Front Integr Neurosci [JOURNAL]
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200 papers
Toward reproducible models of sequence learning: replication and analysis of a modular spiking network with reward-based learning.
Zajzon B, Duarte R, Morrison A
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37396571 · Full text
To acquire statistical regularities from the world, the brain must reliably process, and learn from, spatio-temporally structured information. Although an increasing number of computational models have attempted to expla...
To acquire statistical regularities from the world, the brain must reliably process, and learn from, spatio-temporally structured information. Although an increasing number of computational models have attempted to explain how such sequence learning may be implemented in the neural hardware, many remain limited in functionality or lack biophysical plausibility. If we are to harvest the knowledge within these models and arrive at a deeper mechanistic understanding of sequential processing in cortical circuits, it is critical that the models and their findings are accessible, reproducible, and quantitatively comparable. Here we illustrate the importance of these aspects by providing a thorough investigation of a recently proposed sequence learning model. We re-implement the modular columnar architecture and reward-based learning rule in the open-source NEST simulator, and successfully replicate the main findings of the original study. Building on these, we perform an in-depth analysis of the model's robustness to parameter settings and underlying assumptions, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. We demonstrate a limitation of the model consisting in the hard-wiring of the sequence order in the connectivity patterns, and suggest possible solutions. Finally, we show that the core functionality of the model is retained under more biologically-plausible constraints.
Editorial: Rising stars in integrative neuroscience 2021.
Porciello G, Sacheli LM
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37388505 · Full text
Abstract loading — click title to view on PubMed.
Spatiotemporal phase slip patterns for visual evoked potentials, covert object naming tasks, and insight moments extracted from 256 channel EEG recordings.
Ramon C, Graichen U, Gargiulo P … +3 more , Zanow F, Knösche TR, Haueisen J
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37384237 · Full text
Phase slips arise from state transitions of the coordinated activity of cortical neurons which can be extracted from the EEG data. The phase slip rates (PSRs) were studied from the high-density (256 channel) EEG data, sa...
Phase slips arise from state transitions of the coordinated activity of cortical neurons which can be extracted from the EEG data. The phase slip rates (PSRs) were studied from the high-density (256 channel) EEG data, sampled at 16.384 kHz, of five adult subjects during covert visual object naming tasks. Artifact-free data from 29 trials were averaged for each subject. The analysis was performed to look for phase slips in the theta (4-7 Hz), alpha (7-12 Hz), beta (12-30 Hz), and low gamma (30-49 Hz) bands. The phase was calculated with the Hilbert transform, then unwrapped and detrended to look for phase slip rates in a 1.0 ms wide stepping window with a step size of 0.06 ms. The spatiotemporal plots of the PSRs were made by using a montage layout of 256 equidistant electrode positions. The spatiotemporal profiles of EEG and PSRs during the stimulus and the first second of the post-stimulus period were examined in detail to study the visual evoked potentials and different stages of visual object recognition in the visual, language, and memory areas. It was found that the activity areas of PSRs were different as compared with EEG activity areas during the stimulus and post-stimulus periods. Different stages of the insight moments during the covert object naming tasks were examined from PSRs and it was found to be about 512 ± 21 ms for the 'Eureka' moment. Overall, these results indicate that information about the cortical phase transitions can be derived from the measured EEG data and can be used in a complementary fashion to study the cognitive behavior of the brain.
Emotional- and cognitive-like responses induced by social defeat stress in male mice are modulated by the BNST, amygdala, and hippocampus.
da Costa VF, Ramírez JCC, Ramírez SV … +6 more , Avalo-Zuluaga JH, Baptista-de-Souza D, Canto-de-Souza L, Planeta CS, Rodríguez JLR, Nunes-de-Souza RL
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37377628 · Full text
INTRODUCTION: Chronic exposure to social defeat stress (SDS) has been used to investigate the neurobiology of depressive- and anxiety-like responses and mnemonic processes. We hypothesized that these affective, emotional...
