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Jonathan W Young1 ,* Nathan W Law2 ,* Daniel C Tu2,3 1Devers Eye Institute, Legacy Health, Portland, OR, USA; 2Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA; 3Operative Care Division, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Daniel C TuCasey Eye Institute, 515 SW Campus Dr, Portland, OR 97239, USATel +1 503-494-3000Fax +1 503-494-9259Email tu@ohsu.eduPurpose: Patients and physicians are often pleased when uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) on post-operative day 1 (POD1) after cataract surgery is 20/20. Unfortunately, this UCVA does not always last. This article aims to investigate the relationship between excellent uncorrected visual acuity on post-operative day 1 and final post-operative UCVA after uncomplicated cataract surgery.Patients and Methods: The medical records of patients who had undergone uncomplicated cataract surgery between 2012 and 2017 were assessed. UCVA on POD1 and final UCVA were obtained for patients who had a final best-corrected visual acuity of 20/20 or better.Results: Of 309 patients with UCVA of 20/20 on POD 1, 62.4% maintained 20/20 and 87.4% maintained 20/25 or better as their final uncorrected visual outcome. Of 204 patients with UCVA of 20/25 on POD 1, 44.1% achieved 20/20 and 69.6% maintained 20/25 or better as their final uncorrected visual outcome. Patients with 20/20 UCVA on POD1 were more likely to have a better final UCVA compared with those who were 20/25 on POD1. Of the 531 patients with UCVA of 20/25 or better on POD1, 20% had final UCVA worse than 20/25 with 4% losing more than 2 lines for their final UCVA.Conclusion: The majority of patients with 20/20 UCVA on POD1 after cataract surgery maintained excellent UCVA as their final visual outcome. However, a significant percentage of these patients experienced a decrease in UCVA over the course of the postoperative period.Keywords: phacoemulsification, cataract, pseudophakia, visual acuity, treatment outcome

RationaleSmoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the USA, but quit attempts result in withdrawal-induced cognitive dysfunction and predicts relapse. Greater understanding of the neural mechanism(s) underlying these cognitive deficits is required to develop targeted treatments to aid quit attempts.ObjectivesWe examined nicotine withdrawal-induced inattention in mice lacking the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) using the five-choice continuous performance test (5C-CPT).MethodsMice were trained in the 5C-CPT prior to osmotic minipump implantation containing saline or nicotine. Experiment 1 used 40 mg kg-1 day-1 nicotine treatment and tested C57BL/6 mice 4, 28, and 52 h after pump removal. Experiment 2 used 14 and 40 mg kg-1 day-1 nicotine treatment in α7 nAChR knockout (KO) and wildtype (WT) littermates tested 4 h after pump removal. Subsets of WT mice were killed before and after pump removal to assess changes in receptor expression associated with nicotine administration and withdrawal.ResultsNicotine withdrawal impaired attention in the 5C-CPT, driven by response inhibition and target detection deficits. The overall attentional deficit was absent in α7 nAChR KO mice despite response disinhibition in these mice. Synaptosomal glutamate mGluR5 and dopamine D4 receptor expression were reduced during chronic nicotine but increased during withdrawal, potentially contributing to cognitive deficits.ConclusionsThe α7 nAChR may underlie nicotine withdrawal-induced deficits in target detection but is not required for response disinhibition deficits. Alterations to the glutamatergic and dopaminergic pathways may also contribute to withdrawal-induced attentional deficits, providing novel targets to alleviate the cognitive symptoms of withdrawal during quit attempts.

Serious mental illness occurs in 25% of the general population, with many disorders being neurodevelopmental, lifelong, and debilitating. The wide variation and overlap in symptoms across disorders increases the difficulty of research and treatment development. The NIMH Research Domain of Criteria initiative aims to improve our understanding of the molecular and behavioral consequences of specific neurodevelopmental mechanisms across disorders, enabling targeted treatment development. The transcription factor Specificity Protein 4 (SP4) is important for neurodevelopment and is genetically associated with both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Reduced Sp4 expression in mice (hypomorphic) reproduces several characteristics of psychiatric disorders. We further tested the utility of Sp4 hypomorphic mice as a model organism relevant to psychiatric disorders by assessing cognitive control plus effort and decision-making aspects of approach motivation using cross-species-relevant tests. Sp4 hypomorphic mice exhibited impaired attention as measured by the 5-Choice Continuous Performance Test, an effect that was attenuated by glycine type-1 transporter (GlyT-1) inhibition. Hypomorphic mice also exhibited reduced motivation to work for a reward and impaired probabilistic learning. These deficits may stem from affected anticipatory reward, analogous to anhedonia in patients with schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. Neither positive valence deficit was attenuated by GlyT-1 treatment, suggesting that these and the attentional deficits stem from different underlying mechanisms. Given the association of SP4 gene with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the present studies provide support that personalized GlyT-1 inhibition may treat attentional deficits in neuropsychiatric patients with low SP4 levels.

