Category Archives: Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Researchers decode the science behind good lighting – News-Medical.net

Researchers at UW Medicine have decoded what makes good lighting - lighting capable of stimulating the cone photoreceptor inputs to specific neurons in the eye that regulate circadian rhythms.

Their study, "A color vision circuit for non-image-forming vision in the primate retina," published in Current Biology Feb. 20, identifies a cell in the retina, which plays an important role in signaling our brain centers that regulate circadian rhythms, boost alertness, help memory and cognitive function, and elevate mood.

These effects have been attributed to a pigment in the eye called melanopsin, which is sensitive to blue light, but researchers say cone photoreceptors are a thousand times more sensitive to light than melanopsin. The cone photoreceptor inputs to the circadian circuity respond to short wavelength blue light, but they also respond strongly to long wavelength oranges and yellows and contrasting light - the colors at sunrise and sunset.

Lead author Sara Patterson, a graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said how we set our internal clocks to the external light-dark cycle has been studied a lot. But how the changes in the color of light affect our brain has not.

"Color vision used for something other than color perception was the most exciting part for me," she said.

In the study, Patterson and colleagues identified a cell known as an inhibitory interneuron or amacrine cell in the retina, which signals to photosensitive ganglion cells that affect our circadian brain centers. The researchers said these amacrine cells provide "the missing component of an evolutionary ancient color vision circuit capable of setting the circadian clock by encoding the spectral content of light."

Patterson said so little is known about rare retinal circuitry that it was possible to find a new blue cone cell. She said there is a lot more to be discovered about how blue cone cells are projecting to other areas of the brain.

While sunrise lights, blue lights and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) lights have all tried to capture benefits of natural light, they haven't been that effective because they are missing key science data, said corresponding author Jay Neitz, professor of ophthalmology at the UW School of Medicine, a scientist at the UW Medicine Eye Institute, and a well-known color vision researcher. He said the science behind SAD lights, for example, is to make lights hundreds of times brighter than normal lights to stimulate melanopsin.

This research all started because of our interest in the health benefits of having natural light that occurs at the right time of day that helps regulate our circadian clock and our mood and alertness."

Jay Neitz, professor of ophthalmology, UW School of Medicine

The University of Washington has licensed technology based on this discovery to TUO, a lighting technology company that will be selling white LED lightbulbs that will incorporate undetectable sunrise and sunset wavelengths for commercial use.

Source:

Journal reference:

Patterson, S.S., et al. (2020) A Color Vision Circuit for Non-Image-Forming Vision in the Primate Retina. Current Biology. doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.01.040.

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Researchers decode the science behind good lighting - News-Medical.net

Neuroscience

Trending 2020 Neuroscience Market Size, Share and Forecast by 2025 with Leading Players GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthineers, Noldus Information…

Research report on Global Neuroscience Market 2020 with industry primary research, secondary research, product research, size, trends and Forecast.

The report offers highly detailed competitive analysis of the Global Neuroscience industry, where the business and industry growth of leading companies are thoroughly evaluated on the basis of production, product portfolio, recent developments, technology, geographical footprint, and various other factors. The authors of the report have also provided information on future changes in the competitive landscape and the expected nature of competition in the global Neuroscience industry. This will help players to prepare themselves well for any unforeseen situations in the industry competition and give a tough competition to other players in the global Neuroscience industry.

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Major Manufactures Covered in this report:

GE Healthcare

Siemens Healthineers

Noldus Information Technology

Mightex Bioscience

Thomas RECORDING GmbH

Blackrock Microsystems

Tucker-Davis Technologies

Plexon

Phoenix Technology Group

NeuroNexus

Alpha Omega

Market segment by Type, the product can be split into

Whole Brain Imaging

Neuro-Microscopy

Electrophysiology Technologies

Neuro-Cellular Manipulation

Stereotaxic Surgeries

Animal Behavior

Other

Market segment by Application, split into

Hospitals

Diagnostic Laboratories

Research Institutes

Other

Global Neuroscience Market: Regional Segmentation

For a deeper understanding, the research report includes geographical segmentation of the global Neuroscience market. It provides an evaluation of the volatility of the political scenarios and amends likely to be made to the regulatory structures. This assessment gives an accurate analysis of the regional-wise growth of the global Neuroscience market.

Regions Covered in the Global Neuroscience Market:

The Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries and Egypt) North America (the United States, Mexico, and Canada) South America (Brazil etc.) Europe (Turkey, Germany, Russia UK, Italy, France, etc.) Asia-Pacific (Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Australia)

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Trending 2020 Neuroscience Market Size, Share and Forecast by 2025 with Leading Players GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthineers, Noldus Information...

Neuroscience

BioXcel Therapeutics Announces Initiation of a Phase 2 Study Designed to Assess Agitation-Associated Biomarkers and their Response to BXCL501 -…

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. (BTI or Company) (Nasdaq: BTAI), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing artificial intelligence approaches to identify and advance the next wave of medicines in neuroscience and immuno-oncology, today announced the initiation of a Phase 2 study by researchers at Yale University designed to measure biomarkers associated with agitation in patients with schizophrenia and the response to treatment with BXCL501. The Company aims to utilize biomarkers to identify additional indications that exhibit the same physiological signals of hyperarousal, expanding the potential use of BXCL501 to new chronic disease indications.

