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Notwithstanding the implementation of strategic responses to recover habitual levels of performance and productivity, global data points out that the outbreak and diffusion of COVID-19 have imposed a high cost on research activities. Starting from a national survey investigating the impact of pandemics on Italian research in neuroscience, we here specifically aims at exploring its effects on scientific productivity across junior-to-senior professionals. Data highlighted that, given a generalized decrease of objective markers of scientific productivity (i.e. submitted projects or papers), the extent of such decrease was most notable in junior, mid-level and early senior researchers. Also, subjective measures of impact of the pandemics on professional life and work efficiency revealed a coherent profile, with junior and mid-level research professionals referring the highest perceived impact, while the impact of pandemics at psychological and socio-relational levels was rated almost similarly by researchers with different levels of seniority.

Considering the cerebellum an independent structure devoted mainly in motor control functions, traditionally neuroscience research has considerably neglected the importance of cerebellar contribution to non-motor functions. However, the cerebellar anatomo-functional connections to different large scale networks of the neocortex -including frontal and parietal regions typically involved in high-order cognitive processing- suggests its primary role also outside the motor control. Histologically the cerebellum contains about 50 billion neurons— roughly half of the total number of neurons in the whole brain, and this impressive order of magnitude supports extremely powerful mechanisms for processing information (Ramnani, Nat Rev Neurosci 7:511–522, 2006). The definition of input-output organization between cerebellum and cerebral cortex will help to clarify the role of the cerebellum in higher cognitive functions because these connections provide the means through which association areas and the cerebellum may influence each other’s operations (Ramnani, Cerebellum 11:366–383, 2012).

Neuroelectronic interfaces with the nervous system are an essential technology in state-of-the-art neuroscience research aiming to uncover the fundamental working mechanisms of the brain. Progress towards increased spatio-temporal resolution has been tightly linked to the advance of microelectronics technology and novel materials. Translation of these technologies to neuroscience has resulted in multichannel neural probes and acquisition systems enabling the recording of brain signals using thousands of channels. This review provides an overview of state-of-the-art neuroelectronic technologies, with emphasis on recording site architectures which enable the implementation of addressable arrays for high-channel-count neural interfaces. In this field, active transduction mechanisms are gaining importance fueled by novel materials, as they facilitate the implementation of high density addressable arrays., This work has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 732032(BrainCom) and Grant Agreement No. 881603 (Graphene Flagship) and co-funded by the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) allocated to the Programa operatiu FEDER de Catalunya 2014–2020, with the support of the Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca of the Departament d’Empresa i Coneixement of the Generalitat de Catalunya for emerging technology clusters devoted to the valorization and transfer of research results (GraphCAT 001-P-001702). The ICN2 is supported by the Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence program, funded by the Spanish Research Agency (AEI, grant no. SEV-2017-0706), and by the CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya.

Advances in materials chemistry and engineering serve as the basis for multifunctional neural interfaces that span length scales from individual neurons to neural networks, neural tissues, and complete neural systems. Such technologies exploit electrical, electrochemical, optical, and/or pharmacological modalities in sensing and neuromodulation for fundamental studies in neuroscience research, with additional potential to serve as routes for monitoring and treating neurodegenerative diseases and for rehabilitating patients. This review summarizes the essential role of chemistry in this field of research, with an emphasis on recently published results and developing trends. The focus is on enabling materials in diverse device constructs, including their latest utilization in 3D bioelectronic frameworks formed by 3D printing, self-folding, and mechanically guided assembly. A concluding section highlights key challenges and future directions.

Policymakers aim to move toward animal-free alternatives for scientific research and have introduced very strict regulations for animal research. We argue that, for neuroscience research, until viable and translational alternatives become available and the value of these alternatives has been proven, the use of animals should not be compromised., We would like to thank Loren Frank, UCSF, USA; Sheena Josselyn, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Canada; Shantanu Jadhav, Brandeis University, USA; the European Animal Research Association (EARA); the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies Committee on Animals in Research (CARE); the Swiss Society for Neuroscience; the Society for Neuroscience Committee on Animals in Research (CAR); and Stichting Informatie Dierproeven (the Dutch foundation for public information on animal testing: SID) for input on and support for this article.

