Goal-directed bodily signals in birds and frogs.

Researchers have recently described the wing-fluttering signal of Japanese tits and eyeblink signal of concave-eared torrent frogs as bodily communication that elicits specific responses. I assess the evidence that these may be intentional, goal-directed signals using established criteria for gestural communication.

Information search under uncertainty across transdiagnostic psychopathology and healthy ageing.

When making decisions in everyday life, we often rely on an internally generated sense of confidence to help us revise and direct future behaviours. For instance, confidence directly informs whether further information should be sought prior to commitment to a final decision. Many studies have shown that aging and both clinical and sub-clinical symptoms of psychopathology are associated with systematic alterations in confidence.

How do soundboard-trained dogs respond to human button presses? An investigation into word comprehension.

Past research on interspecies communication has shown that animals can be trained to use Augmentative Interspecies Communication (AIC) devices, such as soundboards, to make simple requests of their caretakers. The recent uptake in AIC devices by hundreds of pet owners around the world offers a novel opportunity to investigate whether AIC is possible with owner-trained family dogs. To answer this question, we carried out two studies to test pet dogs' ability to recognise and respond appropriately to food-related, play-related, and outside-related words on their soundboards.

Peripheral nerve injury results in a biased loss of sensory neuron subpopulations.

There is a rich literature describing the loss of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons following peripheral axotomy, but the vulnerability of discrete subpopulations has not yet been characterised. Furthermore, the extent or even presence of neuron loss following injury has recently been challenged. In this study, we have used a range of transgenic recombinase driver mouse lines to genetically label molecularly defined subpopulations of DRG neurons and track their survival following traumatic nerve injury.

Trauma-informed care beliefs scale-comprehensive for child welfare carers using Rasch analysis.

Background: The literature on trauma-informed care practices (TIC) indicates that this framework is beneficial for young people, carers, and staff. However, a significant gap in the literature and practice is the absence of psychometrically sound scales to measure carer adherence to TIC principles. Emerging evidence suggests that TIC practices shift carer attitudes and beliefs, which mediate positive outcomes for both carers and young people.

International e-Delphi survey to define best practice in the reporting of intracranial pressure monitoring recording data.

Introduction: Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is a very commonly performed neurosurgical procedure but there is a wide variation in how it is reported, hindering analysis of it. The current study sought to generate consensus on the reporting of ICP monitoring recording data.

Research Question: "What should be included in an ICP monitoring report?"

Material And Methods: The exercise was completed via a modified eDelphi survey.

Neuroimaging and Clinical Findings in Healthy Middle-Aged Adults With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in the PREVENT Dementia Study.

Importance: Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) represent an important, potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia. Despite frequently observed vascular imaging changes in individuals with TBI, the relationships between TBI-associated changes in brain imaging and clinical outcomes have largely been overlooked in community cases of TBI.

Objective: To assess whether TBI are associated with and interact with midlife changes in neuroimaging and clinical features in otherwise healthy individuals.

Excitatory to inhibitory synaptic ratios are unchanged at presymptomatic stages in multiple models of ALS.

Hyperexcitability of motor neurons and spinal cord motor circuitry has been widely reported in the early stages of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Changes in the relative amount of excitatory to inhibitory inputs onto a neuron (E:I synaptic ratio), possibly through a developmental shift in synapse formation in favour of excitatory transmission, could underlie pathological hyperexcitability. Given that astrocytes play a major role in early synaptogenesis and are implicated in ALS pathogenesis, their potential contribution to disease mechanisms involving synaptic imbalances and subsequent hyperexcitability is also of great interest.

Human-centred physical neuromorphics with visual brain-computer interfaces.

Steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) are widely used for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) as they provide a stable and efficient means to connect the computer to the brain with a simple flickering light. Previous studies focused on low-density frequency division multiplexing techniques, i.e.

Saccadic "inhibition" unveils the late influence of image content on oculomotor programming.

Image content is prioritized in the visual system. Faces are a paradigmatic example, receiving preferential processing along the visual pathway compared to other visual stimuli. Moreover, face prioritization manifests also in behavior.

"Blocking-like" effects in attentional set-shifting: Redundant cues facilitate shifting in male rats with medial prefrontal cortex inactivation.

Without a functioning prefrontal cortex, humans and other animals are impaired in measures of cognitive control and behavioral flexibility, including attentional set-shifting. However, the reason for this is unclear with evidence suggesting both impaired and enhanced attentional shifting. We inhibited the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of rats while they performed a modified version of an attentional set-shifting task to explore the nature of this apparent contradiction.

