Category Archives: Neuroscience

Neuroscience

The neuroscience of advanced scientific concepts | npj Science of Learning – Nature.com

This study identified the content of the neural representations in the minds of physicists considering some of the classical and post-classical physics concepts that characterize their understanding of the universe. In this discussion, we focus on the representations of post-classical concepts, which are the most recent and most abstract and have not been previously studied psychologically. The neural representations of both the post-classical and classical concepts were underpinned by four underlying neurosemantic dimensions, such that these two types of concepts were located at opposite ends of the dimensions. The neural representations of classical concepts tended to be underpinned by underlying dimensions of measurability of magnitude, association with a mathematical formulation, having a concrete, non-speculative basis, and in some cases, periodicity. By contrast, the post-classical concepts were located at the other ends of these dimensions, stated initially here in terms of what they are not (e.g. they are not periodic and not concrete). Below we discuss what they are.

The main new finding is the underlying neural dimension of representation pertaining to the concepts presence (in the case of the classical concepts) or absence (in the case of the post-classical concepts) of a concrete, non-speculative basis. The semantic characterization of this new dimension is supported by two sources of converging evidence. First, the brain imaging measurement of each concepts location on this underlying dimension (i.e. the concepts factor scores) converged with the behavioral ratings of the concepts degree of association with this dimension (as we have interpreted it) by an independent group of physicists. (This type of convergence occurred for the other three dimensions as well.) Second, the two types of concepts have very distinguishable neural signatures: a classifier can very accurately distinguish the mean of the post-classical concepts signatures from the mean of the classical concepts within each participant, with a grand mean accuracy of 0.93, p<0.001.

As physicists ventured into conceptually new territory in the 20th century and developed new post-classical concepts, their brains organized the new concepts with respect to a new dimension that had not played a role in the representation of classical concepts.

To describe what mental processes might characterize the post-classical end of this new dimension, it is useful to consider what attributes of the post-classical concepts could have led to their being neurally organized as they are and what cognitive and neural processes might operate on these attributes. Previously mentioned was that post-classical concepts often involve their immeasurability and their lower likelihood of being strongly associated with a mathematical formulation and periodicity, both of which are attributes that are often absent from post-classical concepts.

More informative than the absent attributes are four types of cognitive processes evoked by the post-classical concepts: (1) Reasoning about intangibles, taking into account their separation from direct experience and their lack of direct observability; (2) Assessing consilience with other, firmer knowledge; (3) Causal reasoning about relations that are not apparent or observable; and (4) Knowledge management of a large knowledge organization consisting of a multi-level structure of other concepts.

In addition to enabling the decoding of the content of the participants thoughts, whether they were thinking of dark matter or tachyon for example, the brain activation patterns are also informative about the concomitant psychological processes that operate on the concepts, in particular, the four processes listed above are postulated to co-occur specifically with the post-classical concepts. The occurrence of these processes was inferred from those locations of the voxel clusters associated with (having high loadings on) the classical/post-classical factor, specifically the factor locations where the activation levels increased for the post-classical concepts. (These voxel clusters are shown in Fig. 4, and their centroids are included in Table 2). Inferring a psychological process based on previous studies that observed activation in that location is called reverse inference. This can be an uncertain inferential method because many different processes or tasks can evoke activation at the same location. What distinguishes the current study are several sources of independent converging evidence, in conjunction with the brain locations associated with a factor (and not simply observed activation), indicating a particular process.

The factor clusters are encircled and numbered for ease of reference in the text and their centroids are included in Table 2. These locations correspond to the four classes of processes evoked by the post-classical concepts.

First, a statistically reliable decoding model predicted the activation levels for each concept in the factor locations, based on independent ratings of the concepts with respect to the postulated dimension/factor. The activation levels of the voxels in the factor locations were systematically modulated by the stimulus set, with the post-classical concepts, a specific subset of the stimuli eliciting the highest activation levels in these locations, resulting in the highest factor scores for this factor. Thus these brain locations were associated with an activation-modulating factor, not with a stimulus or a task. Second, the processes are consistent with the properties participants reported to have associated with the post-classical concepts. These properties provide converging evidence for these four types of processes occurring. For example, the concept of multiverse evoked properties related to assessing consilience, such as a hypothetical way to explain away constants. Another example is that tachyons and quasars were attributed with properties related to reasoning about intangibles, such as quasi-stellar objects. Third, the processes attributed to the factor locations were based not simply on an occasional previous finding, but on the large-scale meta-analysis (the Neurosynth database, Yarkoni et al.10) using the association based test feature. The association between the location and the process was based on the cluster centroid locations; particularly relevant citations are included in the factor descriptions. Each of the four processes is described in more detail below.

The nature of many of the post-classical concepts entails the consideration of alternative possible worlds. The post-classical factor location in the right temporal area (shown in cluster 5 in Fig. 4) has been associated with hypothetical or speculative reasoning in previous studies. In a hypothetical reasoning task, the left supramarginal factor location (shown in cluster 8) was activated during the generation of novel labels for abstract objects11. Additionally, the right temporal factor location (shown in cluster 5) was activated during the assessment of confidence in probabilistic judgments12.