Attentional dysfunction in schizophrenia (SZ) is a core deficit that contributes to multiple cognitive deficits and the resulting functional disability. However, developing procognitive therapeutics for neuropsychiatric disorders have been limited by a 'translational gap'--a lack of cognitive paradigms having cross-species translational validity and relevance. The present study was designed to perform an initial validation of the cross-species homology of the 5-choice Continuous Performance Test (5C-CPT) in healthy nonpsychiatric comparison subjects (NCS), SZ patients and mice under pharmacologic challenge. The 5C-CPT performance in SZ patients (n=20) was compared with age-matched NCS (n=23). The effects of the general muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine on mice (n=21) performing the 5C-CPT were also assessed. SZ subjects exhibited significantly impaired attention in the 5C-CPT, driven by reduced target detection over time and nonsignificantly increased impulsive responding. Similarly, scopolamine significantly impaired attention in mice, driven by reduced target detection and nonsignificantly increased impulsive responding. Scopolamine also negatively affected accuracy and speed of responding in mice, although these measures failed to differentiate SZ vs. NCS. Thus, mice treated with scopolamine exhibited similar impairments in vigilance as seen in SZ, although the differences between the behavioral profiles warrant further study. The availability of rodent and human versions of this paradigm provides an opportunity to: (1) investigate the neuroanatomic, neurochemical and genomic architecture of abnormalities in attention observed in clinical populations such as SZ; (2) develop and refine animal models of cognitive impairments; and (3) improve cross-species translational testing for the development of treatments for these impairments.

Schizophrenia is a life-long debilitating mental disorder affecting tens of millions of people worldwide. The serendipitous discovery of antipsychotics focused pharmaceutical research on developing a better antipsychotic. Our understanding of the disorder has advanced however, with the knowledge that cognitive enhancers are required for patients in order to improve their everyday lives. While antipsychotics treat psychosis, they do not enhance cognition and hence are not antischizophrenics. Developing pro-cognitive therapeutics has been extremely difficult, however, especially when no approved treatment exists. In lieu of stumbling on an efficacious treatment, developing targeted compounds can be facilitated by understanding the neural mechanisms underlying altered cognitive functioning in patients. Equally importantly, these cognitive domains will need to be measured similarly in animals and humans so that novel targets can be tested prior to conducting expensive clinical trials. To date, the limited similarity of testing across species has resulted in a translational bottleneck. In this review, we emphasize that schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by abnormal cognitive behavior. Quantifying these abnormalities using tasks having cross-species validity would enable the quantification of comparable processes in rodents. This approach would increase the likelihood that the neural substrates underlying relevant behaviors will be conserved across species. Hence, we detail cross-species tasks which can be used to test the effects of manipulations relevant to schizophrenia and putative therapeutics. Such tasks offer the hope of providing a bridge between non-clinical and clinical testing that will eventually lead to treatments developed specifically for patients with deficient cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: This study aimed to identify a correlation of diagnostic clinical significance between the vertical position of the hyoid bone in relation to structures within the dentofacial skeleton and: (1) The severity of obstructive sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome, (OSAHS), (2) Decisions relating to the management of the condition.Design and Setting: Randomised retrospective survey of cephalometric records of subjects having been diagnosed as suffering with OSAHS by in patient overnight polysomnographic testing at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary Sleep Centre, 2001-2002.Materials and Methods: Pre-polysomnograph orthoposition lateral cephalograms of 94 subjects tested, during the period from April 1996 to September 1997, were randomly selected and traced following strict adherence to standard protocol. Edentulous arches (one or both) formed the only exclusion criterion owing to obvious effects upon vertical dimensions of the cervico-pharyngeal region. Measurement of the vertical position of the hyoid bone was made relative to a number of planes validated by numerous previous cephalometric investigations, and these were recorded along with the apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI), and subsequent management (mandibular repositioning appliances (MRA) / continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)). Correlations between measurements and AHI were investigated using Spearman's Correlation Coefficients, and analysis of the relationship between hyoid bone position and management groups was undertaken using Wilcoxon Ranked Sum Testing.Discussion and Results: Statistically significant correlations were found between all linear measurements locating the hyoid bone in the vertical plane and subject AHI. The linear relationships were less reliable for subjects with AHI > 100, possibly due to a breakdown in the body's ability to respond posturally in order to maintain airway patency in more extreme cases. When the treatment groups (MRA/CPAP) were considered independently there was found to be a clear delineation between the two groups at a length of 120 mm between the sella (S- a point upon the anterior cranial base) and the hyoid (H). This, in turn, may suggest that cephalometric radiographs may be used as a reproduciable diagnostic tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies comparing primate locomotion under lab versus field conditions have shown the importance of implementing both types of studies, as each has their advantages and