INTRODUCTION: Chronic exposure to social defeat stress (SDS) has been used to investigate the neurobiology of depressive- and anxiety-like responses and mnemonic processes. We hypothesized that these affective, emotional, and cognitive consequences induced by SDS are regulated via glutamatergic neurons located in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), amygdaloid complex, and hippocampus in mice. METHODS: Here, we investigated the influence of chronic SDS on (i) the avoidance behavior assessed in the social interaction test, (ii) the anxiety-like behavior (e.g., elevated plus-maze, and open field tests) (iii) depressive-like behaviors (e.g., coat state, sucrose splash, nesting building, and novel object exploration tests), (iv) the short-term memory (object recognition test), (v) ΔFosB, CaMKII as well as ΔFosB + CaMKII labeling in neurons located in the BNST, amygdaloid complex, dorsal (dHPC) and the ventral (vHPC) hippocampus. RESULTS: The main results showed that the exposure of mice to SDS (a) increased defensive and anxiety-like behaviors and led to memory impairment without eliciting clear depressive-like or anhedonic effects; (b) increased ΔFosB + CaMKII labeling in BNST and amygdala, suggesting that both areas are strongly involved in the modulation of this type of stress; and produced opposite effects on neuronal activation in the vHPC and dHPC, i.e., increasing and decreasing, respectively, ΔFosB labeling. The effects of SDS on the hippocampus suggest that the vHPC is likely related to the increase of defensive- and anxiety-related behaviors, whereas the dHPC seems to modulate the memory impairment. DISCUSSION: Present findings add to a growing body of evidence indicating the involvement of glutamatergic neurotransmission in the circuits that modulate emotional and cognitive consequences induced by social defeat stress.
The brain in motion-cognitive effects of simultaneous motor activity.
Schmidt-Kassow M, Kaiser J
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37304529 · Full text
During the last 30 years, a large number of behavioral studies have investigated the effect of simultaneous exercise on cognitive functions. The heterogeneity of the results has been attributed to different parameters, s...
During the last 30 years, a large number of behavioral studies have investigated the effect of simultaneous exercise on cognitive functions. The heterogeneity of the results has been attributed to different parameters, such as intensity or modality of physical activity, and the investigated cognitive processes. More recent methodological improvements have enabled to record electroencephalography (EEG) during physical exercise. EEG studies combining cognitive tasks with exercise have described predominantly detrimental effects on cognitive processes and EEG parameters. However, differences in the underlying rationale and the design of EEG versus behavioral studies make direct comparisons between both types of studies difficult. In this narrative review of dual-task experiments we evaluated behavioral and EEG studies and discuss possible explanations for the heterogeneity of results and for the discrepancy between behavioral and EEG studies. Furthermore, we provide a proposal for future EEG studies on simultaneous motion to be a useful complement to behavioral studies. A crucial factor might be to find for each cognitive function the motor activity that matches this function in terms of attentional focus. This hypothesis should be investigated systematically in future studies.
Vestibular prosthesis: from basic research to clinics.
Soto E, Pliego A, Vega R
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37265514 · Full text
Balance disorders are highly prevalent worldwide, causing substantial disability with high personal and socioeconomic impact. The prognosis in many of these patients is poor, and rehabilitation programs provide little he...
Balance disorders are highly prevalent worldwide, causing substantial disability with high personal and socioeconomic impact. The prognosis in many of these patients is poor, and rehabilitation programs provide little help in many cases. This medical problem can be addressed using microelectronics by combining the highly successful cochlear implant experience to produce a vestibular prosthesis, using the technical advances in micro gyroscopes and micro accelerometers, which are the electronic equivalents of the semicircular canals (SCC) and the otolithic organs. Reaching this technological milestone fostered the possibility of using these electronic devices to substitute the vestibular function, mainly for visual stability and posture, in case of damage to the vestibular endorgans. The development of implantable and non-implantable devices showed diverse outcomes when considering the integrity of the vestibular pathways, the device parameters (current intensity, impedance, and waveform), and the targeted physiological function (balance and gaze). In this review, we will examine the development and testing of various prototypes of the vestibular implant (VI). The insight raised by examining the state-of-the-art vestibular prosthesis will facilitate the development of new device-development strategies and discuss the feasibility of complex combinations of implantable devices for disorders that directly affect balance and motor performance.
The brain is not mental! coupling neuronal and immune cellular processing in human organisms.
Ciaunica A, Shmeleva EV, Levin M
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37265513 · Full text
Significant efforts have been made in the past decades to understand how mental and cognitive processes are underpinned by neural mechanisms in the brain. This paper argues that a promising way forward in understanding t...
