Applying the LATER model to reaction time data: an open-source toolkit.

Analysing reaction time distributions can provide insights into decision-making processes in the brain. The Linear Approach to Threshold with Ergodic Rate (LATER) model is arguably the simplest model for predicting reaction time distributions and can summarise distributions with as few as two free parameters. However, the coordinates for visualising and fitting distributions using LATER ("reciprobit" space) are irregular, making the application of this simple model inaccessible to those without a programming background.

Disease Delineation for Multiple Sclerosis, Friedreich Ataxia, and Healthy Controls Using Supervised Machine Learning on Speech Acoustics.

Neurodegenerative disease often affects speech. Speech acoustics can be used as objective clinical markers of pathology. Previous investigations of pathological speech have primarily compared controls with one specific condition and excluded comorbidities.

Metaphor-A workflow for streamlined assembly and binning of metagenomes.

Recent advances in bioinformatics and high-throughput sequencing have enabled the large-scale recovery of genomes from metagenomes. This has the potential to bring important insights as researchers can bypass cultivation and analyze genomes sourced directly from environmental samples. There are, however, technical challenges associated with this process, most notably the complexity of computational workflows required to process metagenomic data, which include dozens of bioinformatics software tools, each with their own set of customizable parameters that affect the final output of the workflow.

The cost and impact of distributing naloxone to people who are prescribed opioids to prevent opioid-related deaths: findings from a modelling study.

Background And Aims: Although most opioid-related mortality in Australia involves prescription opioids, most research to understand the impact of naloxone supply on opioid-related mortality has focused upon people who inject heroin. We aimed to examine the cost and probable impact of up-scaling naloxone supply to people who are prescribed opioids.

Design: Decision-tree model.

The Melbourne Safe Injecting Room Attracted People Most in Need of Its Service.

Introduction: In 2018, the first Medically Supervised Injecting Room in Melbourne, Australia was officially opened. This study assessed whether this facility attracted people who inject drugs, who were socially vulnerable, and who engaged in drug-related behaviors associated with increased morbidity and mortality risk.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of the frequency of Medically Supervised Injecting Room use during the first 18 months after opening (July 2018-December 2019) among 658 people who inject drugs participating in the Melbourne Injecting Drug User Cohort Study (SuperMIX).

Short-Term Attractive Tilt Aftereffects Predicted by a Recurrent Network Model of Primary Visual Cortex.

Adaptation is a multi-faceted phenomenon that is of interest in terms of both its function and its potential to reveal underlying neural processing. Many behavioral studies have shown that after exposure to an oriented adapter the perceived orientation of a subsequent test is repulsed away from the orientation of the adapter. This is the well-known Tilt Aftereffect (TAE).

A virtual experiment improved students' understanding of physiological experimental processes ahead of a live inquiry-based practical class.

Physiology is commonly taught through direct experience and observation of scientific phenomena in "hands-on" practical laboratory classes. The value of such classes is limited by students' lack of understanding of the underlying theoretical concepts and their lack of confidence with the experimental techniques. In our experience, students follow experimental steps as if following a recipe, without giving thought to the underlying theory and the relationship between the experimental procedure and the research hypotheses.

Adaptation without Plasticity.

Sensory adaptation is a phenomenon in which neurons are affected not only by their immediate input but also by the sequence of preceding inputs. In visual cortex, for example, neurons shift their preferred orientation after exposure to an oriented stimulus. This adaptation is traditionally attributed to plasticity.

Topography of claustrum and insula projections to medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus).

The claustrum has been the subject of intense research interest in recent years, driven in large part by its extensive connections with various regions of the cerebral cortex and by hypotheses surrounding its possible role in multimodal sensory and/or sensory-emotional integration. Here we employed neuroanatomical tracers to map projections from the claustrum-insular region to the medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex of the common marmoset (Callithrx jacchus). These areas were selected based on their identification as "hub" areas of the default mode and cortical salience networks, respectively.