Another facet of post-classical concepts is that they require the unknown or non-observable to be brought into consilience with what is already known. The right middle frontal cluster (shown in cluster 2) has been shown to be part of a network for integrating evidence that disconfirms a belief13. This consilience process resembles the comprehension of an unfolding narrative, where a new segment of the narrative must be brought into coherence with the parts that preceded it. When readers of a narrative judge the coherence of a new segment of text, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex location (shown in cluster 6) is activated14. This location is associated with a post-classical factor location, as shown in Fig. 4. Thus understanding the coherence of an unfolding narrative text might involve some of the same psychological and neural consilience-seeking processes as thinking about concepts like multiverse.

Thinking about many of the post-classical concepts requires the generation of novel types of causal inferences to link two events. In particular, the inherent role of the temporal relations in specifying causality between events is especially complex with respect to post-classical concepts. The temporal ordering itself of events is frame-dependent in some situations, despite causality being absolutely preserved, leading to counter-intuitive (though not counter-factual) conclusions. For example, in relativity theory the concept of simultaneity entails two spatially separated events that may occur at the same time for a particular observer but which may not be simultaneous for a second observer, and even the temporal ordering of the events may not be fixed for the second observer. Because the temporal order of events is not absolute, causal reasoning in post-classical terms must eschew inferencing on this basis, but must instead rely on new rules (laws) that lead to consilience with observations that indeed can be directly perceived.

Another example, this one from quantum physics, concerns a particle such as an electron that may be conceived to pass through a small aperture at some speed. Its subsequent momentum becomes indeterminate in such a way that the arrival location of the particle at a distant detector can only be described in probabilistic terms, according to new rules (laws) that are very definite but not intuitive. The perfectly calculable non-local wave function of the particle-like object is said to collapse upon arrival in the standard Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics. Increasingly elaborate probing of physical systems with one or several particles, interacting alone or in groups with their environment, has for decades elucidated and validated the non-intuitive new rules about limits and alternatives to classical causality in the quantum world. The fact that new rules regarding causal reasoning are needed in such situations was described as the heart of quantum mechanics and as containing the only mystery by Richard Feynman15.

Generating causal inferences to interconnect a sequence of events in a narrative text evokes activation in a right temporal and right frontal location (shown in clusters 3 and 4) which are post-classical factor locations16,17,18 as shown in Fig. 4. Causal reasoning accompanying perceptual events also activates a right middle frontal location (shown in cluster 3) and a right superior parietal location (shown in cluster 1)19. Notably, the right parietal activation is the homolog of a left parietal cluster associated with causal visualization1 found in undergraduates physics conceptualizations, suggesting that post-classical concepts may recruit right hemisphere homologs of regions evoked by classical concepts. Additionally, a factor location in the left supramarginal gyrus (shown in cluster 8) is activated in causal assessment tasks such as determining whether the causality of a social event was person-based (being a hard worker) or situation based (danger)20.

Although we have treated post-classical concepts such as multiverse as a single concept, it is far more complex than velocity. Multiverse entails the consideration of the uncertainty of its existence, the consilience of its probability of existence with measurements of matter in the universe, and the consideration of scientific evidence relevant to a multiverse. Thinking about large, multi-concept units of knowledge, such as the schema for executing a complex multi-step procedure evokes activation in medial frontal regions (shown in cluster 6)21,22. Reading and comprehending the description of such procedures (read, think about, answer questions, listen to, etc.) requires the reader to cognitively organize diverse types of information in a common knowledge structure. Readers who were trained to self-explain expository biological texts activated an anterior prefrontal cortex region (shown in cluster 7 in Fig. 4) during the construction of text models and strategic processing of internal representations23.

This underlying cognitive function of knowledge management associated with the post-classical dimension may generate and utilize a structure to manage a complex array of varied information that is essential to the concept. This type of function has been referred to as a Managerial Knowledge Unit22. As applied to a post-classical concept such as a tachyon, this knowledge management function would contain links to information to evaluate the possibility of the existence of tachyons, hypothetical particles that would travel faster than light-speed in vacuum. The concept invokes a structured network of simpler concepts (mass, velocity, light, etc.) that compose it. This constitutes a knowledge unit larger than a single concept.

Although the discussion has so far focused on the most novel dimension (the classical vs. post-classical), all four dimensions together compose the neural representation of each concept, which indicates where on each dimension a given concept is located (assessed by the concepts factor scores). The bar graphs of Fig. 5 show how the concepts at the extremes of the dimensions can appear at either extreme on several dimensions. These four dimensions are:

the classical vs. post-classical dimension, as described above, which is characterized by contrasting the intangible but consilient nature of post-classical concepts versus the quantifiable, visualizable, otherwise observable nature of classical concepts.

the measurability of a magnitude associated with a concept, that is, the degree to which it has some well-defined extent in space, time, or material properties versus the absence of this property.

the periodicity or oscillation which describes how many systems behave over time versus the absence of periodicity as an important element.

the degree to which a concept is associated with a mathematical formulation that formalizes the rules and principles of the behavior of matter and energy versus being less specified by such formalizations.

A concept may have a high factor score for more than one factor; for example, potential energy appears as measurable, mathematical, and on the classical end of the post-classical dimension. In contrast, multiverse appears as non-measurable, non-periodic, and post-classical.

The locations of the clusters of voxels with high loadings on each of the factors are shown in Fig. 6.