Significant efforts have been made in the past decades to understand how mental and cognitive processes are underpinned by neural mechanisms in the brain. This paper argues that a promising way forward in understanding the nature of human cognition is to zoom out from the prevailing picture focusing on its neural basis. It considers instead how neurons work in tandem with other type of cells (e.g., immune) to subserve biological self-organization and adaptive behavior of the human organism as a whole. We focus specifically on the immune cellular processing as key actor in complementing neuronal processing in achieving successful self-organization and adaptation of the human body in an ever-changing environment. We overview theoretical work and empirical evidence on "basal cognition" challenging the idea that only the neuronal cells in the brain have the exclusive ability to "learn" or "cognize." The focus on cellular rather than neural, brain processing underscores the idea that flexible responses to fluctuations in the environment require a carefully crafted orchestration of multiple cellular and bodily systems at multiple organizational levels of the biological organism. Hence cognition can be seen as a multiscale web of dynamic information processing distributed across a vast array of complex cellular (e.g., neuronal, immune, and others) and network systems, operating across the entire body, and not just in the brain. Ultimately, this paper builds up toward the radical claim that cognition should not be confined to one system alone, namely, the neural system in the brain, no matter how sophisticated the latter notoriously is.
Preterm birth accelerates the maturation of spontaneous and resting activity in the visual cortex.
Witteveen IF, McCoy E, Holsworth TD … +7 more , Shen CZ, Chang W, Nance MG, Belkowitz AR, Dougald A, Puglia MH, Ribic A
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37255843 · Full text
Prematurity is among the leading risks for poor neurocognitive outcomes. The brains of preterm infants show alterations in structure and electrical activity, but the underlying circuit mechanisms are unclear. To address...
Prematurity is among the leading risks for poor neurocognitive outcomes. The brains of preterm infants show alterations in structure and electrical activity, but the underlying circuit mechanisms are unclear. To address this, we performed a cross-species study of the electrophysiological activity in the visual cortices of prematurely born infants and mice. Using electroencephalography (EEG) in a sample of healthy preterm ( = 29) and term ( = 28) infants, we found that the maturation of the aperiodic EEG component was accelerated in the preterm cohort, with a significantly flatter 1/f slope when compared to the term infants. The flatter slope was a result of decreased spectral power in the theta and alpha bands and was correlated with the degree of prematurity. To determine the circuit and cellular changes that potentially mediate the changes in 1/f slope after preterm birth, we used electrophysiology in preterm mice and found that, similar to infants, preterm birth results in a flattened 1/f slope. We analyzed neuronal activity in the visual cortex of preterm ( = 6) and term ( = 9) mice and found suppressed spontaneous firing of neurons. Using immunohistochemistry, we further found an accelerated maturation of inhibitory circuits. In both preterm mice and infants, the functional maturation of the cortex was accelerated, underscoring birth as a critical checkpoint in cortical maturation. Our study points to a potential mechanism of preterm birth-related changes in resting neural activity, highlighting the utility of a cross-species approach in studying the neural circuit mechanisms of preterm birth-related neurodevelopmental conditions.
Factors influencing the relationship between cochlear health measures and speech recognition in cochlear implant users.
Zamaninezhad L, Mert B, Benav H … +3 more , Tillein J, Garnham C, Baumann U
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37251736 · Full text
BACKGROUND: One factor which influences the speech intelligibility of cochlear implant (CI) users is the number and the extent of the functionality of spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), referred to as "cochlear health." To...
