, that can make life-size objects appear to be scale models.

The findings demonstrate that the human visual system is highly flexible sometimes capable of accurate perception of size by exploiting what is known as defocus blur, but at other times subject to other influences and failing to make sense of real-world object size.

Professor Tim Meese, from Aston University, said: Our results indicate that human vision can exploit defocus blur to infer perceptual scale but that it does this crudely.

Overall, our findings provide new insights into the computational mechanisms usedby the human brain in perceptual judgments about the relation between ourselves and the external world.

Author: Samantha MartinSource: University of YorkContact: Samantha Martin University of YorkImage: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access.Blurring the boundary between models and reality: Visual perception of scale assessed by performance by Daniel Baker et al. PLOS ONE

Abstract

Blurring the boundary between models and reality: Visual perception of scale assessed by performance

One of the primary jobs of visual perception is to build a three-dimensional representation of the world around us from our flat retinal images.

These are a rich source of depth cues but no single one of them can tell us about scale (i.e., absolute depth and size). For example, the pictorial depth cues in a (perfect) scale model are identical to those in the real scene that is being modelled.

Here we investigate image blur gradients, which derive naturally from the limited depth of field available for any optical device and can be used to help estimate visual scale.

By manipulating image blur artificially to produce what is sometimes called fake tilt shift miniaturization, we provide the first performance-based evidence that human vision uses this cue when making forced-choice judgements about scale (identifying which of an image pair was a photograph of a full-scale railway scene, and which was a 1:76 scale model).

The orientation of the blur gradient (relative to the ground plane) proves to be crucial, though its rate of change is less important for our task, suggesting a fairly coarse visual analysis of this image parameter.

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Reality Blur: How Our Eyes Fool Us Into Misjudging Size - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Opinion: Neuroscience needs a revolution – Science X

First part of a proposed spatiotemporal hierarchy in which Orch OR-mediated consciousness can occur, starting here inward from the level of neurons: From left to right, a cortical pyramidal neuron showing internal networks of mixed polarity microtubules, a network of mixed polarity microtubules, a single microtubule, a row of tubulins within a microtubule with schematic display of collective dipoles among pi electron resonance rings. Belowfrequency dynamics at relevant scales. Credit: Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience (2022). DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.869935

The underlying premise in neuroscience is that the brain is a complex computer of simple neurons, each relying solely on membrane potentials and synaptic transmissions (based on the 1950s Hodgkin-Huxley model neuron).

But neuroscience can't account for consciousness, cognitive binding, real-time conscious action or memory, nor treat Alzheimer's or brain trauma, and totally precludes the plausibility and consideration of frequently-reported non-local aspects of consciousness. The underlying premise of simple neurons is wrong, and is an absolute insult to actual neurons.

Single cell organisms behave purposefully using their cytoskeletal microtubules to sense and navigate. Microtubules (MTs) are self-assembling cylindrical polymers of "tubulin" protein which in neurons organize synapses, encode memory and process information (tubulin is the brain's most prevalent protein). Evidence now suggests psychedelics, antidepressants and anesthetics act on microtubules inside neurons, rather thanor in addition tomembrane receptors and ion channels.

Whereas neuronal membranes and channels operate in frequencies in hertz to 102 hertz (cycles per second), microtubules and tubulins collectively resonate inside neurons at deeper, faster scales over 12 orders of magnitude in fractal-like patterns in hertz, kilohertz, megahertz, gigahertz and terahertz ranges (as shown by Anirban Bandyopadhyay group at NIMS in Japan). Like notes and chords resonate in music, quantum vibrations and state reductions can entangle and interfere across frequencies in the braina "quantum orchestra."

The Penrose-Hameroff "Orch OR" theory suggests brain microtubules "orchestrate" quantum state objective reductions ("OR") into full rich conscious experience. Mainstream "neuroscientific" consciousness theories (IIT, GNW, HoT, PC/RP) use membrane-only simple neurons (emulated in AI) which may be suitable only for non-conscious algorithmic functions"zombie neurons." To find consciousness, and treat mental and cognitive disorders, neuroscience must look inward to deeper, faster quantum processes in microtubules inside brain neurons.

Related research is published in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience.