Building on the significant results from our Phase 1b trial in patients with agitation associated with schizophrenia, this study is designed to further confirm the calming capabilities of dexmedetomidine, the active ingredient in BXCL501, using an objective scale to measure signs of hyperarousal, commented Dr. Frank Yocca, Chief Scientific Officer of BTI. In an agitated state, there are physiological changes that may occur, including differences in heart rate, electrodermal activity and EEG (electroencephalography), which have the potential to be used as an initial signal for treatment with BXCL501. In addition, we believe these biomarkers may have relevance for the treatment of additional distinct chronic indications characterized by nervous system arousal, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Managing agitation, a common symptom of neuropsychiatric conditions, is a burdensome challenge for both physicians and caregivers, added Dr. John Krystal, M.D., Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professor of Translational Research and Professor of Psychiatry and of Neuroscience; Co-Director, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation and Chair, Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. The ability to detect bodily signals that indicate an agitated state prior to the onset of visible symptoms could be extremely beneficial to caregivers. An early signal will allow for sufficient time to proactively treat the agitation before it becomes dangerous to the individuals involved.

The study will assess biomarkers, such as heart rate variability, actigraphy, electrodermal activity and EEG in patients with schizophrenia. Measurements will be taken at baseline and after the dosing of BXCL501 to determine its ability to impact the physiological signals of agitation. Topline data is expected to be reported in the second quarter of 2020.

About BXCL501BXCL501 is a potential first-in-class, proprietary sublingual thin film of dexmedetomidine, a selective alpha-2a receptor agonist for the treatment of acute agitation. BTI believes that BXCL501 directly targets a causal agitation mechanism and the Company has observed anti-agitation effects in multiple clinical studies across multiple neuropsychiatric indications. BXCL501 has also been granted Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the acute treatment of agitation.

A Phase 1b safety and efficacy study of BXCL501 yielded positive dose-response data. BXCL501 is being evaluated in the SERENITY program, consisting of two Phase 3 studies for the acute treatment of agitation in patients with schizophrenia (SERENITY I) and bipolar disorder (SERENITY II). BXCL501 is also being evaluated in a Phase 1b/2 trial for the treatment of agitation associated with dementia, and the Company is preparing to initiate the Phase 1b/2 RELEASE trial of BXCL501 for the treatment of opioid withdrawal symptoms.

About BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc.BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing artificial intelligence to identify improved therapies in neuroscience and immuno-oncology. BTI's drug re-innovation approach leverages existing approved drugs and/or clinically validated product candidates together with big data and proprietary machine learning algorithms to identify new therapeutic indices. BTI's two most advanced clinical development programs are BXCL501, a sublingual thin film formulation designed for acute treatment of agitation resulting from neuropsychiatric disorders, and BXCL701, an orally administered systemic innate immunity activator designed for treatment of a rare form of prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer and advanced solid cancers in combination with other immuno-oncology agents. For more information, please visit http://www.bioxceltherapeutics.com/.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release include but are not limited to the ability to assess biomarkers for agitation and the timing of data from such trials involving BXCL501. When used herein, words including anticipate, being, will, plan, may, continue, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements or information that refer to expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, performance or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking. All forward-looking statements are based upon BTI's current expectations and various assumptions. BTI believes there is a reasonable basis for its expectations and beliefs, but they are inherently uncertain. BTI may not realize its expectations, and its beliefs may not prove correct. Actual results could differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, its limited operating history; its incurrence of significant losses; its need for substantial additional funding and ability to raise capital when needed; its limited experience in drug discovery and drug development; its dependence on the success and commercialization of BXCL501 and BXCL701 and other product candidates; the failure of preliminary data from its clinical studies to predict final study results; failure of its early clinical studies or preclinical studies to predict future clinical studies; its ability to receive regulatory approval for its product candidates; its ability to enroll patients in its clinical trials; its approach to the discovery and development of product candidates based on EvolverAI is novel and unproven; its exposure to patent infringement lawsuits; its ability to comply with the extensive regulations applicable to it; its ability to commercialize its product candidates; and the other important factors discussed under the caption Risk Factors in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2019, as such factors may be updated from time to time in its other filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov and on the Companys website at http://www.bioxceltherapeutics.com.

These and other important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent managements estimates as of the date of this press release. While BTI may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, except as required by law, it disclaims any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing BTIs views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc.www.bioxceltherapeutics.com

Investor Relations:John Grazianojgraziano@troutgroup.com1.646.378.2942

Media:Julia Deutschjdeutsch@troutgroup.com1.646.378.2967

Source: BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc.

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BioXcel Therapeutics Announces Initiation of a Phase 2 Study Designed to Assess Agitation-Associated Biomarkers and their Response to BXCL501 -...

Neuroscience

Curiosity drives this neuroscientist and artist – Science News for Students

When she was young, Christine Liu didnt plan to become a scientist. But chasing her curiosity led her to love neuroscience, the study of the brain and the nervous system. Shes now a graduate student and researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. There, she studies what nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco and e-cigarettes, does to the brain.