BACKGROUND: One factor which influences the speech intelligibility of cochlear implant (CI) users is the number and the extent of the functionality of spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), referred to as "cochlear health." To explain the interindividual variability in speech perception of CI users, a clinically applicable estimate of cochlear health could be insightful. The change in the slope of the electrically evoked compound action potentials (eCAP), amplitude growth function (AGF) as a response to increased interphase gap (IPG) (IPGE) has been introduced as a potential measure of cochlear health. Although this measure has been widely used in research, its relationship to other parameters requires further investigation. METHODS: This study investigated the relationship between IPGE, demographics and speech intelligibility by (1) considering the relative importance of each frequency band to speech perception, and (2) investigating the effect of the stimulus polarity of the stimulating pulse. The eCAPs were measured in three different conditions: (1) Forward masking with anodic-leading (FMA) pulse, (2) Forward masking with cathodic-leading (FMC) pulse, and (3) with alternating polarity (AP). This allowed the investigation of the effect of polarity on the diagnosis of cochlear health. For an accurate investigation of the correlation between IPGE and speech intelligibility, a weighting function was applied to the measured IPGE on each electrode in the array to consider the relative importance of each frequency band for speech perception. A weighted Pearson correlation analysis was also applied to compensate for the effect of missing data by giving higher weights to the ears with more successful IPGE measurements. RESULTS: A significant correlation was observed between IPGE and speech perception in both quiet and noise for between-subject data especially when the relative importance of frequency bands was considered. A strong and significant correlation was also observed between IPGE and age when stimulation was performed with cathodic-leading pulses but not for the anodic-leading pulse condition. CONCLUSION: Based on the outcome of this study it can be concluded that IPGE has potential as a relevant clinical measure indicative of cochlear health and its relationship to speech intelligibility. The polarity of the stimulating pulse could influence the diagnostic potential of IPGE.
Systems Thinking in an era of climate change: Does cognitive neuroscience hold the key to improving environmental decision making? A perspective on Climate-Smart Agriculture.
Lalani B, Gray S, Mitra-Ganguli T
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37181865 · Full text
Systems Thinking (ST) can be defined as a mental construct that recognises patterns and connections in a particular complex system to make the "best decision" possible. In the field of sustainable agriculture and climate...
Systems Thinking (ST) can be defined as a mental construct that recognises patterns and connections in a particular complex system to make the "best decision" possible. In the field of sustainable agriculture and climate change, higher degrees of ST are assumed to be associated with more successful adaptation strategies under changing conditions, and "better" environmental decision making in a number of environmental and cultural settings. Future climate change scenarios highlight the negative effects on agricultural productivity worldwide, particularly in low-income countries (LICs) situated in the Global South. Alongside this, current measures of ST are limited by their reliance on recall, and are prone to possible measurement errors. Using Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA), as an example case study, in this article we explore: (i) ST from a social science perspective; (ii) cognitive neuroscience tools that could be used to explore ST abilities in the context of LICs; (iii) an exploration of the possible correlates of systems thinking: observational learning, prospective thinking/memory and the theory of planned behaviour and (iv) a proposed theory of change highlighting the integration of social science frameworks and a cognitive neuroscience perspective. We find, recent advancements in the field of cognitive neuroscience such as Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) provide exciting potential to explore previously hidden forms of cognition, especially in a low-income country/field setting; improving our understanding of environmental decision-making and the ability to more accurately test more complex hypotheses where access to laboratory studies is severely limited. We highlight that ST may correlate with other key aspects involved in environmental decision-making and posit motivating farmers specific brain networks would: (a) enhance understanding of CSA practices (e.g., the frontoparietal network extending from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to the parietal cortex (PC) a control hub involved in ST and observational learning) such as tailoring training towards developing improved ST abilities among farmers and involving observational learning more explicitly and (b) motivate farmers to use such practices [e.g., the network between the DLPFC and nucleus accumbens (NAc)] which mediates reward processing and motivation by focussing on a reward/emotion to engage farmers. Finally, our proposed interdisciplinary theory of change can be used as a starting point to encourage discussion and guide future research in this space.
Bridging event-related potentials with behavioral studies in motor learning.
Deng X, Yang C, Xu J … +3 more , Liufu M, Li Z, Chen J
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37168099 · Full text
Behavioral approaches and electrophysiology in understanding human sensorimotor systems have both yielded substantial advancements in past decades. In fact, behavioral neuroscientists have found that motor learning invol...
Behavioral approaches and electrophysiology in understanding human sensorimotor systems have both yielded substantial advancements in past decades. In fact, behavioral neuroscientists have found that motor learning involves the two distinct processes of the implicit and the explicit. Separately, they have also distinguished two kinds of errors that drive motor learning: sensory prediction error and task error. Scientists in electrophysiology, in addition, have discovered two motor-related, event-related potentials (ERPs): error-related negativity (ERN), and feedback-related negativity (FRN). However, there has been a lack of interchange between the two lines of research. This article, therefore, will survey through the literature in both directions, attempting to establish a bridge between these two fruitful lines of research.
Functional and structural readouts for early detection of retinal involvement in multiple sclerosis.