More information:Stuart Hameroff, Consciousness, Cognition and the Neuronal CytoskeletonA New Paradigm Needed in Neuroscience, Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience (2022). DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.869935

Provided by University of Arizona

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Opinion: Neuroscience needs a revolution - Science X

Neuroscience

Top 5 Neuroscience Articles of the Week: What You Need to Know – Neuroscience News

Summary: Dive into this weeks top neuroscience news articles and discover groundbreaking discoveries that are reshaping our understanding of the human brain.

Source: Neuroscience News

Welcome to another week of intriguing neuroscience news! Were taking a closer look at the top five neuroscience articles of the week, ranging from potential nutritional interventions in Alzheimers disease to the secrets of the human genome. Join us as we delve into these fascinating findings and explore what they mean for our understanding of the brain and overall human health.

In a fascinating study, researchers observed a surge of gamma wave activity linked to consciousness in the dying brains of comatose patients. This groundbreaking discovery provides early evidence of consciousness during the final moments of life, shedding light on the enigma of near-death experiences.

A systematic review of 38 studies suggests that nutritional interventions, such as the Mediterranean diet, ketogenic diet, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, and probiotics, can potentially slow Alzheimers progression and enhance cognitive function. These findings emphasize the power of nutrition in supporting brain health and combating cognitive decline.

Researchers have discovered striking similarities between AI systems and human brains when processing speech signals. This breakthrough could help us understand the inner workings of AI systems and potentially develop more advanced AI technologies that better mimic human cognition.

A recent study reveals that individuals who attended higher-quality high schools performed better in cognitive function tests later in life, emphasizing the importance of improving educational standards. This research highlights the long-lasting impact of high school education quality on lifelong cognitive health.

A groundbreaking study analyzed DNA sequences from 240 mammalian species to uncover the genetic basis behind extraordinary traits in certain species and enhance our understanding of the functional parts of the human genome. These findings pave the way for advancements in our understanding and treatment of conditions like cancer.

From exploring the mysteries of consciousness in dying brains to the potential of nutrition in slowing down Alzheimers disease, this weeks top neuroscience news articles have presented us with a wealth of fascinating discoveries. They have not only expanded our understanding of the human brain but also opened doors for better treatments and preventive measures in various health-related fields.

As we continue to unlock the secrets of the human genome and develop advanced AI systems that mimic human cognition, were reminded of the limitless possibilities that the world of neuroscience has to offer.

These groundbreaking findings highlight the importance of ongoing research in the field, as we strive to improve our understanding of the brain and work towards a healthier future for all.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates in the world of neuroscience as we continue to explore the captivating and ever-evolving realm of the human brain.

Author: Press OfficeSource: Neuroscience NewsContact: Press Office Neuroscience NewsImage: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

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Top 5 Neuroscience Articles of the Week: What You Need to Know - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

AI in Education: Students’ Views on Chatbots and Cheating – Neuroscience News

Summary: A new study reveals student attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education. The majority of the 6,000 students surveyed expressed positive views toward AI tools like ChatGPT, with more than a third using them regularly. They credit these tools for improving academic writing and overall language skills.

However, ambiguity exists around the ethical use of these tools, especially during exams 62% view this as cheating.

Despite their optimism about AI, students expressed anxiety due to the lack of clear guidance on the responsible use of AI in their learning environments. Yet, an overwhelming majority oppose a ban on AI tools in education. Notably, AI was also highlighted as a valuable aid for students with disabilities.

Key Facts:

Source: Chalmers University

Students in Sweden are positive towards AI tools such as ChatGPT in education, but 62 percent believe that using chatbots during exams is cheating. However, where the boundary for cheating lies is highly unclear.

This is shown in a survey from Chalmers University of Technology, the first large-scale European study to investigate students attitudes towards artificial intelligence in higher education.

I am afraid of AI and what it could mean for the future.Dont worry so much! Keep up with the development and adapt your teaching for the future.ChatGPT and similar tools will revolutionize how we learn, and we will be able to come up with amazing things.

These are three out of nearly two thousand optional comments from thesurvey which almost 6,000 students in Sweden recently participated in.

The students express strong, diverse, and in many cases emotionally charged opinions, says Hans Malmstrm, Professor at the Department of Communication and Learning in Science at Chalmers University of Technology. He, together with his colleagues Christian Sthr and Amy Wanyu Ou, conducted the study.

More than a third use ChatGPT regularly

A majority of the respondents believe that chatbots and AI language tools make them more efficient as students and argue that such tools improve their academic writing and overall language skills.