Commit to your putting stroke: exploring the impact of quiet eye duration and neural activity on golf putting performance.

Introduction: There is a growing interest in characterizing the cognitive-motor processes that underlie superior performance in highly skilled athletes. The aim of this study was to explore neural markers of putting performance in highly skilled golfers by recording mobile EEG (electroencephalogram) during the pre-shot period.

Methods: Twenty-eight right-handed participants (20 males) with a mean age of 24.

Chimpanzee gestural exchanges share temporal structure with human language.

Humans regularly engage in efficient communicative conversations, which serve to socially align individuals. In conversations, we take fast-paced turns using a human-universal structure of deploying and receiving signals which shows consistent timing across cultures. We report here that chimpanzees also engage in rapid signal-to-signal turn-taking during face-to-face gestural exchanges with a similar average latency between turns to that of human conversation.

Optical mapping of ground reaction force dynamics in freely behaving larvae.

During locomotion, soft-bodied terrestrial animals solve complex control problems at substrate interfaces, but our understanding of how they achieve this without rigid components remains incomplete. Here, we develop new all-optical methods based on optical interference in a deformable substrate to measure ground reaction forces (GRFs) with micrometre and nanonewton precision in behaving larvae. Combining this with a kinematic analysis of substrate-interfacing features, we shed new light onto the biomechanical control of larval locomotion.

Pre-frontal cortex guides dimension-reducing transformations in the occipito-ventral pathway for categorization behaviors.

To interpret our surroundings, the brain uses a visual categorization process. Current theories and models suggest that this process comprises a hierarchy of different computations that transforms complex, high-dimensional inputs into lower-dimensional representations (i.e.

Probing sustained attention and fatigue across the lifespan.

Trait fatigues reflects tiredness that persists throughout a prolonged period, whereas state fatigue is a short-term reaction to intense or prolonged effort. We investigated the impact of sustained attention (using the SART) on both trait and state fatigue levels in the general population. An online version of the SART was undertaken by 115 participants, stratified across the whole adult lifespan.

Collaterals at angiography guide clinical outcomes after endovascular stroke therapy in HERMES.

Background: Robust collateral circulation has been linked with better reperfusion and clinical outcomes. It remains unclear how individual assessments of collateral circulation may be translated into clinical practice.

Methods: The pooled Highly Effective Reperfusion Evaluated in Multiple Endovascular Stroke Trials (HERMES) angiography dataset was analyzed by a centralized, independent imaging core blinded to other clinical data.

Differential expression of genes in the RhoA/ROCK pathway in the hippocampus and cortex following intermittent hypoxia and high-intensity interval training.

Structural neuroplasticity such as neurite extension and dendritic spine dynamics is enhanced by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and impaired by types of inhibitory molecules that induce growth cone collapse and actin depolymerization, for example, myelin-associated inhibitors, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, and negative guidance molecules. These inhibitory molecules can activate RhoA/rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase (ROCK) signaling (known to restrict structural plasticity). Intermittent hypoxia (IH) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) are known to upregulate BDNF that is associated with improvements in learning and memory and greater functional recovery following neural insults.

Investigating the Brain Mechanisms of Externally Cued Sit-to-Stand Movement in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: One of the more challenging daily-life actions for Parkinson's disease patients is starting to stand from a sitting position. Parkinson's disease patients are known to have difficulty with self-initiated movements and benefit from external cues. However, the brain processes underlying external cueing as an aid remain unknown.

Ablation of oligodendrogenesis in adult mice alters brain microstructure and activity independently of behavioral deficits.

Oligodendrocytes continue to differentiate from their precursor cells even in adulthood, a process that can be modulated by neuronal activity and experience. Previous work has indicated that conditional ablation of oligodendrogenesis in adult mice leads to learning and memory deficits in a range of behavioral tasks. The current study replicated and re-evaluated evidence for a role of oligodendrogenesis in motor learning, using a complex running wheel task.

Neural correlates of motor imagery and execution in real-world dynamic behavior: evidence for similarities and differences.

A large body of evidence shows that motor imagery and action execution behaviors result from overlapping neural substrates, even in the absence of overt movement during motor imagery. To date it is unclear how neural activations in motor imagery and execution compare for naturalistic whole-body movements, such as walking. Neuroimaging studies have not directly compared imagery and execution during dynamic walking movements.