Al-Nosairy KO, Duscha A, Buhr H … +6 more , Lipp A, Desel C, Hegelmaier T, Thieme H, Haghikia A, Hoffmann MB
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37138797 · Full text
INTRODUCTION: The retina, a window into the brain, allows for the investigation of many disease-associated inflammatory and neurodegenerative changes affecting the central nervous system (CNS). Multiple sclerosis (MS), a...
INTRODUCTION: The retina, a window into the brain, allows for the investigation of many disease-associated inflammatory and neurodegenerative changes affecting the central nervous system (CNS). Multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease targeting the CNS, typically impacts on the visual system including the retina. Hence, we aimed to establish innovative functional retinal measures of MS-related damage, e.g., spatially resolved non-invasive retinal electrophysiology, backed by established morphological retinal imaging markers, i.e., optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS: 20 healthy controls (HC) and 37 people with MS [17 without history of optic neuritis (NON) and 20 with (HON) history of optic neuritis] were included. In this work, we differentially assessed photoreceptor/bipolar cells (distal retina) and retinal ganglion cell (RGC, proximal retina) function besides structural assessment (OCT). We compared two multifocal electroretinography-based approaches, i.e., the multifocal pattern electroretinogram (mfPERG) and the multifocal electroretinogram to record photopic negative response (mfERG ). Structural assessment utilized peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (pRNFL) and macular scans to calculate outer nuclear thickness (ONL) and macular ganglion cell inner plexiform layer thickness (GCIPL). One eye was randomly selected per subject. RESULTS: In NON, photoreceptor/bipolar cell layer had dysfunctional responses evidenced by reduced mfERG -N1 peak time of the summed response, but preserved structural integrity. Further, both NON and HON demonstrated abnormal RGC responses as evidenced by the photopic negative response of mfERG (mfPhNR) and mfPERG indices ( < 0.05). Structurally, only HON had thinned retina at the level of RGCs in the macula (GCIPL, < 0.01) and the peripapillary area (pRNFL, < 0.01). All three modalities showed good performance to differentiate MS-related damage from HC, 71-81% area under curve. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, while structural damage was evident mainly for HON, functional measures were the only retinal read-outs of MS-related retinal damage that were independent of optic neuritis, observed for NON. These results indicate retinal MS-related inflammatory processes in the retina prior to optic neuritis. They highlight the importance of retinal electrophysiology in MS diagnostics and its potential as a sensitive biomarker for follow-up in innovative interventions.
Gamma sensory entrainment for cognitive improvement in neurodegenerative diseases: opportunities and challenges ahead.
Sahu PP, Tseng P
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37138796 · Full text
Neural oscillations have been categorized into various frequency bands that are mechanistically associated with different cognitive functions. Specifically, the gamma band frequency is widely implicated to be involved in...
Neural oscillations have been categorized into various frequency bands that are mechanistically associated with different cognitive functions. Specifically, the gamma band frequency is widely implicated to be involved in a wide range of cognitive processes. As such, decreased gamma oscillation has been associated with cognitive declines in neurological diseases, such as memory dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, studies have attempted to artificially induce gamma oscillations by using 40 Hz sensory entrainment stimulation. These studies reported attenuation of amyloid load, hyper-phosphorylation of tau protein, and improvement in overall cognition in both AD patients and mouse models. In this review, we discuss the advancements in the use of sensory stimulation in animal models of AD and as a therapeutic strategy in AD patients. We also discuss future opportunities, as well as challenges, for using such strategies in other neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases.
A call to leverage a health equity lens to accelerate human neuroscience research.
Rebello V, Uban KA
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37138795 · Full text
Investigation of health inequities tend to be examined, in human neurosciences, as biological factors at the level of the individual. In actuality, health inequities arise, due largely in part, to deep-seated structural...