Over the past decade, the zebrafish has been increasingly employed in biomedical neuroscience research due to its numerous evolutionarily conserved features with mammals. Its simple brain and the several molecular tools available for this species make the zebrafish an appealing model to study mechanisms of complex brain functions, including learning and memory. Most learning paradigms developed for the zebrafish have employed visual stimuli as the associative cue. Spontaneous color preference is a potential confound in such studies. It has been analyzed in zebrafish using colored objects, but with conflicting results. It has rarely been explored with colored light, despite the increasing use of computer-generated visual stimuli. Here, we employ a light emitting diode (RGB-system) light-based color preference task in the plus-maze. In two independent experiments, zebrafish were tested in a four-choice or dual-choice condition by using four different-colored lights (red, green, blue and yellow). Our results suggest a light preference hierarchy that depends on context, since yellow was preferred over green in the four-choice condition whereas blue was preferred over all other colors in the two-choice condition. These results are useful for future color-light-based learning experiments in zebrafish.

This work is focused on the application of neurology in the field of leadership in project management. It shows a theoretical overview of the history of project management, the development of project management as scientific discipline and a new approach – neuroscience research of the brain. The aim of the empirical research is to gain insight into the current knowledge of neuroscience and research that has application in leadership in project management in the world and to possibly propose new research.

Over the past two decades, genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) have been used extensively to report intracellular calcium (Ca2+) dynamics in order to readout neuronal and network activity in living tissue. Single wavelength GECIs, such as GCaMP, have been widely adapted due to advances in dynamic range, sensitivity, and kinetics. Additionally, recent efforts in protein engineering have expanded the GECI color palette to enable direct optical interrogation of more complex circuit dynamics. Here, I discuss the engineering, application, and future directions of the most recently developed GECIs for in vivo neuroscience research.

Cognitive neuroscience research is typically conducted in controlled laboratory environments and therefore its contribution to our understanding of learning in real-world environments is limited. In recent years, however, portable and wearable brain devices have become more readily available for classroom-based research. Complementing existing education research methods, these emerging technologies could provide information about learning processes that might not be reflected in classroom observations or learners’ self-reports. This essay critically evaluates the value added by portable brain technologies in education research and outlines a proposed research agenda, centered around questions related to student engagement, cognitive load, and self-regulation. We also address ethical concerns regarding student privacy and the potential misuse of students’ brain data.

Long-term recurrent stress is a common cause of neuropsychiatric disorders. Animal models are widely used to study the pathogenesis of stress-related psychiatric disorders. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is emerging as a powerful tool to study chronic stress and its mechanisms. Here, we developed a prolonged 11-week chronic unpredictable stress (PCUS) model in zebrafish to more fully mimic chronic stress in human populations. We also examined behavioral and neurochemical alterations in zebrafish, and attempted to modulate these states by 3-week treatment with an antidepressant fluoxetine, a neuroprotective omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a pro-inflammatory endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and their combinations. Overall, PCUS induced severe anxiety and elevated norepinephrine levels, whereas fluoxetine (alone or combined with other agents) corrected most of these behavioral deficits. While EPA and LPS alone had little effects on the zebrafish PCUS-induced anxiety behavior, both fluoxetine (alone or in combination) and EPA restored norepinephrine levels, whereas LPS + EPA increased dopamine levels. As these data support the validity of PCUS as an effective tool to study stress-related pathologies in zebrafish, further research is needed into the ability of various conventional and novel treatments to modulate behavioral and neurochemical biomarkers of chronic stress in this model organism. © 2021, The Author(s). This research was supported solely by the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) grant 19‐15‐00053. K.A.D. is supported by the Special Rector’s Productivity Fellowship for SPSU PhD Students, and the lab is supported by St. Petersburg State University state budgetary funds (project ID 73026081). A.V.K. is the Chair of the International Zebrafish Neuroscience Research Consortium (ZNRC) and President of the International Stress and Behavior Society (ISBS, www.stress-and-behavior.com) that coordinated this collaborative multi-laboratory project. The consortium provided a collaborative idea exchange platform for this study, it is not considered as affiliation and did not fund the study. A.V.K. lab is supported by the Southwest University (SWU) Zebrafish Platform Construction Fund (Chongqing, China). The authors thank Professor Raul R. Gainetdinov (Institute of Translational Biomedicine, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia) for his generous assistance with the HPLC studies in his laboratory. The funders had no role in the design, analyses, and interpretation of the submitted study, or decision to publish.