Outside the lab, Liu makes art, including some that communicates science. As half of the collective Two Photon Art, with environmental scientist Tera Johnson, Liu makes self-published magazines that illustrate science concepts. And the pair designs and sells science-themed items such as jewelry and clothes. Liu also shares her work on Instagram (such as the posts embedded in this story).

Liu isnt yet sure if her future is in the lab or making art, but she knows that neuroscience will be a big part of her career. In this interview, Liu shares her experiences and advice with Science News for Students. (This interview has been edited for content and readability.)

What inspired you to pursue your career?

I pursued neuroscience because of a curiosity about how the world works. Even as a little kid, I was interested in how people experience things differently. So I would ask questions like, Is the red that I see the same as the red that everyone else sees? When I started learning about psychology and biology and answers to these questions that researchers proposed, I got more interested. In college, I jumped at the opportunity to get in the lab as soon as I could. And I quite like doing lab work. But Ive been doing research for almost 10 years. So I might take the opportunity when I graduate to do art more seriously.

How did you get where you are today?

I grew up not really being that great at anything. It wasnt like I knew I had a special talent in science and that I was going to become a scientist. I also grew up low-income. My family didnt have a lot of money. As a kid, I spent a lot of time helping out around the house. I translated documents for my family and made sure that the rice was cooked before my parents got home. And I started working part-time jobs really early. In high school, I worked at a Jamba Juice and at a science museum. I did a bunch of jobs in college, too.

My college applications werent very strong. So I didnt get into the colleges in California I actually wanted to go to. Instead, I needed to apply last minute to the local state school. I went to University of Oregon in Eugene. It wasnt on the top of my list, but there were a lot of opportunities in neuroscience there. I was really able to take advantage of them. I overcame a lot of what I thought were shortcomings in my ability and competitiveness to do science.

When I started doing research, I was lucky to be in a lab with other female students. And I had done summer research programs with a diverse community of students and researchers. But when I started grad school, I was a little surprised at how few women and people of color I saw.

I also wasnt sure how to express myself if I needed to conform more or if I could really be myself. But then on Instagram, I found all these women who were not compromising how they express themselves. They were doing incredible science. And they were wearing lipstick and doing their hair and being feminine. This was something that I hadnt realized was missing in my life. I immediately tried to connect all of us on Instagram, and I created a group called The STEM Squad. (STEM is short for science, technology, engineering and math.) We now have over 1,000 people who identify with the gender thats been underrepresented in science. We each share our experiences and support each other.

How do you get your best ideas?

I get my best ideas when Im taking a break. This happens for a lot of people. Its like getting your best ideas in the shower or on a walk or right before you fall asleep. I find that when Im taking care of myself and getting enough rest and social time, I come up with ideas Im really excited about. Oftentimes, Ill have a breakthrough in planning experiments when Im not thinking about them. Its the same for artistic ideas of what to draw or make. I think when I let my brain rest, it does its own thing in the background and ideas just spark.

Whats one of your biggest successes?

What Ive been able to do with my art in grad school has been one of my biggest successes. Its brought me a lot of joy and connected me with people. Its also given me an idea of how I might actually be able to continue doing art after I finish grad school.

Labs in my research area can be competitive. Oftentimes, we dont want to share our experimental results until were ready. So it wasnt until this past year, my sixth year of grad school, that I presented my research at the biggest neuroscience conference. I presented it with a poster. But Ive been going to this conference for the past four years because they have a section for neuroscience art. Presenting my art there was a big success.

Whats one of your biggest failures, and how did you get past that?

What I perceived to be a failure was when I worked hard in high school to try to be competitive for college. And I didnt get into a school that seemed like a good choice for me. I was really sad. I thought I was a complete failure. A lot of my peers had gotten into great schools. But in the end, I realized that every failure is actually an opportunity to do better. I think if I had let myself get sucked into the narrative that I just wasnt good enough, I never would have recovered. In the end, the University of Oregon turned out to be really great for me.

What do you do in your spare time?

I make art! Because research is really hard, there can be lots of failures. Experiments might not work. Or they might work and prove your hypothesis wrong. During a stretch of months when research feels like it isnt working, I find it fulfilling to go home and draw, paint or share a piece of art. I really love painting. Its one of my favorite activities. I love the colors and mixing them. And I like how its a little bit messy. I also do other things that keep me happy and healthy, like cooking and visiting my grandparents.

I also try to support other scientists who have artistic interests or artists who have scientific interests through The Stem Squad. We raise money through artists in the community who submit their art. We print it on shirts, hats or things like that and sell them. This raises money to give out awards for people who do volunteer work to improve inclusion in STEM.

What piece of advice do you wish you had been given when you were younger?

If theres something that you really want to do, you have to take baby steps and start to do it as much as you can. If I had waited until someone invited me to join a lab, maybe I never would have started my research career. But because I was so in love with the idea of doing brain research, I emailed a bunch of professors and begged for a chance to work in the lab. Then I proved to myself that I can be a really great scientist despite my mediocre high school grades.

Also, if I had waited until I had more time to make art or until I felt like a perfect artist before selling my art, I dont think I would be where I am today. It took me a while to become comfortable sharing things that arent perfect and trying things even though I probably wasnt the best person for the job. But taking the risk and putting myself out there and being willing to learn I think thats whats gotten me the furthest.

This Q&A is part of a series exploring the many paths to a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It has been made possible with generous support from Arconic Foundation.

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Curiosity drives this neuroscientist and artist - Science News for Students

Neuroscience

Emotion Analytics Market Will Touch A New Level In Upcoming Year, 2022 – Kentucky Journal 24

Overview:

Human emotions are read and analyzed by voice, gesture, and face inputs. The emotion analytics is the examination of a persons verbal and non-verbal communications in order to understand the mood and attitude based on seven universally accepted emotions joy, surprise, anger, contempt, sadness, disgust, and fear. In the todays world of internet, people are expressing their emotions, sentiments, and feelings through text/comments, emojis, likes, and dislikes.

Product Analysis:

Understanding the real meaning of these electronic symbols is very important human emotions are analyzed by humanmachine interference using mobile applications and devices. At present, emotion analytics is used in businesses to identify customers perception towards their products. The emotion analytics data is used by the companies to create strategies that will improve their business. Emotion analytics software programs are used by the organizations in data collection, data classification, data analytics, and data visualization.

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Market Analysis:

According to Infoholic Research, the Worldwide Emotion Analytics market is estimated to witness a CAGR of 82.9% during the forecast period 20162022 to aggregate $1,711.0 million by 2022. The emotion analytics market is analyzed based on five segments technologies, types, solutions, verticals and regions. The technologies covered in the report are AI, biometrics & neuroscience, 3D modelling, pattern recognition, records management and others.

Technology Analysis:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the major technology that is being implemented by various organizations and has huge market share with a CAGR of 83.9% during the forecast period 20162022. There has been an increase in the advance machine learning technologies, used for analyzing the human behavior across different industries. Biometrics is one of the technologies that is being vastly implemented by various organizations to secure their business operations. The types of emotion analytics covered in the report are facial analytics, speech analytics, video analytics and others. Facial analytics is driving the emotion analytics market as a lot of organizations are showing interest in analyzing customers facial expressions and their emotions, which would help them in knowing customer perceptions towards their products.

The solutions covered in the report are API & SDK, mobile & web application, cloud and others. API & SDK is considered the backbone of emotion analytics market having huge market share with a CAGR of 82.6% during the forecast period 20162022. The cloud APIs interact with the web and mobile applications and allow customers to easily access their applications. SDKs allow organizations to create interactive and emotion-based applications and provide digital experiences to their customers on any device in real-time.

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The verticals covered in the report are market research, retail, healthcare, financial services, photography & events, media & entertainment, and others. Media & entertainment is the leading industry in the emotion analytics market and education sector will have a lot of opportunities in the next 5 years. Healthcare sector is focused more on neuroscience technology to offer better services to patients while understanding their emotions. The demand for facial biometrics in ID cards, passport, driving license, health insurance card, and social security cards have increased the biometrics market growth. Biometric facial recognition technology is being implemented in healthcare, retail, financial services and government sectors. The demand for surveillance cameras for security purposes and videos for media & entertainment and photography & events has increased the growth rate for the video analytics market.

Regional Analysis:

North America is the fastest growing region in the world, where a lot of technologies are emerging and being implemented by various organizations. North America is the worlds biggest region in the implementation of cloud-based face recognition software. Also, the support from the government for implementation of biometrics is helping the market to grow further. APAC is expected to have the major market share with a CAGR of 85.8% in emotion analytics followed by EMEA.

Key Players:

Some of the key players are Microsoft, IBM, Retinad Virtual Reality, Neuromore, Imotions A/S, Kairos, Beyond Verbal, Affectiva, Eyeris (EmoVu), etc. Several players are sensing the emotions and play a major role in providing better customer experience. Numerous startups and big players are entering the market.

Competitive Analysis:

Big players such as Google, Apple, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft are acquiring smaller players to increase their market share. Even though emotion analytics is a niche market, many players are focusing on this for understanding and analyzing customer emotions and to offer products and services that satisfy them.

Benefits:

IoT in emotion analytics helps organizations to better understand human emotions and will be a new dimension in marketing. Mobile and cloud-based biometric technologies are hugely implemented in many organizations. A lot of organizations are implementing emotion analytics technologies due to the increase in the number of videos, critical decision making, understanding human behavior are the major drivers of emotion analytics market growth.

The study covers and analyzes the Worldwide Emotion Analytics market. Bringing out the complete key insights of the industry, the report aims to provide an opportunity for players to understand the latest trends, current market scenario, government initiatives, and technologies related to the market. In addition, helps the venture capitalists in understanding the companies better and take informed decisions.

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Emotion Analytics Market Will Touch A New Level In Upcoming Year, 2022 - Kentucky Journal 24

Neuroscience

Breaking the communication code | UDaily – UDaily

You cant call it a dictionary just yet, but University of Delaware neuroscientist Joshua Neunuebel is starting to break the code mice use to communicate with each other.

So far, its all action-specific. Mice sound one way when they are being chased, quite another when they are the chaser, not much at all when they are not in motion.

He knows this because he and his research team have found a way to identify precisely which mouse is making which sound, where and when.

Their findings, which were just published in Nature Neuroscience, provide a foundation for examining the neural circuits that link sensory cues specifically these ultrasonic mouse calls to social behavior.

This is fundamental science that will allow us to potentially get at more complicated problems, Neunuebel said. That includes a broad range of communication disorders, including autism.

The work is supported by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, the University of Delaware Research Foundation and Delawares General University Research Program.

Humans cant hear the majority of mouse-to-mouse vocal interactions at all because they happen on a scale our ears dont catch. This is likely one of lifes hidden blessings, since mice like to scurry around in our walls, attics, basements and other human habitats.

But studying their communication patterns can help researchers understand the neurobiology of social behavior and bring valuable insightnot just into the secret life of rodents, but possibly into the mechanics of human communication. Research shows that about 98 percent of human genes are shared by mice.

To study these mouse interactions, Neunuebels team gathered data as four mice two males, two females got acquainted. The mice interacted for five hours at a time in a chamber fitted with eight microphones and a video camera. Researchers recorded 10 similar encounters using different mice each time, studying a total of 44 mice.

They collected enormous amounts of data, with each microphone capturing 250,000 audio samples per second and the video camera capturing 30 frames per second. Each five-hour encounter produced more than 100 gigabytes of data.

Using machine-learning programs along with other computational approaches, they were able to show that specific sounds were associated with distinct behaviors.

To make sense of the mountain of data, we wrote a lot of computer programs, Neunuebel said. Everybody in the lab now writes code and thats a huge attribute of what my lab does. I think its essential for deciphering very complex behavior.

That code is available free of charge to other interested researchers, he said.

Among their findings:

Mouse calls are different depending on the position of the mouse whether they are chasing or fleeing.

Decreasing pitch was related to dominant signals, while increasing pitch was related to non-dominant behavior.

A significant link was found between certain calls and behavior that followed.

The sounds affect only the mouse who is interacting, not those who are nearby but not involved in the action.

Different situations produced different types of calls.

Another recent study by Neunuebels team drew on the same microphone/camera setup and showed how specific social interactions differ.

In that study, published by Scientific Reports, the calls of female mice were analyzed by their interaction with male mice or with other female mice.

They found two new distinctives in this study. First, female mice almost always vocalize at close range to other mice, while male mice call out at widely varying distances. Second, female mice vocalize sooner when in the company of male mice than in the company of other females.

The team said the most compelling finding of this study was that mouse behavior changes depending on the vocalizations of other mice. For example, the male accelerates after a female vocalizes if she is moving faster than he has been.

Neunuebel said his labs setup where the mice mingle freely is much more dynamic than more standard approaches that allow animals to see each other but keep them separated to make it easier to quantify an animals social behavior.

Here there is free interaction, he said. It is complex and the mice emit a lot of vocalizations. We know who is vocalizing and we can see how they all respond to specific types of calls.

That is information that may soon produce much more insight into how a mouses brain circuitry works the way messages are sent, interpreted and acted upon.

Joshua Neunuebel is an assistant professor of neuroscience at the University of Delaware. He earned bachelors and masters degrees in biology at Texas A&M University and his doctorate in neuroscience at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He did postdoctoral fellowships at Johns Hopkins University and Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Janelia Research Campus, before joining the UD faculty in 2014.

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Breaking the communication code | UDaily - UDaily

Neuroscience

Why Eliminative Materialism Cannot Be a Good Theory of the Mind – Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

In a recent podcast neurosurgeon Michael Egnor talked with Robert J. Marks about the mind and its relationship to the brain and about different theories as to how the mind works. One of the theories they discussed was eliminative materialism, the idea that there is no mind, really; its just the brain buzzing.

Here is a partial transcript with some notes:

01:55 | What defines a good theory of the mind?

Robert J. Marks (right): What constitutes a good theory of the mind and the way the mind relates to the body and the brain?

Michael Egnor: Well, its a great question and a very important question. It was actually a question that Aristotle. (384322 B.C.E.) asked. In his work De Anima, he asked, what would a good explanation for the soul consist of?

Robert J. Marks: You mentioned the idea of a soul. Is this the mind, according to Aristotle?

Michael Egnor: Yes. What we call the mind is more of a subset of what the classical philosophers called the soul. They saw the soul as that which makes a living body alivewhat we would call the mind but also the physiological functions, the heartbeat, and all the physiology that goes along with it. And actually, I think thats a more sensible and comprehensive view of the human being. So what we think of as the mind is just several of the powers of the soul.

[Aristotle], in other words, didnt separate what we would call the mind so sharply from what we would call ordinary physiology, breathing, heartbeat, and the like. He thought of it all as an integrated whole.

Robert J. Marks: I see. So could you be more specific about what constitutes a good theory of the mind and the way the mind relates to the body?

Michael Egnor: Well, the very first thing we need is a theory that makes sense. And by that, I mean at least a theory that is not internally self-refuting. A good example of a self-refuting theory of the mind is eliminative materialism. [ ] It is the viewpoint that the only thing that exists is the brain. There is no mind, that what we have come to think of as our mind is just the physical processes going on inside our brain.