Colors differentiate the factors and greater color transparency indicates greater depth. Sample concepts from the two ends of the dimensions are listed. The post-classical factor locations include those whose activations were high for post-classical concepts (their locations are shown in Fig. 4) as well as those locations whose activations were high for classical concepts.

Classical concepts with high factor scores on the measurability factor, such as frequency, wavelength, acceleration, and torque, are all concepts that are often measured, using devices such as oscilloscopes and torque wrenches, whereas post-classical concepts such as duality and dark matter have an uncertainty of boundedness and no defined magnitude resulting in factor scores at the other end of the dimension. This factor is associated with parietal and precuneus clusters that are often found to be activated when people have to assess or compare magnitudes of various types of objects or numbers24,25,26, a superior frontal cluster that exhibits higher activation when people are comparing the magnitudes of fractions as opposed to decimals27, and an occipital-parietal cluster (dorsolateral extrastriate V3A) that activates when estimating the arrival time of a moving object28. Additional brain locations associated with this factor include left supramarginal and inferior parietal regions that are activated during the processing of numerical magnitudes;26 and left intraparietal sulcus and superior parietal regions activated during the processing of spatial information29. This factor was not observed in a previous study that included only classical concepts and hence the factor would not have differentiated among the concepts1.

The mathematical formulation factor is salient for concepts that are clearly associated with a mathematical formalization. The three concepts that are most strongly associated with this factor, commutator, Lagrangian, and Hamiltonian, are mathematical functions or operators. Cluster locations that are associated with this factor include: parietal regions that tend to activate in tasks involving mathematical representations30,31 and right frontal regions related to difficult mental calculations32,33. The parietal regions associated with the factor, which extend into the precuneus, activate in arithmetic tasks34. While most if not all physics concepts entail some degree of mathematical formulation, post-classical concepts such as quasar, while being measurable, are typically not associated with an algebraic formulation.

The periodicity factor is salient for many of the classical concepts, particularly those related to waves: wave function, light, radio waves, and gamma rays. This factor is associated with right hemisphere clusters and a left inferior frontal cluster, locations that resemble those of a similarly described factor in a neurosemantic analysis of physics concepts in college students1. This factor was also associated with a right hemisphere cluster in the inferior frontal gyrus and bilateral precuneus.

For all four underlying semantic dimensions, the brain activation-based orderings of the physics concepts with respect to their dimensions were correlated with the ratings of those concepts along those dimensions by independent physics faculty. This correlation makes it possible for a linear regression model to predict the activation pattern that will be evoked by future concepts in physicists brains. When a new physics concept becomes commonplace, (such as a new particle category, say, magnetic monopoliae), it should be possible to predict the brain activation that will be the neural signature of the magnetic monopole concept, based on how that concept is rated along the four underlying dimensions.

The neurosemantic conceptual space defined by the four underlying dimensions includes regions that are currently sparsely populated by existing concepts, but these regions may well be the site of some yet-to-be theorized concepts. It is also possible that as future concepts are developed, additional dimensions of neural representation may emerge, expanding the conceptual space that underpins the concepts in the current study.

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The neuroscience of advanced scientific concepts | npj Science of Learning - Nature.com

Neuroscience

The Facts on ALS – Articles and Videos, Featured, Health Topics, Neuroscience – Hackensack Meridian Health

October 11, 2021

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a debilitating disease that affects motor nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. This causes a wide variety of symptoms, but most commonly and universally, people with ALS experience progressive muscle weakening and paralysis. As many as 30,000 people in the United States have ALS, and about 5,000 new cases are diagnosed every year.

You may have heard of ALS due to the Ice Bucket Challenge, or even as its previously common name, Lou Gehrigs disease. Here are answers to some of the most common questions asked about ALS.

No. Unfortunately there is no way to prevent ALS, says Mary Sedarous, M.D., neuromuscular medicine specialist and director of the ALS Center at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and assistant professor, Department of Neurology, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. For many people with ALS, there is not even a clear identifying cause of the disease. Researchers have studied numerous potential causes, such as diet, lifestyle and environment, among others. However, to this date, no clear reason has been identified.

For other patients with ALS, the cause is genetic. For about 5 to 10 percent of people with ALS, there is a clear genetic line to another family member with ALS. This is called familial ALS.

Genetic testing can be done for ALS, says Dr. Sedarous. I recommend discussing your options with a genetic counselor before undergoing the testing process.

Because there is no clear identifying cause for many cases of ALS, it is difficult to pinpoint risk factors, says neurologist Florian Thomas, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of the ALS Center and professor and founding Chair, Department of Neurology, Hackensack University Medical Center and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. Dr. Thomas explains that the clearest risk factor is having a family history of ALS.

That being said, Dr. Thomas points to some other factors to consider:

It is hard to say. Currently there is no cure for ALS, but that is not due to lack of effort from doctors and researchers.

Research is ongoing, and treatments and medications that help slow the effects of ALS are continually being discovered, says Dr. Thomas. Today, ALS treatment is an interprofessional undertaking that includes respiratory support, medication, physical therapy, speech therapy, assistive devices and other forms of treatment and support. And at Hackensack, we are pursuing a small, phase 1 study that seeks to show that re-educating the bone marrow to produce less neuro-inflammation may be helpful in ALS.

The material provided through HealthU is intended to be used as general information only and should not replace the advice of your physician. Always consult your physician for individual care.

