Scope: Turmeric curcuminoids mainly consist of curcumin (CUR), demethoxycurcumin (dCUR), and bisdemethoxycurcumin (bdCUR). CUR displays low bioavailability, partly due to poor solubilization in the intestinal lumen during digestion, while data for dCUR and bdCUR are scarce. The study aims to investigate the bioaccessibility of curcuminoids from turmeric extracts or from gamma-cyclodextrins, considering potential interactions with food.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain sensory processing is not passive, but is rather modulated by our internal state. Different research methods such as non-invasive imaging methods and intracranial recording of the local field potential (LFP) have been used to study to what extent sensory processing and the auditory cortex in particular are modulated by selective attention. However, at the level of the single- or multi-units the selective attention in humans has not been tested.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhen we see someone's face, our brain usually effortlessly extracts a variety of information such as facial identity, expression, or gaze direction. While it is widely accepted that dedicated subsystems are responsible for different aspects of face processing, how these subsystems work together is not yet fully understood. To this extent, one of the most explored questions is whether and if so, to what extent facial expression processing interacts with other stages of facial processing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe stimulus-evoked neural response is a widely explored phenomenon. Conscious awareness is associated in many cases with the corresponding selective stimulus-evoked response. For example, conscious awareness of a face stimulus is associated with or accompanied by stimulus-evoked activity in the fusiform face area (FFA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The scope of unconscious cognition stretched its limits dramatically during the last 40 years, yet most unconscious processes and representations that have been described so far are fleeting and very short-lived, whereas conscious representations can be actively maintained in working memory for a virtually unlimited period. In the present work we aimed at exploring conscious and unconscious lasting (>1 second) expectancy effects.
Methods: In a series of four experiments we engaged participants in the foreperiod paradigm while using both unmasked and masked cues that were informative about the presence/absence of an upcoming target.
Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) naturally aid plant growth, development and tolerance to stress. Yield increase by the commercial isolate Azospirillum lipoferum CRT1 was recently attributed to an enhanced sprouting success. In order to provide the first biochemical and physiological analysis of sprouting enhancement by PGPR, seed germination and metabolism were followed by time-lapse photography and GC/MS-based metabolomics, respectively, after inoculating two differentially-responding maize cultivars with A.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Growth-Promoting Bacteria (PGPB) of the genus Azospirillum are known to enhance root growth and yield in many plant species including cereals. To probe the underlying mechanisms, correlations between modifications of yield and 6-leaf plantlet characteristics were estimated on maize in four fields with contrasting soil properties over two consecutive years using the commercial isolate A. lipoferum CRT1.
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