Investigation of health inequities tend to be examined, in human neurosciences, as biological factors at the level of the individual. In actuality, health inequities arise, due largely in part, to deep-seated structural factors. Structural inequality refers to the systemic disadvantage of one social group compared to others with whom they coexist. The term encompasses policy, law, governance, and culture and relates to race, ethnicity, gender or gender identity, class, sexual orientation, and other domains. These structural inequalities include but are not limited to social segregation, the intergenerational effects of colonialism and the consequent distribution of power and privilege. Principles to address inequities influenced by structural factors are increasingly prevalent in a subfield of the neurosciences, i.e., cultural neurosciences. Cultural neuroscience articulates the bidirectional relationship between biology and environmental contextual factors surrounding research participants. However, the operationalization of these principles may not have the intended spillover effect on the majority of human neurosciences: this limitation is the overarching focus of the present piece. Here, we provide our perspective that these principles are missing and very much needed in all human neuroscience subdisciplines to accelerate our understanding of the human brain. Furthermore, we provide an outline of two key tenets of a health equity lens necessary for achieving research equity in human neurosciences: the social determinants of health (SDoH) framework and how to deal with confounders using counterfactual thinking. We argue that these tenets should be prioritized across future human neuroscience research more generally, and doing so is a pathway to further gain an understanding of contextual background intertwined with the human brain, thus improving the rigor and inclusivity of human neuroscience research.
The cost of aiming for the best answers: Inconsistent perception.
Smeets JBJ, Brenner E
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37090903 · Full text
The laws of physics and mathematics describe the world we live in as internally consistent. As these rules provide a very effective description, and our interaction with the world is also very effective, it seems self-ev...
The laws of physics and mathematics describe the world we live in as internally consistent. As these rules provide a very effective description, and our interaction with the world is also very effective, it seems self-evident that our perception follows these laws. As a result, when trying to explain imperfections in perception, we tend to impose consistency and introduce concepts such as deformations of visual space. In this review, we provide numerous examples that show that in many situations we perceive related attributes to have inconsistent values. We discuss how our tendency to assume consistency leads to erroneous conclusions on how we process sensory information. We propose that perception is not about creating a consistent internal representation of the outside world, but about answering specific questions about the outside world. As the information used to answer a question is specific for that question, this naturally leads to inconsistencies in perception and to an apparent dissociation between some perceptual judgments and related actions.
Editorial: Mind-body medicine and its impacts on psychological networks, quality of life, and health.
Schulz S, Cysarz D, Seifert G
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37082088 · Full text
Abstract loading — click title to view on PubMed.
Reduced eye optical quality contributes to worse chromatic thresholds in aging.
Costa MF, Rego LS, Henriques LD … +2 more , Martins Gaddi C, Souza GS
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37035455 · Full text
PURPOSE: Aging causes substantial changes in the intraocular lens, which leads to a reduction in chromatic perception. We aimed to measure the ocular light dispersion component in relation to the reduction in color visio...
PURPOSE: Aging causes substantial changes in the intraocular lens, which leads to a reduction in chromatic perception. We aimed to measure the ocular light dispersion component in relation to the reduction in color vision by aging. METHODS: Intraocular straylight was quantified psychophysically by C-Quant for light dispersion [Log(s)], reliability of the results (ESD), and psychometric sampling quality (Q). The Cambridge Color Test Trivector protocol measured the chromaticity thresholds for protan, deutan, and tritan color confusion axis in CIE 1976 u' v' units. We tested 224 subjects aged 24-68 years (106 men) with normal best-corrected visual acuity and without clinical evidence of cataracts. RESULTS: A significant positive correlation was found between ocular dispersion of light and chromaticity thresholds for protan (r = 0.42; < 0.001), deutan (r = 0.49; < 0.001) and tritan (r = 0.51; < 0.0001) color confusion axes with a moderate effect size (η = 0.39). However, a weak contribution of the logarithm of the straylight in predicting the chromaticity threshold for protan (b = 0.15; = 0.025), deutan (b = 0.27; = 0.001) and tritan (b = 0.21; = 0.001) color confusion axes was verified in the regression coefficients. The other two measurement quality parameters estimated in the C-Quant were not correlated with chromaticity thresholds, suggesting that there are no problems with the quality of the measurement performed. CONCLUSION: An increase in ocular light dispersion that occurs physiologically with aging negatively impacts the chromaticity threshold in a similar manner across all three color confusion axes. The weak regression effects suggest that neural rather than optical processes were more related to the reduction in chromaticity in aging.
Case report: Novel mutations in the SPG11 gene in a case of autosomal recessive hereditary spastic paraplegia with a thin corpus callosum.
Duan JQ, Liu H, Wu JQ
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37035454 · Full text
A 24-year-old man presented with insidious onset progressive gait disturbance and was finally diagnosed with autosomal recessive hereditary spastic paraplegia. Two novel mutations, including a frameshift mutation (c.5687...