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The Facts on ALS - Articles and Videos, Featured, Health Topics, Neuroscience - Hackensack Meridian Health

Neuroscience

Meet Neumora, Arch’s $500M, Amgen-partnered play for the targeted future of neuroscience R&D – FierceBiotech

Arch Venture Partners has taken the lid off its big bet on neuroscience. Having quietly put the startup together over the past 18 months, Thursday Arch unveiled Neumora Therapeuticsa biotech that starts life with $500 million, a collaboration with Amgen and a pipeline of eight prospects.

Neumora represents a test of the idea that neuroscience is on the cusp of the sort of rapid progress that has transformed oncology in recent years. If Neumora is right, recent advances in genomics and neurobiology have set the stage for more targeted modulation of the underlying biology of specific brain diseases, just as the oncology field has gone from targeting organs to zeroing in on molecularly defined diseases.

We recognized an opportunity to build a proprietary toolbox of state-of-the-art neural network technologies, which uniquely positions us to pioneer a new era in precision medicines for brain diseases by integrating data science and neuroscience, Lori Lyons-Williams, chief operating officer at Neumora, said.

Armed with the platform, Neumora aims to match the right patients to targeted therapeutics, Lyons-Williams said, enabling it to de-risk clinical trials and improve outcomes for patients. Unlike most newly unveiled biotechs, Neumora is already in a position to start putting its ideas to the test in the clinic.

RELATED: As Amgen zeroes in on cancer, neuroscience pipeline under the ax

The startup begins life with a pipeline of eight candidates, two of which are in the clinic, and more than $500 million to fund their development. Most of the money comes from an Arch-led syndicate.

Some of the assets, targeting casein kinase 1 delta and glucocerebrosidase, and $100 million of the cash come from Amgen, which pulled out of neuroscience R&D in 2019. The Big Biotechs retreat from the hard-to-crack therapeutic area opened the door to a deal with Neumora. Amgen will use its deCODE genetics and human data research capabilities to feed insights into Neumoras precision neuroscience platform.

Neumora put together the rest of the pipeline by rolling up privately held companies including BlackThorn Therapeutics. Arch led a $40 million series A round in BlackThorn in 2016 and went on to participate in a $76 million series B in 2019. The rounds positioned BlackThorn, under the leadership of a team featuring Paul Berns, to advance targeted therapeutics for mental health.

BlackThorn is now part of Neumora, and Berns is CEO of the combined company, slotting in at the head of a C-suite that features John Dunlop, Ph.D., formerly of Amgen, in the chief scientific officer role. Other posts are filled by former employees of companies including Alexion and BlackThorn. As it stands, BlackThorn is still listed as the sponsor of a phase 2 clinical trial that is testing kappa opioid receptor antagonist BTRX-335140 in patients with major depressive disorder. The 180-subject study is scheduled to wrap up next summer, according to ClinicalTrials.gov.

RELATED: Fierce 15 2017 | BlackThorn Therapeutics

BTRX-335140, now known as NMRA-140, is joined in Neumoras clinical-phase pipeline by NMRA-511, a selective V1aR antagonist that is in phase 1 development as a treatment of anxiety disorders. Neumoras preclinical pipeline addresses sleep, neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.

Building a pipeline that has mental health programs alongside drugs targeting neurodegenerative diseases sets Neumora apart from most of its predecessors. However, while acknowledging that the industry has historically kept neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases separate, Lyons-Williams thinks current knowledge supports a more unified approach.

The reality is that these are all diseases of one organ, the brain, and there are mechanistic overlaps and comorbidities across these diseases. We believe our multi-modal data science approach captures unique insights across a range of disease drivers including genetic, imaging and clinical that can be applicable across brain diseases, Lyons-Williams said.

Neumora will soon be in a position to start delivering some early wins, or losses. Data drops on the two clinical programs are planned for 2022 and 2023, Lyons-Williams said, and multiple INDs are on the schedule for the next few years. Neumora plans to advance the pipeline prospects while building out its platform, including by adding more data sets and expanding its data science efforts.

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Meet Neumora, Arch's $500M, Amgen-partnered play for the targeted future of neuroscience R&D - FierceBiotech

Neuroscience

Research Fellow, Imaging/Cognitive Neuroscience job with ROYAL HOLLOWAY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON | 268065 – Times Higher Education (THE)

Department of Psychology

Location: EghamSalary: 36,438 to 38,516 per annum - including London AllowancePostType: Full TimeClosingDate: 23.59 hours GMT on Monday 01 November 2021Reference: 0921-345

Full-Time, Fixed-Term

Applications are invited for the post of Research Fellow in the Psychology Department.

We are seeking an enthusiastic, productive and highly-skilled early-career scientist for a postdoctoral research position linked to a recently awarded BBSRC grant held jointly across Royal Holloway, University of London, and Cardiff University (e.g., Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, CUBRIC). This exciting project will apply state-of-the-art 7-Tesla MRI (and connectom diffusion MRI) to examine the functional neuroanatomy and connectivity of the human subiculum and broader hippocampal network. The studies will focus primarily on the fine-grained mapping of hippocampal network connectivity, as well as developing novel naturalistic cognitive paradigms to examine how the subiculum constructs representations of scenes and events.

The successful candidate will join a multi-disciplinary research team across Royal Holloway and Cardiff University and will be expected to work closely with a second postdoctoral researcher based at CUBRIC. This will include conceptualisation, implementation, design/analysis and dissemination of multimodal neuroimaging studies, as well as other activities linked to the grant (e.g., arranging regular online meetings, public engagement, supporting early-career researchers/students). The post-holder will also be expected to spend time at the partner institution when feasible. In line with our commitment to open science, they will be expected to implement reliable, reproducible, and efficient approaches to data management, thus ensuring the long-term value of these data for the wider neuroimaging community. There will also be the opportunity to analyse existing in-house and publicly available multimodal imaging datasets across human and nonhuman primates (structural/diffusion MRI, 3T/7T resting and task-fMRI). The research fellow will be expected to provide mentorship and support to junior researchers and students in the team on imaging data analyses.

Successful applicants will have a Ph.D. in cognitive/imaging neuroscience, experimental psychology, or related field (e.g., computational neuroscience or computer science). Strong skills in advanced statistical methods (e.g., MVPA, intersubject correlation analysis and/or network analyses), manuscript preparation, and working closely with other institutions are essential. A primary interest in the neuroscience of memory and spatial navigation and/or the analysis of existing large-sample datasets is desirable.

This full-time position is available to start as soon as possible. This is a fixed-term post until 30/09/2024.

Informal enquiries may be made to Dr Carl Hodgetts (carl.hodgetts@rhul.ac.uk) or Prof Andrew Lawrence (lawrencead@cardiff.ac.uk) and more information about the project can be found here:https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FV010549%2F1.

To find out more about Dr Carl Hodgetts Connected Memory Lab at Royal Holloway, please visitwww.connectedmemorylab.com. You can also visit the websites ofProf Andrew Lawrence(co-PI),Dr Jiaxiang Zhang,Prof Kim Graham, andProf John Aggletonto find out more about the work of the co-investigators.

In return we offer a highly competitive rewards and benefits package including:

The post is based in Egham, Surrey where the College is situated in a beautiful, leafy campus near to Windsor Great Park and within commuting distance from London. As described above, the post will also require the research fellow to some spend time at Cardiff University for research activities such as data collection and project meetings.

To view further details of this post and to apply please visithttps://jobs.royalholloway.ac.uk. For queries on the application process the Human Resources Department can be contacted by email at:recruitment@rhul.ac.uk

Facilities

The Psychology Department, located in Egham, close to Central London, has an excellent research profile (rated 6th in the latest Research Excellence Framework) and benefits from state-of-the-art research facilities (e.g. MRI, TMS, EEG, cognitive behavioural testing suites, Babylab). Data collection and regular meetings will take place at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), which houses a unique combination of state-of-the-art facilities and world-leading expertise, with 4 human MRI systems (2 x Siemens Prisma, 1 x Siemens Connectom, 1 x Siemens 7T), MEG, EEG, TMS, tDCS, clinical research units and testing labs. Further details of CUBRIC can be found on their webpage (http://sites.cardiff.ac.uk/cubric).

Please quote the reference: 0921-345

Closing Date: Midnight, 1st November 2021

Interview Date: TBC

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Research Fellow, Imaging/Cognitive Neuroscience job with ROYAL HOLLOWAY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON | 268065 - Times Higher Education (THE)

Neuroscience

The 6 best habits to keep your brain fit, according to neuroscience – BBC Science Focus Magazine

If youve ever had the feeling that you arent as sharp as you used to be perhaps you get frustrated that you cant put a name to an actor or politician who has been in the news, for instance, or maybe youre not as quick at mental arithmetic as you were it might have given you pause for thought about your brains fitness and whether its all downhill from here.

Its true that the brain typically finishes developing in our twenties, after which there is a gradual cognitive slowing with age, so its good to start thinking about these things early. Later in life, there is also the risk of dementia, caused by diseases such as Alzheimers; inevitably, countries with ageing populations are now witnessing rising rates of dementia.

Thankfully, however, rates of cognitive slowing and dementia risk are both influenced by what experts call modifiable risk factors. In short, theres reason to be optimistic because there are things you can do lifestyle habits you can adopt to maintain your brain sharpness and protect yourself from risk of dementia.

Stay mentally active to build your cognitive reserve

Psychologists and gerontologists refer to a concept known as cognitive reserve which is essentially your brains ability to adapt in the face of ageing or illness.

For instance, if a person has high cognitive reserve, then even if they show some of the biological markers of Alzheimers (such as the clumps of protein that accumulate and harm brain function), its possible they will still perform well on tests of their mental performance. Its as if they have spare mental capacity that allows them to cope with the damage.

Importantly, there are many activities you can adopt that are considered to build your cognitive reserve, such as reading, playing musical instruments or singing, completing challenging puzzles, learning a second language and travelling. Put simply, there really is truth to the old adage to use it or lose it.

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Socialising is the ultimate brain-training activity Getty Images

You will have seen the computerised brain training games that purport to keep your grey matter razor-sharp. The problem with these games is that their benefits dont generalise youll get better at the games, but you wont see your gains spill over into other aspects of your life. The games might even be harmful if playing them to excess diverts you from socialising with friends and family. Thats because socialising is the ultimate brain-training activity.

Conversely, social isolation is considered a major risk factor for dementia. As a team of researchers at the University of Groningen put it in their recent comprehensive review of this topic, people with less social participation, less frequent social contact and more feelings of loneliness have an increased risk to develop dementia.