03:51 | The self-refuting theory of eliminative materialism

Eliminative materialism (or eliminativism) is the radical claim that our ordinary, common-sense understanding of the mind is deeply wrong and that some or all of the mental states posited by common-sense do not actually exist and have no role to play in a mature science of the mind.

That is different from another theory of the mind called identity theory that was held in the twentieth century but has been pretty much discarded:

Identity theory is a family of views on the relationship between mind and body. Type Identity theories hold that at least some types (or kinds, or classes) of mental states are, as a matter of contingent fact, literally identical with some types (or kinds, or classes) of brain states. The earliest advocates of Type IdentityU.T. Place, Herbert Feigl, and J.J.C. Smart, respectivelyeach proposed their own version of the theory in the late 1950s to early 60s. But it was not until David Armstrong made the radical claim that all mental states (including intentional ones) are identical with physical states, that philosophers of mind divided themselves into camps over the issue.

Its been discarded because its logical nonsense. Every attribute of the mind, reason, emotion, perception, all of those things are completely different from matter, That is, one describes matter as extensions in space; one describes perceptions and reason and emotions in completely different ways. Theres no overlap between them so mental states cant be the same thing as physical states. They actually dont share any properties in common. Theyre clearly related to one another in important ways but theyre not the same thing.

Eliminative materialists go one step further. They actually say that there are no mental states, that there is only the brain. Which is kind of an odd thing to say because what eliminative materialists are saying is that their ideas are mindless.

How can you have a proposition that the mind doesnt exist? That means propositions dont exist and that means that you dont have a proposition.

Robert J. Marks: So thats the self-refuting you were talking about

Michael Egnor (above left): Yes, its crazy, and Aristotle made that point: The very first thing, if you are going to explain the soul (or the mind), is that what you say has to make sense.

Theres a neuroscientist named Bennett and a philosopher named Hacker who have written extensively on this and topic of neurophilosophy and have written some very good things. And their motto is that the precondition of truth is sense. That is, that you cant pretend to have a scientific truth or a philosophical truth or any kind of truth if the statement that you are making about it doesnt even make sense. Eliminative materialism is self-refuting: If its true, then its false.

Note: M.R. (Max) Bennett and P.M.S. (Peter) Hacker are the authors of Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience (Wiley-Blackwell, 2003):

In this provocative work, a distinguished philosopher and a leading neuroscientist outline the conceptual problems at the heart of cognitive neuroscience. Writing from a scientifically and philosophically informed perspective, the authors provide a critical overview of the conceptual difficulties encountered in many current neuroscientific and psychological theories, including those of Blakemore, Crick, Damasio, Edelman, Gazzaniga, Kandel, Kosslyn, LeDoux, Penrose and Weiskrantz. They propose that conceptual confusions about how the brain relates to the mind affect the intelligibility of research carried out by neuroscientists, in terms of the questions they choose to address, the description and interpretation of results and the conclusions they draw. The book forms both a critique of the practice of cognitive neuroscience and a conceptual handbook for students and researchers.

So the first thing is that your theory has to make sense. And I think there are various theories that do make sense in varying degrees.

The second criterion is that the theory needs to offer a reasonably good explanation for the mind and for the body and it has to fit the evidence. And you very much want the theory to be consistent with the results of neuroscience obviously. Neuroscience is a beautiful and powerful field. Neuroscience has, I think, been philosophically misguided in substantial ways but we have to take the experimental evidence, the data, quite seriously and try to understand it in a way that makes sense.

Next: Why the mind cannot just emerge from the brain

Is the mind an emergent property of the brain? Or is there something else going on? Robert J. Marks discusses the different theories of the mind including materialism, panpsychism, and dualism with Dr. Michael Egnor.

00:37 | Introducing Dr. Michael Egnor, Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at State University of New York, Stony Brook01:32 | We can use our minds to understand our minds01:55 | What defines a good theory of the mind?02:26 | The mind vs. the soul03:51 | The self-refuting theory of eliminative materialism07:12 | A reasonably good explanation that fits the facts08:09 | What theories of the mind make sense?08:32 | A materialist perspective of the mind10:04 | The idea of emergence11:26 | The wetness of water13:27 | Qualia the way things feel14:17 | Two problems of explaining consciousness15:40 | Panpsychism17:49 | Dualist theories of the mind18:29 | Cartesian dualism20:00 | Hylomorphism21:17 | Comparing theories of the mind25:32 | The emerging field of neuroscience and its effect on theories of the mind

Further reading on theories of mind:

Can we engineer consciousness in a robot? One neuroscientist thinks we need only simple guidelines. His underlying assumptions are just wrong.

and

Neuroscientist Michael Graziano should meet the p-zombie (Michael Egnor) To understand consciousness, we need to establish what it is not before we create any more new theories.

Read more:
Why Eliminative Materialism Cannot Be a Good Theory of the Mind - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Neuroscience

Researchers Synthesize New Drugs to Treat Brain-Eating Amoeba Infections – BioSpace

Although frightening, brain-eating amoeba infections in the U.S. are quite rare, with only about 146 cases reported in the U.S. since 1962. However, despite the rarity, its very deadly, killing about 97% of infected patients.