Virtually all the responding students are familiar with ChatGPT, the majority use the tool, and 35 percent use the chatbot regularly.

Lack guidance opposed a ban

Despite their positive attitude towards AI, many students feel anxious and lack clear guidance on how to use AI in the learning environments they are in. It is simply difficult to know where the boundary for cheating lies.

Most students have no idea whether their educational institution has any rules or guidelines for using AI responsibly, and that is of course worrying. At the same time, an overwhelming majority is against a ban on AI in educational contexts, says Hans Malmstrm.

No replacement for critical thinking

Many students perceive chatbots as a mentor or teacher that they can ask questions or get help from, for example, with explanations of concepts and summaries of ideas. The dominant attitude is that chatbots should be used as an aid, not replace students own critical thinking.

Or as one student put it: You should be able to do the same things as the AI, but it should help you do it. You should not use a calculator if you dont know what the plus sign on it does.

Aid in case of disabilities

Another important aspect that emerged in the survey was that AI serves as an effective aid for people with various disabilities. A student with ADD and dyslexia described how they had spent 20 minutes writing down their answer in the survey and then improved it by inputting the text into ChatGPT: Its like being color blind and suddenly being able to see all the beautiful colors.

Giving students a voice

The researchers have now gathered a wealth of important information and compiled the results in an overview report.

We hope and believe that the answers from this survey will give students a voice and the results will thus be an important contribution to our collective understanding of AI and learning, says Christian Sthr, Associate Professor at the Department of Communication and Learning in Science at Chalmers.

More about the study

Chatbots and other AI for learning: A survey on use and views among university students in Sweden was conducted in the following way:The researchers at Chalmers conducted the survey between 5 April and 5 May, 2023. Students at all universities in Sweden could participate. The survey was distributed through social media and targeted efforts from multiple universities and student organisations. In total, the survey was answered by 5,894 students.

Summary of results:

Author: Mia Hallerd PalmgrenSource: Chalmers University of TechnologyContact: Mia Hallerd Palmgren Chalmers University of TechnologyImage: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: The closed-access research Chatbots and other AI for learning: A survey of use and views among university students in Sweden by Hans Malmstrm et al can be viewed on the Chalmers University of Technology website.

Abstract

Chatbots and other AI for learning: A survey of use and views among university students in Sweden

5,894 students from across Swedish universities were surveyed about their use of and attitudes towards AI for learning purposes, both about chatbots (such ChatGPT) and other AI language tools (such as Grammarly).

1,707 survey respondents offered individual comments, adding thoughts and reflections about the effective and ethical use of AI in higher education.

Overall, most students are positive towards the use of chatbots and other AI-language tools in education; many claim that AI makes them more effective as learners.

Almost all the respondents are familiar with ChatGPT (but typically not with other chatbots); more than a third use ChatGPT regularly. Students knowledge and usage of other AI-language tools, particularly language translation tools, is widespread.

More than half of the respondents express concern about the impact of chatbots in future education; concerns about other types of AI-language tools are much less pronounced.

More than sixty percent believe that the use of chatbots during examination is cheating; this is not the case for other AI-language tools. However, a majority of students is against the prohibition of AI in education settings.

Most students do not know if their educational institutions have rules or guidelines regarding the responsible use of AI; one in four explicitly says that their institution lack such rules or guidelines.

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AI in Education: Students' Views on Chatbots and Cheating - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Urbanization Boosts Brain Size in Modern Dog Breeds – Neuroscience News

Summary: Modern dog breeds, which are genetically farther from wolves, have relatively larger brain sizes compared to ancient breeds. The increase in brain size is not related to the specific roles or life history characteristics of the breeds, indicating that its likely influenced by urbanization and a more complex social environment.

The study revealed that the further a dog breed is genetically distant from wolves, the larger its relative brain size becomes.

This study provides new insight into the rapid evolution and diversity within the dog species, possibly due to their adaptation to human environments and social complexity.

Key Facts:

Source: ELTE

Modern dog breeds that are genetically more distant from wolves have a relatively larger brain size compared to ancient breeds that are thousands of years old, according to the findings of Hungarian and Swedish researchers.

The increase in brain size cannot be attributed to the roles or life history characteristics of the breeds, suggesting that it is likely influenced by urbanization and a more complex social environment.