So, seek out company and lively conversation when you can it will give your brain a great work-out and the feelings of belonging will be a boon for your mental health too. If youre not sure where to start, try volunteering or join a debating club.

A sedentary lifestyle can speed up cognitive decline Getty Images

Your brain depends on oxygen and other nutrients to function well and so it follows that the better your cardiovascular health, the fitter and healthier your brain will be too. At the same time, a sedentary lifestyle and obesity are both associated with speedier cognitive decline and increased risk of dementia.

So, try to build an active lifestyle into your routine. Regular running, cycling, swimming or similar exercise classes will do the trick, but if thats not your thing, you could try simply walking and taking the stairs more often, or staying more active through gardening or regularly completing some other kind of hobby that gets your heart pumping, such as choir singing.

The Mediterranean diet can provide your brain with the nutrients it needs to stay healthy Getty Images

Its also good for your brain if you can sustain a healthy diet. Avoiding too much saturated fat will stop your arteries becoming clogged, and plenty of fruits and green vegetables will provide your body with ample antioxidants that help cleanse the brain of free radicals a kind of harmful by-product of various biological processes.

To meet these goals, the World Health Organization recommends the so-called Mediterranean Diet, which is high in fruit, vegetables, legumes (such as lentils, beans and peas), nuts, cereals and olive oil, while being low in saturated fats and meat. If thats too overwhelming, make a start by aiming to eat one more item of fruit a day and avoiding too many supermarket ready meals.

More surprisingly perhaps, there are also links between personality and brain health. People who score higher in Openness to Experience (one of the so-called Big Five traits thats associated with curiosity, creativity and a willingness to try out new things) tend to be sharper and at lower risk of dementia. As a team at the University of Georgia put it, Higher Openness was related to better psychomotor speed, cognitive flexibility, and working memory in depressed and non-depressed older adults.

Fortunately there are habits you can adopt to boost your Openness to Experience, such as seeking out more awe (for example by taking walks in stunning surroundings or watching nature documentaries), travelling to exotic and unfamiliar places, and enjoying mind-expanding cultural experiences (such as live theatre).

Thinking positively is the final piece of the jigsaw Getty Images

Hopefully by now, once youve established this range of positive habits around being mentally and physically active, socialising plenty, being open-minded and eating well, youll be feeling pretty optimistic about your brains future, especially as you get older. This is actually the final piece of the jigsaw.

A growing amount of research suggests that your attitudes toward ageing can have real consequences for your neural health. If you expect to become increasingly slow and prone to forgetfulness, that could well become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Alternatively, if you realise that your brain health is to some extent in your own hands, and thats its possible with the right lifestyle and routines to remain mentally agile through life, then that is actually likely to benefit your brain.

So, seek out positive older role models if you can, take the advice in this article to heart, and seize the chance to train your brain like a muscle you may yet unlock your full potential.

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The 6 best habits to keep your brain fit, according to neuroscience - BBC Science Focus Magazine

Neuroscience

Linking mysteries of neuroscience with caring for mental health | Opinion – Sun Sentinel

These collaborations are essential to overcoming the disparities between physical and mental health care and creating a movement for understanding that taking care of our brains is just as important as taking care of our bodies. Its a movement we co-created with community partners, research institutes, theSouth Florida Science Center and AquariumandFlorida Atlantic Universitys Stiles-Nicholson Brain Instituteover the past five years through the annualTrain the Braincampaign.Train the Brain, Connecting Brain Science, Community & Care, is offering the last of two virtual educational events featuring Amishi Jha, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Miami and director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative, at 1 p.m. Oct. 19.

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Linking mysteries of neuroscience with caring for mental health | Opinion - Sun Sentinel

Neuroscience

A Collection of Essays Considers Resonance in the Arts – Columbia University

Q. What is artistic resonance, and how does the concept create pathways between artistic forms and/or academic fields?

A. In my search for the most basic task of the theater experience, I came to understand that it is resonance that matters most. Our job as theater artists is to create the conditions in which resonanceliterally, vibrationcan happen between actors and the audiences bodies, minds, and senses. As I studied the phenomena of resonance, I realized that, in fact, all the arts are only as successful as the resonance that they generate with those on the receiving end.

Q. What are you most looking forward to seeing during New York's fall cultural season? Will you attend live theater?

A. I am trepidatious about being in packed rooms, but I shall tread carefully back to live performance. I am finished with Zoom performances. I am looking forward to Bill T. Jones production ofDeep Blue Seaat the Park Avenue Armory. Also,Pass OverandDana H.andIs This a Roomon Broadway.

Q. What is the last great book you read, and why?

A. I am currently enjoying Louis MenandsThe Free World. Also,The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brainby Annie Murphy Paul was a complete revelation this summer and a delightful book of highly readable neuroscience.

Q. What's on your night table to read next?

A. I am reading a great deal about the poets in Russia who were highly influential prior to the Russian Revolution. These include Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva, Alexander Blok, Osip Mandelstam, Sergei Yesenin, Velimir Khlebnikov, and Vladimir Mayakovsky. This delicious reading is research for a project that I am directing entitledBeautiful Lady, a musical by Elizabeth Swados and Paul Schmitt.