The infections are of Naegleria fowleri, which lives in warm bodies of fresh water. There, it usually eats bacteria found in the mud. Most infections of people in the U.S. occur in southern states in the summer, especially Texas and Florida. The sediment is disrupted and amoeba get mixed into the water, which the swimmers inhale through their nose. From there, the amoeba affects the olfactory nerves and migrates to the brain, where it causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. Another deadly amoeba of this type is Balamuthia mandrillaris.

No one drug is particularly effective in treating it. Researchers, however, recently published research in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience describing some new compounds that show promise as treatment.

Led by Ruqaiyyah Siddiqui of Sunway University in Malaysia, they studied quinazolinones, which have a wide spectrum of activity against bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and cancer. But they have never been tested against brain-eating amoebae.

They synthesized 34 new quinazolinone derivatives and evaluated how they effected N. fowleri and B. mandrillaris. They found some were very effective at killing the amoeba in Petri dishes. Sometimes, by adding silver nanoparticles, the compounds were even more effective.

They found that the most effective quinazolinones contained chlorine, methyl or methoxy groups, with relatively low toxicity in human cells.

One of the reasons the infections are so deadly isnt just that its difficult to get drugs across the blood-brain barrier, but the infection stimulates the bodys immune system, which causes inflammation and brain swelling. The increase in cranial pressure damages the brains connection to the spinal cord, which disrupts communication with other parts of the body, such as the respiratory system.

Although symptoms can appear as early as two days, or as long as two weeks after inhaling the amoebae, the first symptoms are genericheadache, fever, nausea and vomiting, as well as change in the sense of smell or taste. But from there it quickly progresses through the central nervous system, causing a stiff neck, confusion, fatigue, balance problems, seizures and hallucinations. Death often occurs within five to seven days after the onset of symptoms.

The amoebae cause fast and irreversible destruction of important brain tissue. The symptoms are often mistaken for less dangerous diseases. And there is no quick diagnostic assay for N. fowleri, so patients are often mistreated for viral or bacterial meningitis.

Millions of people are exposed to these amoebae and dont get ill. Its still unknown why it is more likely to affect some people than others.

Despite the relative rarity, it was only in September 2019 that a 10-year-old girl in Texas died from a N. fowleri infection only eight days after having a headache and fever. The physicians thought it was a virus, but when she grew confused and unresponsive, was taken to an emergency room, then flown to Cook Childrens Medical Center in Fort Worth. A spinal tap determined she had been infected by the amoeba.

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Researchers Synthesize New Drugs to Treat Brain-Eating Amoeba Infections - BioSpace

Neuroscience

Optogenetic Market to 2027 Global Analysis and Forecasts By Product Type (Actuators, Sensors, Light Instruments); Application (Retinal Disease…

Sameer Joshi Call: US: +1-646-491-9876, Apac: +912067274191Email: [emailprotected]

Pune City, January, 2020 The report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global optogenetics market based on various segments. It also provides market size and forecast estimates from year 2017 to 2027 with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South & Central America. The optogenetics market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers analysis and forecast of 18 countries globally along with current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region.

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Top Companies Covered in this Report:

The report also includes the profiles of key optogenetics market companies along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. In addition, the report focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, components and services offered, financial information of last 3 years, key development in past five years.

Coherent, Inc.

Thorlabs, Inc.

Cobalt International Energy, Inc.

Scientifica

Laserglow Technologies

Gensight Biologics

Jackson Laboratories

Regenxbio Inc.

Circuit Therapeutics, Inc.

Bruker

What is Market Overview of Optogenetic MarketIndustry?

Optogenetic is the biological technique in which light is used to control the cell in living tissue, it is emerging technique. The optogenetics helps to understand the normal and abnormal functioning of brain and used to treat the neurological disorder. In Optogenetics light and genetic engineering is used to control the cell activity and neurons activity. Optogenetics is used to treat the retinal disease, hearing loss, memory disorder.

Where are the market Dynamics for Optogenetic MarketSystems?

The global optogenetics market is expected to have increasing growth due to factors such as increase in neurological disease, technological advancement, increase in awareness about tools, availability of genetic reagents are driving the market growth.

How the Market Segmentations of Optogenetic Market?

The global optogenetics market is segmented on the basis of product type and application. Based on product type, the market is segmented as actuators, sensors, and light instruments. On the basis of application, the global optogenetics market is segmented into retinal disease treatment, neuroscience, cardiovascular ailments, pacing, and hearing problem treatment.

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Key Points from TOC

11.1. Coherent, Inc.

11.1.1. Key Facts11.1.2. Business Description11.1.3. Products and Services11.1.4. Financial Overview11.1.5. SWOT Analysis11.1.6. Key Developments

11.2. Thorlabs, Inc

11.2.1. Key Facts11.2.2. Business Description11.2.3. Products and Services11.2.4. Financial Overview11.2.5. SWOT Analysis11.2.6. Key Developments

11.3 Scientifica

11.3.1. Key Facts11.3.2. Business Description11.3.3. Products and Services11.3.4. Financial Overview11.3.5. SWOT Analysis11.3.6. Key Developments

11.4. Regenxbio Inc.

11.4.1. Key Facts11.4.2. Business Description11.4.3. Products and Services11.4.4. Financial Overview11.4.5. SWOT Analysis11.4.6. Key Developments

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Optogenetic Market to 2027 Global Analysis and Forecasts By Product Type (Actuators, Sensors, Light Instruments); Application (Retinal Disease...