Even today, the known four hundred dog breeds have developed relatively quickly and exhibit great diversity, making them a treasure trove for researchers interested in rapid changes within a species.

Scientists have long been curious about the factors that affect brain size because the human brain is unusually large in comparison to body size.Comparing the various dog breeds can help answer some questions.

Is there a correlation between brain size and the specific tasks for which a breed was bred?

Are there differences, for example, between lap dogs and hunting dogs? Or is it more influenced by life expectancy and the challenges of offspring rearing?What we know for certain is thatthinking and cognitive processes require a lot of energy, and maintaining a larger brain is costly.

Lszl Zsolt Garamszegi,an evolutionary biologist at the Ecological Research Centre in Hungary, has been studying the evolution of brain size for a long time.

The brains of domesticated animals can be up to twenty percent smaller than those of their wild ancestors. The likely reason for this is that the lives of domesticated species are simpler compared to those of their wild counterparts. In the safe environment provided by humans, there is no need to fear predator attacks or hunt for food.

Therefore, there is no need to sustain the energetically costly large brain, and the freed-up energy can be directed towards other purposes, such as producing more offspring, which is important for domesticated animals, she said.

Niclas Kolm, at Stockholm University, focuses on brain evolution and the link between variation in brain morphology and behavior.

Different dog breeds live in varying levels of social complexity and perform complex tasks, which likely require a larger brain capacity.

Therefore, we hypothesize that the selective pressures on the brain can vary within the dog species, and we may find differences in brain size among breeds based on the tasks they perform or their genetic distance from wolves.

This is the first comprehensive study regarding the brain size of different dog breeds, and its preparation took several decades.

Tibor Csrg, a senior research fellow at the Department of Anatomy, Cell and Developmental Biology at Etvs Lornd University (ELTE), has been collecting skulls for decades. CT scans of the skulls were performed by Medicopus Nonprofit Ltd. in Kaposvr.

Based on the CT images, veterinarianKlmn Czeibertreconstructed the brains and determined their exact volume. This invaluable collection was complemented by the Canine Brain and Tissue Bank, operated by ELTE for the past seven years, which enabled the verification of brain volumes calculated from skull images using actual brains. In the end, data was gathered from 865 individuals representing 159 dog breeds, with 48 specimens representing wolves.

According to the results published in the journalEvolution,wolves have an average brain volume of 131 cm3, associated with an average body weight of 31 kg. In the case of dogs in a similar weight category, the brain volume is only about three-quarters of that, approximately 100 cm3.

This confirms that domestication has also led to a decrease in brain size in dogs. However, what surprised researchers is that the further a dog breed is genetically distant from wolves, the larger its relative brain size becomes.

Contrary to expectations, the original role of the breeds, average litter size, and life expectancy are independent of brain size.

The domestication of dogs began approximately twenty-five thousand years ago, but for ten thousand years, dogs and wolves did not differ in appearance. Many ancient breeds, such as sled dogs, still resemble wolves today.

However, the transition to settlement, agriculture, pastoralism, and the accumulation of wealth offered various tasks for dogs, requiring guard dogs, herding dogs, hunting dogs, and even lap dogs.

A significant portion of the distinct-looking breeds known today has only emerged since the industrial revolution, primarily in the last two centuries, as dog breeding has become a kind of hobby, saysEnik Kubinyi, a senior research fellow at the Department of Ethology at ELTE.

The results show that the breeding of modern dog breeds has been accompanied by an increase in brain size compared to ancient breeds. We couldnt explain this based on the tasks or life history characteristics of the breeds, so we can only speculate about the reasons.

Perhaps the more complex social environment, urbanization, and adaptation to more rules and expectations have caused this change, affecting all modern breeds.

These findings are supported by research indicating that ancient breeds known for their independence are less attentive to human cues and bark less, thus exhibiting differences in visual and acoustic communication compared to modern breeds.

Funding: The study was supported by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences via a grant to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (grant no. PH1404/21) and National Brain Programme 3.0 (NAP2022-I-3/2022), and by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (grant no. 2019-2.1.11-TT-2020-00109) and Swedish Research Council (grant no. 2021-04476).