A 24-year-old man presented with insidious onset progressive gait disturbance and was finally diagnosed with autosomal recessive hereditary spastic paraplegia. Two novel mutations, including a frameshift mutation (c.5687_5691del) and a non-sense mutation (c.751C>T), were identified in the SPG11 gene of the patient through whole genome sequencing. The frameshift mutation of c.5687_5691del leads to a change in amino acid synthesis beginning with amino acid No. 1896 arginine and terminating at the 8th amino acid after the change (p. Arg1896MetfsTer8). The non-sense mutation (c.751C>T) causes the conversion of codon 251st encoding the amino acid Gln into a stop codon (p. Gln251Ter), resulting in premature termination of peptide synthesis. Although confirmation of compound-heterozygosity could not be performed, our findings enriched the phenotypic spectrum of SPG11 mutations related to hereditary spastic paraplegia.
Equity, diversity, and inclusion in developmental neuroscience: Practical lessons from community-based participatory research.
La Scala S, Mullins JL, Firat RB … +2 more , Emotional Learning Research Community Advisory Board, Michalska KJ
Front Integr Neurosci · 2022 · PMID 37007188 · Full text
Exclusion of racialized minorities in neuroscience directly harms communities and potentially leads to biased prevention and intervention approaches. As magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other neuroscientific techniqu...
Exclusion of racialized minorities in neuroscience directly harms communities and potentially leads to biased prevention and intervention approaches. As magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other neuroscientific techniques offer progressive insights into the neurobiological underpinnings of mental health research agendas, it is incumbent on us as researchers to pay careful attention to issues of diversity and representation as they apply in neuroscience research. Discussions around these issues are based largely on scholarly expert opinion without actually involving the community under study. In contrast, community-engaged approaches, specifically Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), actively involve the population of interest in the research process and require collaboration and trust between community partners and researchers. This paper outlines a community-engaged neuroscience approach for the development of our developmental neuroscience study on mental health outcomes in preadolescent Latina youth. We focus on "positionality" (the multiple social positions researchers and the community members hold) and "reflexivity" (the ways these positions affect the research process) as conceptual tools from social sciences and humanities. We propose that integrating two unique tools: a positionality map and Community Advisory Board (CAB) into a CBPR framework can counter the biases in human neuroscience research by making often invisible-or taken-for-granted power dynamics visible and bolstering equitable participation of diverse communities in scientific research. We discuss the benefits and challenges of incorporating a CBPR method in neuroscience research with an illustrative example of a CAB from our lab, and highlight key generalizable considerations in research design, implementation, and dissemination that we hope are useful for scholars wishing to take similar approaches.
Pathogenesis from the microbial-gut-brain axis in white matter injury in preterm infants: A review.
Wang Y, Zhu J, Zou N … +5 more , Zhang L, Wang Y, Zhang M, Wang C, Yang L
Front Integr Neurosci · 2023 · PMID 37006416 · Full text
White matter injury (WMI) in premature infants is a unique form of brain injury and a common cause of chronic nervous system conditions such as cerebral palsy and neurobehavioral disorders. Very preterm infants who survi...
White matter injury (WMI) in premature infants is a unique form of brain injury and a common cause of chronic nervous system conditions such as cerebral palsy and neurobehavioral disorders. Very preterm infants who survive are at high risk of WMI. With developing research regarding the pathogenesis of premature WMI, the role of gut microbiota has attracted increasing attention in this field. As premature infants are a special group, early microbial colonization of the microbiome can affect brain development, and microbiome optimization can improve outcomes regarding nervous system development. As an important communication medium between the gut and the nervous system, intestinal microbes form a microbial-gut-brain axis. This axis affects the occurrence of WMI in premature infants the metabolites produced by intestinal microorganisms, while also regulating cytokines and mediating oxidative stress. At the same time, deficiencies in the microbiota and their metabolites may exacerbate WMI in premature infants. This confers promise for probiotics and prebiotics as treatments for improving neurodevelopmental outcomes. Therefore, this review attempted to elucidate the potential mechanisms behind the communication of gut bacteria and the immature brain through the gut-brain axis, so as to provide a reference for further prevention and treatment of premature WMI.
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