The investigation of the neural correlates of creative cognition requires researchers to adapt creativity tasks to meet the constraints imposed by cognitive neuroscience research – assessing well-defined cognitive processes, repeated over many trials. We present a systematic review of essential study design parameters in neuroscience research on creativity including trial number, time on task, and when and what responses are collected. The review discloses a substantial heterogeneity of methodological approaches across studies, but also identifies some established common practices. Typical adaptations include the employment of shortened tasks in order to realize more trials per session. Given the sensitivity of neurophysiological assessments to motor artifacts, most studies also take care to ensure a separation between periods of creative thought and the production of responses, enabling them to assess creative performance expressed in various formats including speech, writing, drawing, or playing music. We discuss the pros and cons of the various approaches with respect to the goal to increase reliability of neurophysiological measurements while maintaining valid assessments.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe psychological disorder that can be very disabling. Recent increasing neuroscientific data about OCD has provided important evidence that has started to change our knowledge about treatment. This paper offers an applied perspective of neuroscience on diagnosis and treatment preparation for people with OCD disease. The main aim is to enhance clinician-researcher communication to promote the conversion of developments in neuroscience research into better treatment for patients with OCD. Methods: A PubMed search was performed using the keywords "obsessive-compulsive disorder", "neuroimaging methods", "neuroscience", and "neurological treatment". The search provided sufficient articles published in peer-reviewed journals from 1995 to 2021. The data were obtained from these various sources and were included in this review. Results: The advancement of neurotherapeutic techniques targeting the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuit is the subject of a circuit dysregulation system. Also, according to neuroimaging studies, reductions in D2 receptors (about -18%), GABAA receptors (-15%), and cingulate 5-HT1A receptors (-18%) in patients with OCD were reported compared with healthy controls. Conclusion: The result suggests that DA, 5-HT, and GABA have considerable roles in anxiety- and compulsion-related disorders such as OCD. For patients with OCD, these core neuroscience themes collectively guide formulation and clinical preparation.

O presente artigo pretende tratar da formação humana considerando, de um lado, sumariamente, algumas das conquistas mais recentes da ciência a respeito da inteligência e, de outro, alguns referenciais da prática de Jesus que demonstram suas habilidades formativas no uso integrado da inteligência. As pesquisas recentes da neurociência mostram que nosso cérebro sempre atua como um todo e recruta dinamicamente os neurônios, em todas as parte s do cérebro, para cada ação que realizamos. Aquilo que, ao longo do século passado, foi se chamando de inteligências, em termos pedagógico-formativos, precisamos tratar como dimensões de uma mesma inteligência humana. Daí a importância de considerarmos, nos processos formativos, todas as dimensões, caso desejarmos falar em formação ou educação integral. Para tratar da temática, após uma breve introdução, anunciaremos a dimensão da inteligência de acordo com a pesquisa científica para, em seguida, averiguarmos como Jesus lidava com os processos formativos na vida cotidiana para desenvolver cada dimensão, relacionada com as outras. Nas considerações finais, apenas nos caberá reconhecer que ainda vivemos rodeados por mistérios com os quais flertamos para avançar ainda mais na aventura do conhecimento