Q. What are you teaching this semester?

A. I am teaching four classes:Directing 1 is essentially a composition class in which first-year directing students produce one short play per week.For the second-year directing students, I am co-teaching Collaboration 2 with David Henry Hwang and Christian Parker. I am also teaching a Visiting Artists course in which illustrious theater professionals come to our class each week. And along with Brian Kulick, I am co-teaching a class with New York University design professors in which our directing students work with NYU set, lighting, and costume designer students.

Q. You're hosting a dinner party. Which three scholars or academics, dead or alive, would you invite, and why?

A. bell hooks, Steven Pinker, and Oliver Sacks. What would happen then?

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A Collection of Essays Considers Resonance in the Arts - Columbia University

Neuroscience

Researchers aim to understand COVID-19 in children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities – URMC

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester are working to better understand how COVID-19 impacts student and staff in schools that serve students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The $4 million project, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations (RADx-UP), will allow researchers to work with students and staff at the Mary Cariola Center School in Rochester, to study how COVID-19 spreads in the vulnerable population the agency serves.

Understanding how to best test this population and how COVID spreads in group settings is imperative to keeping those with an IDD safe, John Foxe, Ph.D., Director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, and co-principal investigator of the study. Ultimately, this study will have major implications for schools across the United States and specifically for schools that serve vulnerable students. This funding continues a well-establish collaboration with Mary Cariola Center and will help keep their population, many of which are too young to be vaccinated, safe from COVID.

John Foxe, Ph.D., announces study at Mary Cariola Center during press conference.

Foxe is one of three principal investigators leading this study. Martin Zand, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of Clinical & Translational Science Institute and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research at the Medical Center, and Stephen Dewhurst, Ph.D., Vice Dean for Research at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, are also principal investigators.

According to the NIH, a non-vaccinated person with intellectual and developmental disabilities is four-times more likely to contract COVID-19 and eight-times more likely to die from the virus than someone without an IDD. It is also a population that is difficult to test with effective procedures. This study will allow researchers to rapidly identify initial infections, antigen levels, and through isolating and contact-tracing, stop the spread of infection in school settings.

COVID-19 poses a considerable threat to our students who have intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as medical complexities, said Karen Zandi, LCSW-R, President/CEO of Mary Cariola Center. This partnership will provide crucial insight into this deadly virus and will allow us to update, revise, and create best practices beyond what we are currently doing. Ultimately, it means we will be able to keep our students and staff healthy and provide peace-of-mind to their families, while providing important research data to help schools in general and other schools like ours.

Individuals living with intellectual developmental disabilities remain disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we cannot leave them behind as we build toward our recovery, said Rep. Joe Morelle. With this study, we will be able to better combat the virus and deliver the outcomes IDD individuals across our nation and their families deserve. Thank you to the Mary Cariola Center and the University of Rochester for the incredible work you have already completed in this space and will continue to do to uplift our entire community.

In addition to researchers testing on all three Mary Cariola School campuses, they will also utilize a dedicated vehicle to travel between the school and students' homes to test and track anyone who tests positive.

Last spring, the NIH designated the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience as one of 16 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers in the county.

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Researchers aim to understand COVID-19 in children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities - URMC

Neuroscience

Virus-Based Technique Could Enhance Maps of the Brain – Technology Networks

Virginia Tech scientists have improved upon a key method to map the zebrafish brain -- an advance that could improve understanding of how the human brain functions.

A wiring diagram of the brain would be a powerful tool to understand diseases of connectivity, said Yuchin Albert Pan, the Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund Eminent Research Scholar in Developmental Neuroscience at theFralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. Autism spectrum disorder, for example, is characterized by a loss of long-distance connections and increase in local connections. Most neuropsychiatric disorders have connectivity aspects.

Although human brains are more complex, zebrafish brains share a common architecture as do all vertebrates. Determining the structure and function of cells called neurons and how they connect within the brain and between the brain and other structures such as the eye could provide clues to more precisely treat neurological diseases and eye injuries.

In a study in todaysFrontiers in Neuroanatomy, the scientists reported an improved, viral-based technique to trace brain connections between neurons in zebrafish using vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which labels cells as it spreads across the synaptic connections between neurons that are functionally wired together.

Until now, the use of viral vectors in zebrafish has been limited because the viruses, such as rabies or adeno-associated virus, often used by scientists to transfer molecules to cells in mammals, are not effective in fish.

To overcome this limitation,Virginia Tech scientiststried and validatedtheuseofVSV to trace connection patterns in neurons in zebrafish. The virus was engineered to label excitatory and inhibitory neurons that are connected via a nanoscopic structure called the synapse.

Before this study, the researchers had been successful with the approach, but the improved, second-generation version of the technique used a mutant version of VSV that was less toxic and longer-lived in the cells, making visualization of the connected neurons and the analysis of that connectivity possible up to five days after infection.

This is really exciting, because now we can not only record activity, but we also know something about the cell types involved, and how they connect, said co-lead author Manxiu Michelle Ma, a neurophysiologist and formerly a postdoctoral research associate in the Pan lab. The unique viral tracer benefits from reducedcytotoxicity, which enables the virus-infectedneurons to maintain their cellular integrity and express a fluorescentindicator to reveal neuronalactivity during visual stimulation. Furthermore, this technique can also define the neuron type,for example, if the neuron during a visual stimulus is an excitatory neuron or an inhibitory neuron.