Author: Sara BohmSource: ELTEContact: Sara Bohm ELTEImage: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access.Evolution of relative brain size in dogsno effects of selection for breed function, litter size, or longevity by Lszl Zsolt Garamszegi et al. Evolution

Abstract

Evolution of relative brain size in dogsno effects of selection for breed function, litter size, or longevity

Domestication is a well-known example of the relaxation of environmentally based cognitive selection that leads to reductions in brain size. However, little is known about how brain size evolves after domestication and whether subsequent directional/artificial selection can compensate for domestication effects.

The first animal to be domesticated was the dog, and recent directional breeding generated the extensive phenotypic variation among breeds we observe today.

Here we use a novel endocranial dataset based on high-resolution CT scans to estimate brain size in 159 dog breeds and analyze how relative brain size varies across breeds in relation to functional selection, longevity, and litter size. In our analyses, we controlled for potential confounding factors such as common descent, gene flow, body size, and skull shape.

We found that dogs have consistently smaller relative brain size than wolves supporting the domestication effect, but breeds that are more distantly related to wolves have relatively larger brains than breeds that are more closely related to wolves.

Neither functional category, skull shape, longevity, nor litter size was associated with relative brain size, which implies that selection for performing specific tasks, morphology, and life history does not necessarily influence brain size evolution in domesticated species.

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Urbanization Boosts Brain Size in Modern Dog Breeds - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

Eye-Opening Drug Discovery May Help Treat Age-Related Macular … – Neuroscience News

Summary: 350 million people worldwide are believed to suffer from blinding diseases including age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

Researchers have discovered small-molecule drugs that could be used to treat age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinitis pigmentosa. The drugs, called stress resilience-enhancing drugs (SREDs), slowed or halted the progression of retinopathies in animal models by inhibiting cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases.

Key Facts:

Source: UC Irvine

In a University of California, Irvine-led study, researchers have discovered small-molecule drugs with potential clinical utility in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

The study, titled, Stress resilience-enhancing drugs preserve tissue structure and function in degenerating retina via phosphodiesterase inhibition, was published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In this study, we introduce a new class of therapeutics called Stress Resilience-Enhancing Drugs (SREDs) for the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions, specifically the worlds leading causes of blindness in age-related and inheritedretinal diseases, said Krzysztof Palczewski, Ph.D., Donald Bren Professor of Ophthalmology at the UCI School of Medicine and corresponding author on the study.

Through selective, pharmacological inhibition of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases, our prototypical SREDs slowed or halted the development and progression of retinopathies in a number of genetic and environmental animal models.

Today, approximately 350 million people worldwide suffer from debilitating vision loss caused by either AMD or DR, and a large majority of these cases (>90%) have only minimally effective or notreatment optionsavailable. These chronic, progressive retinal diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa, arise from genetic and environmental disruptions of cellular and tissue stability.

Such disruptions accumulate with repeated exposures to stress over time, leading to progressive visual impairment and, in many cases, legal blindness.

Despite decades of research, therapeutic options for the millions of patients suffering from these disorders remain severely limited, especially for treating earlier stages of disease when the opportunity to preserve the retinal structure and visual function is greatest.

To address this urgent, unmet medical need, the researchers in this study innovated a systems pharmacology platform that leverages state-of-the-art disease modeling and characterization to identify novel, mechanism-based therapies that mitigate disease at the root cause.

The SRED therapeutic intervention enhanced resilience to acute and chronic forms of stress in the degenerating retina, thus preserving tissue structure and function across multiple models of age-related or inherited retinal disease.

Taken together, these findings exemplify a systems pharmacology approach todrug discoveryand development, revealing a new class of therapeutics with potential clinical utility in the treatment or prevention of the most common causes of blindness.

SREDs represent a promising strategy for patients and clinicians to combat disease in earlier stages with superior efficacy over the current standard of care, augmenting the arsenal of ophthalmic medications presently available in anti-angiogenics, corticosteroids, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), said lead author Jennings Luu, MD/Ph.D. Doctoral Fellow of Pharmacology in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Case Western Reserve University and Visiting Scholar at University of California, Irvine.

Ultimately, it is our expectation that SREDs will someday serve as a standard of care for human aging, effectively providing patients the means to diminish suffering from debilitating ailments for which there currently exist no viabletherapeutic options, thereby extending human lifespan and healthspan irrespective of disease etiology.

Predicated in part on the discoveries highlighted in this publication, Luu and Palczewski have co-founded a seed-stage startup pharmaceutical company,Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc., which aims to commercialize theintellectual propertyassociated with their recent discoveries and introduce to the market new therapeutic agents for the treatment or prevention of AMD, DR, RP, and other progressive, incurable blinding diseases.

The Company was recently awarded first place in the Morganthaler-Pavey Startup Competition hosted by the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship and has additionally partnered with UCI Beall Applied Innovation in the Wayfinder Incubator Program; through this strategic alliance, Luu and Palczewski are serving as co-investigators on a newly awarded Proof of Product grant, which will support the advancement of their pipeline therapies toward clinical trials and eventual commercialization.

Author: Press OfficeSource: UC IrvineContact: Press Office UC IrvineImage: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Closed access.Stress resilience-enhancing drugs preserve tissue structure and function in degenerating retina via phosphodiesterase inhibition by Jennings C. Luu et al. PNAS

Abstract

Stress resilience-enhancing drugs preserve tissue structure and function in degenerating retina via phosphodiesterase inhibition

Chronic, progressive retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, and retinitis pigmentosa, arise from genetic and environmental perturbations of cellular and tissue homeostasis. These disruptions accumulate with repeated exposures to stress over time, leading to progressive visual impairment and, in many cases, legal blindness.

Despite decades of research, therapeutic options for the millions of patients suffering from these disorders remain severely limited, especially for treating earlier stages of pathogenesis when the opportunity to preserve the retinal structure and visual function is greatest.

To address this urgent, unmet medical need, we employed a systems pharmacology platform for therapeutic development. Through integrative single-cell transcriptomics, proteomics, and phosphoproteomics, we identified universal molecular mechanisms across distinct models of age-related and inherited retinal degenerations, characterized by impaired physiological resilience to stress.

Here, we report that selective, targeted pharmacological inhibition of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs), which serve as critical regulatory nodes that modulate intracellular second messenger signaling pathways, stabilized the transcriptome, proteome, and phosphoproteome through downstream activation of protective mechanisms coupled with synergistic inhibition of degenerative processes.

This therapeutic intervention enhanced resilience to acute and chronic forms of stress in the degenerating retina, thus preserving tissue structure and function across various models of age-related and inherited retinal disease.

Taken together, these findings exemplify a systems pharmacology approach to drug discovery and development, revealing a new class of therapeutics with potential clinical utility in the treatment or prevention of the most common causes of blindness.

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Eye-Opening Drug Discovery May Help Treat Age-Related Macular ... - Neuroscience News

Neuroscience

New Antidepressant Reduces Stress and Depression With Low Side … – Neuroscience News

Summary: Scientists developed a potential anti-depressant drug that exhibits anti-stressing and anti-depressant effects with minimal side effects. The drug, KNT-127 quickly acts on the patient without inducing resistance.

Researchers found that KNT-127 administration during and after extreme psychological stress significantly improved social interaction and reduced inflammation in the hippocampus.

Key Facts:

Source: Tokyo University of Science

Depression due to psychological stress affects millions of people worldwide. However, most of the existing anti-depressant drugs are slow, prone to development of resistance, and have severe side effects, demanding the need for more effective treatment options.

Delta opioid receptors (DOPs) are known to play a key role in the development of depression and similar diseases. Previous studies have revealed that DOP agonists (substances that bind DOPs instead of the regular compound and cause the same effect) have improved efficacy and lower side effects than most existing anti-depressant drugs.

Recent studies have identified KNT-127 as a potent DOP agonist with significant anti-depressant activity, quick action, and minimal side effects. However, the underlying mechanism of action is not well understood.

To this end, Prof. Akiyoshi Saitoh, Mr. Toshinori Yoshioka, Jr. Associate Prof. Daisuke Yamada, and Prof. Eri Segi-Nishida, at the Tokyo University of Science, along with Prof.Hiroshi Nagase from the University of Tsukuba, set out to assess the therapeutic and preventive effects of KNT-127 in a mouse model with depression.

The findings of this study were published in the journalNeuropharmacology.

Explaining the motivation behind their study, Prof. Saitoh explains, We previously discovered that delta-opioid receptor (DOP) agonists may quick action and have a low risk of side effects compared to existing drugs. Thus, we have been working on their clinical development as a new treatment strategy for depression.

In this study, we attempted to elucidate the mechanism of antidepressant-like effects of KNT-127, a selective DOP agonist, in a mouse model of depression.