Understanding the complex connectivity structure of the brain is a major challenge in neuroscience. Vast and ever-expanding literature about neuronal connectivity between brain regions already exists in published research articles and databases. However, with the ever-expanding increase in published articles and repositories, it becomes difficult for a neuroscientist to engage with the breadth and depth of any given field within neuroscience. Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques can be used to mine 'Brain Region Connectivity' information from published articles to build a centralized connectivity resource helping neuroscience researchers to gain quick access to research findings. Manually curating and continuously updating such a resource involves significant time and effort. This paper presents an application of supervised machine learning algorithms that perform shallow and deep linguistic analysis of text to automatically extract connectivity between brain region mentions. Our proposed algorithms are evaluated using benchmark datasets collated from PubMed and our own dataset of full text articles annotated by a domain expert. We also present a comparison with state-of-the-art methods including BioBERT. Proposed methods achieve best recall and [Formula: see text] scores negating the need for any domain-specific predefined linguistic patterns. Our paper presents a novel effort towards automatically generating interpretable patterns of connectivity for extracting connected brain region mentions from text and can be expanded to include any other domain-specific information.

Highlights The factors affecting in-cell nanoelectronics for electrophysiology recording were discussed from versatile nano-biointerfaces, penetration strategies, active and passive nanodevices. The applications of in-cell nanodevices in cardiomyocyte and neuron were further reviewed and evaluated. The current challenges of nanodevices for intracellular electrophysiology and their potential applications in biomedical fields were discussed., Establishing a reliable electrophysiological recording platform is crucial for cardiology and neuroscience research. Noninvasive and label-free planar multitransistors and multielectrode arrays are conducive to perform the large-scale cellular electrical activity recordings, but the signal attenuation limits these extracellular devices to record subthreshold activities. In recent decade, in-cell nanoelectronics have been rapidly developed to open the door to intracellular electrophysiology. With the unique three-dimensional nanotopography and advanced penetration strategies, high-throughput and high-fidelity action potential like signal recordings is expected to be realized. This review summarizes in-cell nanoelectronics from versatile nano-biointerfaces, penetration strategies, active/passive nanodevices, systematically analyses the applications in electrogenic cells and especially evaluates the influence of nanodevices on the high-quality intracellular electrophysiological signals. Further, the opportunities, challenges and broad prospects of in-cell nanoelectronics are prospected, expecting to promote the development of in-cell electrophysiological platforms to meet the demand of theoretical investigation and clinical application.

Performance of supercomputers has been steadily and exponentially increasing for the past 20 years, and is expected to increase further. This unprecedented computational power enables us to build and simulate large-scale neural network models composed of tens of billions of neurons and tens of trillions of synapses with detailed anatomical connections and realistic physiological parameters. Such “human-scale” brain simulation could be considered a milestone in computational neuroscience and even in general neuroscience. Towards this milestone, it is mandatory to introduce modern high-performance computing technology into neuroscience research. In this article, we provide an introductory landscape about large-scale brain simulation on supercomputers from the viewpoints of computational neuroscience and modern high-performance computing technology for specialists in experimental as well as computational neurosciences. This introduction to modeling and simulation methods is followed by a review of various representative large-scale simulation studies conducted to date. Then, we direct our attention to the cerebellum, with a review of more simulation studies specific to that region. Furthermore, we present recent simulation results of a human-scale cerebellar network model composed of 86 billion neurons on the Japanese flagship supercomputer K (now retired). Finally, we discuss the necessity and importance of human-scale brain simulation, and suggest future directions of such large-scale brain simulation research.

Basic neuroscience research employs numerous forms of antibodies as key reagents in diverse applications. While the predominant use of antibodies is as immunolabeling reagents, neuroscientists are making increased use of intracellular antibodies or intrabodies. Intrabodies are recombinant antibodies genetically encoded for expression within neurons. These can be used to target various cargo (fluorescent proteins, reporters, enzymes, etc.) to specific molecules and subcellular domains to report on and manipulate neuronal function with high precision. Intrabodies have the advantages inherent in all genetically encoded recombinant antibodies but represent a distinct subclass in that their structure allows for their expression and function within cells. The high precision afforded by the ability to direct their expression to specific cell types, and the selective binding of intrabodies to targets within these allows intrabodies to offer unique advantages for neuroscience research, given the tremendous molecular, cellular and morphological complexity of brain neurons. Intrabodies expressed within neurons have been used for a variety of purposes in basic neuroscience research. Here I provide a general background to intrabodies and their development, and examples of their emerging utility as valuable basic neuroscience research tools.