Stanislav Kler, a virologist and co-lead author of the study who was also a postdoctoral research associate in the lab, said, The connectivity patterns between most neuronal types are mostly unknown. This gap in knowledge underscores the critical need for effective neural circuit mapping tools. This will get us a step closer to understanding how the brain stores and processes information and how we can manipulate these circuits for better health.

The research is especially significant for vision research.

To restore vision after diseases or injury that affect the eye itself including the cells in the eye that project to structures deep within the brain for subsequent processing of the visual world, the eye needs to connect to the right places in the brain, said Pan, who is a member of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institutes Center for Neurobiology Research. The small size and translucency of larval zebrafish are a unique experimental system to investigate whole brain neural circuits. Scientists working on vision regeneration can now look at whether there is functional connectivity.

Reference: Kler S, Ma M, Narayan S, Ahrens MB, Pan YA. Cre-Dependent Anterograde Transsynaptic Labeling and Functional Imaging in Zebrafish Using VSV With Reduced Cytotoxicity. Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. 2021;15:71. doi:10.3389/fnana.2021.758350

This article has been republished from materials provided by Virginia Tech. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Virus-Based Technique Could Enhance Maps of the Brain - Technology Networks

Neuroscience

$12.2 million to fund new Conte Center to study neurosteroids Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis – Washington University School of…

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Complements efforts of Taylor Family Institute to develop treatments for psychiatric illness

Steven Mennerick, PhD, works in his laboratory, where he studies neurosteroids and their potential as antidepressants. The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis a $12.2 million grant to create a center aimed at advancing research into neurosteroids as treatments for depression and other psychiatric disorders.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has awarded Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis a five-year, $12.2 million grant to create a center aimed at advancing research into neurosteroids as treatments for depression and other psychiatric disorders.

The new Silvio O. Conte Center for Basic Neuroscience Research will be one of only 15 Conte Centers currently funded by the NIMH, of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The centers research focus complements work performed at Washington Universitys Taylor Family Institute for Innovative Psychiatric Research, where scientists have focused since 2013 on the potential of neuroactive steroids to be used to treat psychiatric problems.

Psychiatric illnesses are a major cause of death and disability in the United States and around the world. Research by scientists at the Taylor Family Institute has added to the understanding of changes in the brain that underlie these disorders. Those researchers also have been involved in developing new treatments using neuroactive steroids.

In addition to tapping psychiatrists, neuroscientists, anesthesiologists and chemists at the School of Medicine, the new Conte Center also will involve researchers at Tufts University, Duke University and the University of Colorado. The overall goal is to identify pathways and receptors in the brain that interact with neuroactive steroids. The idea is that those proteins and receptors then might become treatment targets for new psychiatric drugs developed from neurosteroids.

This will be a discovery-based Conte Center, and we hope to leverage our catalogue of synthetic neurosteroids one of the largest in the world to find more effective treatments for depression and other psychiatric problems, said Steven Mennerick, PhD, co-director of the new center and the John P. Feighner Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University. Our center will unite and coordinate the efforts of internationally recognized investigators with expertise in the biology and chemistry of neurosteroids, as well as expertise in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

The center is organized around three main projects. Alex S. Evers, MD, the Henry E. Mallinckrodt Professor of Anesthesiology, is the principal investigator of a project that aims to identify the cellular proteins targeted by neurosteroids and to characterize the structures of those binding sites.

The second project directed by Mennerick and Charles F. Zorumski, MD, the Samuel B. Guze Professor and head of the Department of Psychiatry will involve testing a prototype antidepressant neurosteroid to help determine what role various types of cellular receptors play as neurosteroids provide antidepressant effects in the brain.

The third project led by Jamie Maguire, PhD, a professor of neuroscience at Tufts University School of Medicine will test the compounds found most effective in the first two projects in animals that exhibit behaviors similar to what would be diagnosed as clinical depression in a person.

We believe there will be a synergy between our efforts to study and develop new treatments at the Taylor Family Institute and our work at the new Conte Center to identify the receptors and pathways through which neurosteroids exert their effect in the brain, said Zorumski, who is a co-director of the new center and director of the Taylor Family Institute. We want to learn which neurosteroids might be most effective as treatments and which receptors those compounds target.

One neuroactive steroid has had some early success treating depression. In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration approved brexanalone as a treatment for postpartum depression; however, the drug can cause significant sleepiness, and it must be delivered via intravenous infusions. The hope is that new treatments will have fewer side effects and be easier to use.

Our work at the Taylor Family Institute and the new Conte Center reflects the unique partnership weve developed in recent years between anesthesiology and psychiatry, Evers said. The drug ketamine is a perfect example. Its best known as an anesthetic, but we now know it also is useful as an antidepressant. Like ketamine, neurosteroids got their start as anesthetics.

Researchers at the Conte Center will have the opportunity to study the effects of hundreds of synthetic neurosteroids developed by Douglas Covey, PhD, the Andrew C. and Barbara B. Taylor Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry. A medicinal chemist, Covey has created a large catalogue of potential candidate compounds.

This work is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Grant number P50 MH122379

Washington University School of Medicines 1,700 faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Childrens hospitals. The School of Medicine is a leader in medical research, teaching and patient care, consistently ranking among the top medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Childrens hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.

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$12.2 million to fund new Conte Center to study neurosteroids Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis - Washington University School of...