Neuroscience

Using neuroscience to design education interventions: what have we learned? | Wellcome – Wellcome Trust

Opinion | 10 February 2020

Asimina VergouResearch Programme Lead, EducationWellcome

Neuroscience can improve educational outcomes, but teachers should be involved from early on in the design of interventions.

Credit: Thomas S.G. Farnetti / Wellcome

There's a growing recognition in the UK that teaching needs to be a research-literate profession. When teachers use evidence from education research it helps them innovate and overcome barriers to progression and attainment.

Interest in applying neuroscience evidence in education has been growing globally and teachers have told us [PDF 650KB] that they would like to use more neuroscience findings in their practice.

At the same time, neuroscientists have raised concerns over the spread of neuromythsmisconceptions about the mind and brain that are often used to justify ineffective approaches to teaching.

To address this,we partneredwith the Education Endowment Foundation(EEF)on an Education and Neuroscience funding programme. We wanted educators and neuroscientists to work together to develop evidence-based classroom interventions, or to test existing tools and programmes that could then be scaled up.

The programme ran between 2014 and 2019, and we supported six projects. Theprojects have beenexternally evaluatedto lookattheir impact(impact evaluation),implementationand feasibility (process evaluation).

One of our key learnings wasthe importance of involving teachers in all phases of an educational neuroscience intervention. Only one of the six projects did this, and it was the most successful.

Spaced Learningwas co-designed and delivery-led by teachers working for the Hallam Teaching School Alliance(TSA). It aimed to improve GCSE outcomes by applying the approach of spaced learningthatinformation is more easily learnt when it is repeated on multiple occasions, with time passing between the repetitions.

The project involved a small randomised controlled trial (RCT) led by the projects evaluator, The Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation (CESI) at Queens University Belfast (QUB). The project tested different approaches to delivering spaced learning in science lessons. It provided some evidence that the most promising approach to integrate spaced learning was using both 10-minute and 24-hour spaces between teaching science content.

Both teachers and pupils enjoyed and engaged with the programme. Because the programme was co-designed by teachers, it fitted into teachers normal practice and didn't interfere with their teaching. Most teachers delivered the intervention as prescribed and didnt need support beyond the initial training.

Since the project finished, Hallam TSA and QUB CESI are working together on the programme, now called SMART Spaces. The programme is currently being trialled at a bigger scale with over 14,000 pupils participating.

The other five projects were developed and delivered by teams of academics. Of these, one showed positive results.

Stop and Think: Learning Counterintuitive Concepts developed a computer-based learning activity that used methods to improve pupils ability to adapt to counterintuitive concepts. An example of such a concept is that children might make the mistake of thinking that -5 is larger than -1. Year 3 (aged 7-8) and Year 5 pupils (aged 9-10) were trained to inhibit their initial response and give a slower and more reflective answer.

Pupils who participated in the programme made the equivalent of +1 additional months progress in maths and +2 additional months progress in science, on average, compared to children in the lessons-as-usual control group. It should be noted that the maths result is not statistically significant.

But although teachers mostly stayed true to the intervention design, they did report problems. These included issues with the software, low quality animation, some content being too easy and repetitive (leading to low pupilengagement) and finding it difficult to fit the intervention into a busy timetable. For these reasons, the majority of teachers did not endorse rolling out the intervention to other schools.

So even though the project was successful in the sense that it was implemented with fidelity and showed positive outcomes, closercollaboration with teachersis needed to make sure that an intervention isfeasible andthen endorsed by them to be rolled out to other schools.

The EEF are now working with the Stop and Think project team to make changes based on teacher feedback and potentially test the approach in more schools.

The other projectsFit to Study, Teensleep and Sci-napse: Engaging the Brains Reward Systemall faced issues during implementation. And GraphoGame Rime showed no measurable effects when compared to business as usual. This was a valuable finding, because it shows that schools should be cautious about claims made for this particular intervention and should not expect to see large effects.

A key lesson from the history of RCTs is to embrace zero or negative findings in the same way we embrace positive ones.

Overall, the results of the Education and Neuroscience funding programme highlight the need for genuine research-practice partnerships, where teachers can provide a reality-check about their classrooms when interventions are designed. Prescriptive interventions designed by researchers alone run the risk of facing implementation issues, high student attrition rates and lack of teacher support for further roll-out.

As with all things however, there is a balance to be struck. Ifinterventions are not sufficiently different to usual practice they may notmake a difference to student outcomes. The key is to ensure that the programme is feasible for teachers to deliver and that there is enough training and support to enable them to adapt as necessary.

Our example from Spaced Learning illustrates what is possible when teachers and researchers work together to co-design an intervention. An educational idea or intervention may be great in principle, but as a recentEEF guidance reportsuggests, 'what really matters is how it manifests itself in the day-to-day work of people in schools.'

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Using neuroscience to design education interventions: what have we learned? | Wellcome - Wellcome Trust