Understanding the neural basis of human movement in naturalistic scenarios is critical for expanding neuroscience research beyond constrained laboratory paradigms. Here, we describe our Annotated Joints in Long-term Electrocorticography for 12 human participants (AJILE12) dataset, the largest human neurobehavioral dataset that is publicly available; the dataset was recorded opportunistically during passive clinical epilepsy monitoring. AJILE12 includes synchronized intracranial neural recordings and upper body pose trajectories across 55 semi-continuous days of naturalistic movements, along with relevant metadata, including thousands of wrist movement events and annotated behavioral states. Neural recordings are available at 500 Hz from at least 64 electrodes per participant, for a total of 1280 hours. Pose trajectories at 9 upper-body keypoints were estimated from 118 million video frames. To facilitate data exploration and reuse, we have shared AJILE12 on The DANDI Archive in the Neurodata Without Borders (NWB) data standard and developed a browser-based dashboard.

Recently, the Chilean Senate approved the main ideas of a constitutional reform and a Neuro-rights bill. This bill aims to protect people from the potential abusive use of "neuro-technologies". Unfortunately, a literal interpretation of this law can produce severe negative effects both in the development of neuroscience research and medical practice in Chile, interfering with current treatments in countless patients suffering from neuropsychiatric diseases. This fear stems from the observation of the negative effects that recent Chilean legislations have produced, which share with the Neuro-Rights Law the attempt to protect vulnerable populations from potential abuse from certain medical interventions. In fact, Law 20,584 promulgated in 2012, instead of protecting the most vulnerable patients "incapacitated to consent", produced enormous, and even possibly irreversible, damage to research in Chile in pathologies that require urgent attention, such as many neuropsychiatric diseases. This article details the effects that Law 20.584 had on research in Chile, how it relates to the Neuro-Rights Law, and the potential negative effects that the latter could have on research and medical practice, if it is not formulated correcting its errors.

Implementation of microfluidic technology to study small animal models such as Caenorhabditis elegans worms (soil-dwelling nematodes), Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) and larvae of Danio rerio (zebrafish) provides great opportunities for in vivo quantification of neuronal activities and behavioral responses. By controlling the internal environment, microfluidic devices can manipulate animal models with precision and cause minimal damage to the specimen. Due to these advantages, microfluidic devices have been applied to high-throughput drug screening, high-throughput brain-wide activity mapping, analyzing animals’ neuronal and behavioral responses to different external stimuli, microinjection, and neuronal regeneration. In this paper, we review different microfluidic devices and techniques that allow the manipulation of small animal models to study brain functions and behavioral responses. Furthermore, biomedical applications of microfluidic systems, technical challenges, and future directions in the whole brain and animal research on a chip will be discussed.

Although targeted actuation of neurons via magnetic fields may benefit neuroscience research and medicine, some approaches have sparked controversy.

Insights and technologies from neuroscience research can help accounting scholars more deeply understand how decision-makers physically and cognitively process and react to accounting information a...

Using the techniques presented here, teachers can apply findings from neuroscience research to the classroom to support social–emotional learning.

Recent findings of neuroscientists offer educators insights into what kinds of instructional formats and strategies are likely to help students develop social, emotional, and cognitive competencies...

This paper considers the effects of marijuana on personality development during adolescence, integrating psychoanalytic views of development, information from neuroscience research, and recent soci...

Tree shrews (Tupaia spp.) have been used in neuroscience research since the 1960s due to their evolutionary proximity to primates. The use of and interest in this animal model have recently increased, in part due to the adaptation of modern neuroscience tools in this species. These tools include quantitative behavioral assays, calcium imaging, optogenetics and transgenics. To facilitate the exchange and development of these new technologies and associated research findings, we organized the inaugural “Tree Shrew Users Meeting” which was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we review this meeting and discuss the history of tree shrews as an animal model in neuroscience research and summarize the current themes being investigated using this animal, as well as future directions.