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, hippocampal neurogenesis, and neuroinflammation are regarded as the major factors in the processes leading to the development of depression. Thus, understanding the effect of KNT-127 on the above parameters was crucial towards decoding its underlying working principle.

To this end, Prof. Saitoh and team created the depression mouse model called chronic vicarious social defeat stress (cVSDS) mice, by exposing five-week-old male mice to extreme psychological stress for 10 minutes per day, repeated for 10 days. Next, KNT-127 was given to the mice both during (10 days) and after (28 days later) the stress period, to assess its efficacy.

They observed that prolonged administration of KNT-127 during (anti-stress effect) and after stress (anti-depressant effect) period, significantly improved social interaction and levels of serum corticosterone (a hormone secreted under stress in mice) in cVSDS mice.

Moreover, KNT-127 administration during stress, suppressed stress-induced newborn neuronal death in the hippocampus, rather than increasing neurogenesis, or the formation of new neurons.

In contrast, when administered after stress, KNT-127 did not affect newborn neuron survival rate at all. Furthermore, unlike conventional antidepressants, KNT-127 did not affect neurogenesis even under stress-free conditions.

Psychological stress increases the number of microglia and activated microglia in the brains of cVSDS mice. Interestingly, under both models of delivery, KNT-127 suppressed microglial activation and hence reduced inflammation in the hippocampus.

In a nutshell, during and post stress period, KNT-127 prevents neuronal inflammation and reduces newborn neuronal death without affecting neuron formation to exert anti-stress and anti-depressant-like effects, respectively.

However, further research is warranted for better insights regarding DOP agonists and the mechanism underlying their anti-depressant effects.

The anti-stress effect of KNT-127 may offer added benefits for patients during treatment. Prof. Saitoh elaborates, Patients with depression often have to face situations where they cannot avoid stressful environments, even during treatment. Therefore, we believe that the additional anti-stress effect during the treatment period has important clinical significance.

Prof. Saitoh concludes by sharing their vision for the future, We expect that the successful clinical development of DOP agonists will greatly broaden the options for the treatment of depression in the future.

Funding: This work was supported by the Cyclic Innovation for Clinical Empowerment as part of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) [grant number 17pc0101018h0001].

Author: Hiroshi MatsudaSource: Tokyo University of ScienceContact: Hiroshi Matsuda Tokyo University of ScienceImage: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access.KNT-127, a selective delta opioid receptor agonist, shows beneficial effects in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of a chronic vicarious social defeat stress mouse model by Akiyoshi Saitoh et al. Neuropharmacology

Abstract

KNT-127, a selective delta opioid receptor agonist, shows beneficial effects in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of a chronic vicarious social defeat stress mouse model

Delta opioid receptors(DOPs) play an important role in depression and other mood disorders. However, little is known about the underlying physiological mechanisms.

The hypothalamicpituitaryadrenal axis, adult hippocampalneurogenesis, andneuroinflammationare regarded as key pathophysiological factors in depression.

In this study, we investigated the influence of DOP activation on those factors in a valid animal model of depression, chronic vicarious social defeat stress (cVSDS) mice. cVSDS mice (male C57BL/6J mice) were produced following a 10-day exposure to witness of social defeat stress, and each evaluation was performed more than 28 days after the stress period.

Repeated administrations to cVSDS mice with a selective DOP agonist, KNT-127, both during (10 days) and after (28 days) the stress period respectively improved their decreased social interactionbehaviorsand increased serumcorticosteronelevels. When administered during the stress period, KNT-127 suppressed decreases in the hippocampal newborn neuron survival rate in cVSDS mice.

Moreover, in both administration paradigms, KNT-127 reduced the number of Iba-1- and CD11b-positive cells in the subgranular zone and thegranule celllayer of the hippocampaldentate gyrus, indicating a suppression of cVSDS-induced microglial overactivation.

These results suggest that KNT-127 acts over the hypothalamicpituitaryadrenal axis and regulatesneurogenesisandneuroinflammationresulting in anti-stress effects, and the antidepressant-like effects of the DOP agonist are implicated in the suppression of the neuroinflammation.

This study presents a new finding on the effects of repeated DOP activations on the pathophysiological states of depression.

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New Antidepressant Reduces Stress and Depression With Low Side ... - Neuroscience News