Publications by authors named "H McAlister"

We discuss prototype formation in the Hopfield network. Typically, Hebbian learning with highly correlated states leads to degraded memory performance. We show that this type of learning can lead to prototype formation, where unlearned states emerge as representatives of large correlated subsets of states, alleviating capacity woes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: Mutations in the MAPT gene encoding tau protein can cause autosomal dominant neurodegenerative tauopathies including frontotemporal dementia (often with Parkinsonism). In Alzheimer's disease, the most common tauopathy, synapse loss is the strongest pathological correlate of cognitive decline. Recently, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging with synaptic tracers revealed clinically relevant loss of synapses in primary tauopathies; however, the molecular mechanisms leading to synapse degeneration in primary tauopathies remain largely unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mutations in the gene encoding tau protein can cause autosomal dominant neurodegenerative tauopathies including frontotemporal dementia (often with Parkinsonism). In Alzheimer's disease, the most common tauopathy, synapse loss is the strongest pathological correlate of cognitive decline. Recently, PET imaging with synaptic tracers revealed clinically relevant loss of synapses in primary tauopathies; however, the molecular mechanisms leading to synapse degeneration in primary tauopathies remain largely unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study looks at why older people might get Alzheimer's or have trouble thinking as they age.
  • Researchers examined brains from different age groups and conditions to see how synapses (the connections between brain cells) change.
  • They found that healthy brains had better synaptic health and fewer problems compared to those with cognitive decline or Alzheimer's, which suggests that strong brain connections help with thinking as we get older.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The aim of this study was to investigate Fijian students' acquisition of Fiji English speech sounds. Participants were 72 multilingual students (5-10 years) living in Fiji who spoke the Fijian or Fiji Hindi dialects of Fiji English. The students' productions of single words from the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP) were analysed according to dialect using the Children's Independent and Relational Phonological Analysis (CHIRPA).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF