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Category: neuroscience – Page 519

How Our Brains Turn Into Smarter Disease Fighters

CRISPR gene editing created the G795A amino acid which was introduced to microglia derived from human stem cells. Researchers were able to transplant the donor microglia immune cells into humanized rodent models while administering an FDA-approved cancer drug called pexidartinib. The inclusion of the amino acid cause the donated microglia to thrive and resist the drug, while the host microglia died. The findings open the door for new methods of using microglia to treat a range of neurodegenerative disorders.

Evolving Neural Networks Workshop

(see below for links to each of the sections)

The goal of the Evolving Neural Networks workshop is to bring together experts from Systems and Computational Neuroscience, Machine Learning and the Evo-Devo field to discuss if and how knowing the evolutionary history of neural circuits can help us understand the way the brain works, as well as the relative importance of learned VS innate neural mechanisms.

Sections:
00:00 — Intro.
4:30 — Intro 1st block.
11:35 — Pamela Lyon.
33:40 — Luis Puelles.
1:01:30 — Paul Cisek.
1:28:55 — Robert Yang.
1:58:40 — Discussion 1st block.
2:29:10-Intro 2nd block.
2:36:10 — Linda Wilbrecht.
3:02:45 — Ida Momennejad.
3:34:40 — Dayu Lin.
3:57:05 — Anthony Zador.
4:21:55 — Discussion 2nd block.
4:51:15 — Closing remarks.

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/evolving-nns/home

Systems Neuroscience Through the Lens of Evolutionary Theory Workshop

The workshop discusses the recent issue Systems Neuroscience Through The Lens of Evolutionary Theory edited by Paul Cisek and Ben Hayden published by the Royal Society:

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/2022/377/1844

Program:
0:00 Introduction.
3:05 Ben Hayden Intro.
8:35 Lisa Feldman Barrett.
35:50 Q&A Lisa Feldman Barrett.
42:15 Luiz Pessoa.
1:11:10 Q&A Luiz Pessoa.
1:21:15 Barbara Finlay.
1:59:50 Discussion.
2:24:15 Joseph LeDoux.
3:02:50 Q&A Joseph LeDoux.
3:04:15 Paul Cisek.
3:31:45 Q&A Paul Cisek.
3:39:55 Patricia Churchland.
4:17:35 Discussion.

Visit the web for more information:

https://sites.google.com/view/neuroscienceneedsevolution/home.

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Determinants of escapism in adult video gamers with autism spectrum conditions: The role of affect, autistic burnout, and gaming motivation

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Persons with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) often engage in video gaming, one of the most common leisure activity in this population. Escapism, aimed at the avoidance of negative experiences or self-development, is considered as one of the main gaming motivations. Furthermore, escapism is a self-regulatory strategy used while suffering from autistic burnout, consisting of exhaustion, reduced social skills, anhedonia, and withdrawal. The goal of the current study was to determine predictors of escapism in video gaming among adult gamers with ASC. It was hypothesized that two types of escapism – self-suppression and self-expansion – would differentiate gaming motivations, affective outcomes, anhedonia, and autistic burnout rates. A total of 189 persons participated in the study (Mage = 27.52, SDage = 7.25), including 105 females. The results obtained indicated that self-suppression escapism was predicted by introjected regulation, positive and negative affect, and hedonic tone (F = 8.760, p < .001), while self-expansion was predicted by identified and integrated gaming motivations, hedonic tone, and positive affect (F = 23.066, p < .001). PLS-SEM analysis revealed good fit of the model with autistic burnout predicting self-suppression escapism. These results acknowledge the two-dimensional approach to escapism and highlight potential risk factors of self-suppression, especially among persons presenting symptoms of autistic burnout. Future research and clinical application directions are outlined.

Why can’t we say what cognition is (at least for the time being)

Some philosophers search for the mark of the cognitive: a set of individually necessary and jointly suΜcient conditions identifying all and only the instances of cognition. They claim the mark is necessary to answer diΜcult questions concerning the nature and distribution of cognition.

Here, I will argue that, as things stand, given the current landscape of cognitive science, we are not able to identify a mark of the cognitive. I proceed as follows. First, I clarify some factors motivating the search for the mark of the cognitive, thereby highlighting the desiderata the mark is supposed to satisfy. Then, I highlight a tension in the literature over the mark. Given the literature, it is not clear whether the search aims for a mark capturing the intuitive notion of cognition or a genuine scientiΞc kind.

Network Neuroscience Theory — The Best Predictor of Intelligence

Researchers have been working for many years to comprehend the relationship between brain structure, functional connectivity, and intelligence. A recent study provides the most comprehensive understanding to date of how different regions of the brain and neural networks contribute to a person’s problem-solving ability in a variety of contexts, a trait known as general intelligence.

The researchers recently published their findings in the journal Human Brain Mapping.

The research, led by Aron Barbey, a professor of psychology, bioengineering, and neuroscience at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and first author Evan Anderson, a researcher for Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. working at the Air Force Research Laboratory, employed the technique of “connectome-based predictive modeling” to evaluate five theories on how the brain leads to intelligence.