disadvantages. However, three-dimensional (3D) motion capture of primates has been challenging under natural conditions. In this study, we provide a detailed protocol on how to collect 3D biomechanical data on primate leaping in their natural habitat that can be widely implemented. To record primate locomotion in the dense forest we use modified GoPro Hero Black cameras with zoom lenses that can easily be carried around and set up on tripods. We outline details on how to obtain camera calibrations at greater heights and how to process the collected data using the MATLAB camera calibration app and the motion tracking software DLTdv8a. We further developed a new MATLAB application "WildLeap3D" to generate biomechanical performance metrics from the derived x, y, z coordinates of the leaps. We provide details on how to collect data on support diameter, compliance, and orientation, and combine these with the jumps to study locomotor performance in an ecological context. We successfully reconstructed leaps of wild primates in the 3D space under natural conditions and provided data on four representative leaps. We provide exemplar data on primate velocity and acceleration during a leap and show how our protocol can be used to analyze segmental kinematics. This study will help to make motion capture of freely moving animals more accessible and help further our knowledge about animal locomotion and movement., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Functions associated with processing reward-related information are fundamental drivers of motivation, learning, and goal-directed behavior. Such functions have been classified as the positive valence system under the Research Domain and Criteria (RDoC) criteria and are negatively impacted across a range of psychiatric disorders and mental illnesses. The positive valence system is composed of three comprehensive categories containing related but dissociable functions that are organized into either Reward Responsiveness, Reward Learning, or Reward Valuation. The presence of overlapping behavioral dysfunction across diagnostic mental disorders is in-part what motivated the RDoC initiative, which emphasized that the study of mental illness focus on investigating relevant behavior and cognitive functions and their underlying mechanisms, rather than separating efforts on diagnostic categories (i.e., transdiagnostic). Moreover, the RDoC approach is well-suited for preclinical neuroscience research, as the rise in genetic toolboxes and associated neurotechnologies enables researchers to probe specific cellular targets with high specificity. Thus, there is an opportunity to dissect whether behaviors and cognitive functions are supported by shared or distinct neural mechanisms. For preclinical research to effectively inform our understandings of human behavior however, the cognitive and behavioral paradigms should have predictive, neurobiological, and pharmacological predictive validity to the human test. Touchscreen-based testing systems provide a further advantage for this endeavor enabling tasks to be presented to animals using the same media and task design as in humans. Here, we outline the primary categories of the positive valence system and review the work that has been done cross-species to investigate the neurobiology and neurochemistry underlying reward-related functioning. Additionally, we provide clinical tasks outlined by RDoC, along with validity and/or need for further validation for analogous rodent paradigms with a focus on implementing the touchscreen-based cognitive testing systems., (© 2024 International Society for Neurochemistry.)

The NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative seeks to utilize multidimensional patterns of socio-cognitive behavior to improve understanding of mental illness. We aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a subset of RDoC tasks. Specifically, we investigated two positive valence tasks and five cognitive tasks. Participants ( N = 320) were recruited through an online research platform. We used generalizability theory to estimate reliability, and factor analysis to examine factor structure. Reliability was average to excellent with some notable exceptions. Factor analysis results raised concerns about whether the factor structure of task scores aligns with the proposed RDoC model. Effects of cognitive manipulations generally supported the construct representation of tasks. Results indicate that the majority of RDoC task scores examined have acceptable reliability or can be made reliable through modest increases in task length. Future research in diverse populations is needed to better understand the factor structure of RDoC cognitive and positive valence measures., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Jumping is a crucial behavior in fitness-critical activities including locomotion, resource acquisition, courtship displays and predator avoidance. In primates, paleontological evidence suggests selection for enhanced jumping ability during their early evolution. However, our interpretation of the fossil record remains limited, as no studies have explicitly linked levels of jumping performance with interspecific skeletal variation. We used force platform analyses to generate biomechanical data on maximal jumping performance in three genera of callitrichine monkeys falling along a continuum of jumping propensity: Callimico (relatively high propensity jumper), Saguinus (intermediate jumping propensity) and Callithrix (relatively low propensity jumper). Individuals performed vertical jumps to perches of increasing height within a custom-built tower. We coupled performance data with high-resolution micro-CT data quantifying bony features thought to reflect jumping ability. Levels of maximal performance between species - e.g. maximal take-off velocity of the center of mass (CoM) - parallel established gradients of jumping propensity. Both biomechanical analysis of jumping performance determinants (e.g. CoM displacement, maximal force production and peak mechanical power during push-off) and multivariate analyses of bony hindlimb morphology highlight different mechanical strategies among taxa. For instance, Callimico, which has relatively long hindlimbs, followed a strategy of fully extending of the limbs to maximize CoM displacement - rather than force production - during push-off. In contrast, relatively shorter-limbed Callithrix depended mostly on relatively high push-off forces. Overall, these results suggest that leaping performance is at least partially associated with correlated anatomical and behavioral adaptations, suggesting the possibility of improving inferences about performance in the fossil record., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2024. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Objectives: An accident during arboreal locomotion can lead to risky falls, but it remains unclear that the extent to which primates, as adept arborealists, change their locomotion in response to the perceived risk of moving on high supports in the tree canopy. By using more stable forms of locomotion on higher substrates, primates might avoid potentially fatal consequences., Materials and Methods: Using high-speed cameras, we recorded the quadrupedal locomotion of four wild lemur species-Eulemur rubriventer, Eulemur rufifrons, Hapalemur aureus, and Lemur catta (N = 113 total strides). We quantified the height, diameter, and angular orientation of locomotor supports using remote sensors and tested the influence of support parameters on gait kinematics, specifically predicting that in response to increasing substrate height, lemurs would decrease speed and stride frequency, but increase stride length and the mean number of supporting limbs., Results: Lemurs did not adjust stride frequency on substrates of varying height. Adjustments to speed, stride length, and the mean number of supporting limbs in response to varying height often ran counter to predictions. Only E. rubriventer decreased speed and increased the mean number of supporting limbs on higher substrates., Discussion: Results suggest that quadrupedal walking is a relatively safe form of locomotion for lemurs, requiring subtle changes in gait to increase stability on higher-that is, potentially riskier-substrates. Continued investigation of the impact of height on locomotion will be important to determine how animals assess risk in their environment and how they choose to use this information to move more safely., (© 2024 The Authors. American Journal of Biological Anthropology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Rationale: Despite improved life expectancy of people with HIV (PWH), HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment (NCI) persists, alongside deficits in sensorimotor gating and neuroinflammation. PWH exhibit high smoking rates, possibly due to neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and cognitive-enhancing effects of nicotine, suggesting potential self-medication., Objectives: Here, we tested the effects of acute nicotine vapor exposure on translatable measures of sensorimotor gating and exploratory behavior in the HIV-1 transgenic (HIV-1Tg) rat model of HIV., Methods: Male and female HIV-1Tg and F344 control rats (n=57) were exposed to acute nicotine or vehicle vapor. Sensorimotor gating was assessed using prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response, and exploratory behavior was evaluated using the behavioral pattern monitor (BPM)., Results: Vehicle-treated HIV-1Tg rats exhibited PPI deficits at low prepulse intensities compared to F344 controls, as seen previously. No PPI deficits were observed in nicotine-treated HIV1-Tg rats, however. HIV-1Tg rats were hypoactive in the BPM relative to controls, whilst nicotine vapor increased activity and exploratory behavior across genotypes. Cotinine analyses confirmed comparable levels of the primary metabolite of nicotine across genotypes., Conclusions: Previous findings of PPI deficits in HIV-1Tg rats were replicated and, importantly, attenuated by acute nicotine vapor. Evidence for similar cotinine levels suggest a nicotine-specific effect in HIV-1Tg rats. HIV-1Tg rats had reduced exploratory behavior compared to controls, attenuated by acute nicotine vapor. Therefore, acute nicotine may be beneficial for remediating sensorimotor and locomotor activity deficits in PWH. Future studies should determine the long-term effects of nicotine vapor on similar HIV/NCI-relevant behaviors., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Objectives: Despite qualitative observations of wild primates pumping branches before leaping across gaps in the canopy, most studies have suggested that support compliance increases the energetic cost of arboreal leaping, thus limiting leaping performance. In this study, we quantified branch pumping behavior and tree swaying in wild primates to test the hypothesis that these behaviors improve leaping performance., Materials and Methods: We recorded wild colobine monkeys crossing gaps in the canopy and quantitatively tracked the kinematics of both the monkey and the compliant support during behavioral sequences. We also empirically measured the compliance of a sample of locomotor supports in the monkeys' natural habitat, allowing us to quantify the resonant properties of substrates used during leaping., Results: Analyses of three recordings show that adult red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus tephrosceles) use branch compliance to their advantage by actively pumping branches before leaping, augmenting their vertical velocity at take-off. Quantitative modeling of branch resonance periods, based on empirical measurements of support compliance, suggests that monkeys specifically employed branch pumping on relatively thin branches with protracted periods of oscillation. Finally, an additional four recordings show that both red colobus and black and white colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza) utilize tree swaying to cross large gaps, augmenting horizontal velocity at take-off., Discussion: This deliberate branch manipulation to produce a mechanical effect for stronger propulsion is consistent with the framework of instrumental problem-solving. To our knowledge, this is the first study of wild primates which quantitatively shows how compliant branches can be used advantageously to augment locomotor performance., (© 2024 The Authors. American Journal of Biological Anthropology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)