Motivation and Affective Judgments Differentially Recruit Neurons in the Primate Dorsolateral Prefrontal and Anterior Cingulate Cortex

The judgment of whether to accept or to reject an offer is determined by positive and negative affect related to the offer, but affect also induces motivational responses. Rewarding and aversive cues influence the firing rates of many neurons in primate prefrontal and cingulate neocortical regions, but it still is unclear whether neurons in these regions are related to affective judgment or to motivation. To address this issue, we recorded simultaneously the neuronal spike activities of single units in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of macaque monkeys as they performed approach–avoidance (Ap–Av) and approach–approach (Ap–Ap) decision-making tasks that can behaviorally dissociate affective judgment and motivation. Notably, neurons having activity correlated with motivational condition could be distinguished from neurons having activity related to affective judgment, especially in the Ap–Av task. Although many neurons in both regions exhibited similar, selective patterns of task-related activity, we found a larger proportion of neurons activated in low motivational conditions in the dlPFC than in the ACC, and the onset of this activity was significantly earlier in the dlPFC than in the ACC. Furthermore, the temporal onsets of affective judgment represented by neuronal activities were significantly slower in the low motivational conditions than in the other conditions. These findings suggest that motivation and affective judgment both recruit dlPFC and ACC neurons but with differential degrees of involvement and timing.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01 NS025529)United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-07-1-0903)Cure Huntington’s Disease Initiative, Inc. (Grant A-5552)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Simons Center for the Social BrainNational Parkinson Foundation (U.S.) (Lynn Diamond Fellowship

Striatal Beta Oscillation and Neuronal Activity in the Primate Caudate Nucleus Differentially Represent Valence and Arousal Under Approach-Avoidance Conflict

An approach-avoidance (Ap–Av) conflict arises when an individual has to decide whether to accept or reject a compound offer that has features indicating both reward and punishment. During value judgments of likes and dislikes, arousal responses simultaneously emerge and influence reaction times and the frequency of behavioral errors. In Ap–Av decision-making, reward and punishment differentially influence valence and arousal, allowing us to dissociate their neural processing. The primate caudate nucleus (CN) has been implicated in affective judgment, but it is still unclear how neural responses in the CN represent decision-related variables underlying choice. To address this issue, we recorded spikes and local field potentials (LFPs) from the CN while macaque monkeys performed an Ap–Av decision-making task. We analyzed 450 neuronal units and 667 beta oscillatory activities recorded during the performance of the task. To examine how these activities represented valence, we focused on beta-band responses and unit activities that encoded the chosen value (ChV) of the compound offer as derived from an econometric model. Unit activities exhibited either positive (65.0% = 26/40) or negative (35.0% = 14/40) correlations with the ChV, whereas beta responses exhibited almost exclusively positive correlations with the ChV (98.4% = 62/63). We examined arousal representation by focusing on beta responses and unit activities that encoded the frequency of omission errors (FOE), which were negatively correlated with arousal. The unit activities were either positively (65.3% = 17/26) or negatively (34.6% = 9/26) correlated with the FOE, whereas the beta responses were almost entirely positively correlated with the FOE (95.8% = 23/24). We found that the temporal onset of the beta-band responses occurred sequentially across conditions: first, the negative-value, then low-arousal, and finally, high-value conditions. These findings suggest the distinctive roles of CN beta oscillations that were sequentially activated for the valence and arousal conditions. By identifying dissociable groups of CN beta-band activity responding in relation to valence and arousal, we demonstrate that the beta responses mainly exhibited selective activation for the high-valence and low-arousal conditions, whereas the unit activities simultaneously recorded in the same experiments responded to chosen value and other features of decision-making under approach-avoidance conflict

Cellular Automata

Celulární automat je jednoduchý matematický model, který je schopen vykazovat komplexní chování. Poprvé byl představen Von Neumannem, který se snažil s jeho pomocí zformalizovat sebe-reprodukci automatů. Mezi známé práce, které navázaly na Von Neumanna, patří práce od Hiroky Sayamy, který představil model schopný jednoduché evoluce. Tato bakalářská práce rozšiřuje schopnosti sebe-reprodukujících se automatů ze Sayamova modelu o interakce, které jsou inspirované interakcemi pozorovatelnými v přírodě. Konkrétně se práce zaměřuje na rozšíření kompetitivních možností jedinců. Snahou je obohatit Sayamův model za účelem pozorovat dynamičtější běh.A Cellular automaton is a simple mathematical model that can exhibit a complex behavior. It was introduced by Von Neumann who was trying to find a mathematical description for a self-reproduction. Among well known works about self-reproduction belongs works from Hiroky Sayama. He introduced a model, that was capable of a simple evolution. This work expands Sayama`s evolving model by simple interactions inspired by competitions of specieces. The aim of the work is observe better dynamics than in Sayama`s model.Department of Theoretical Computer Science and Mathematical LogicKatedra teoretické informatiky a matematické logikyMatematicko-fyzikální fakultaFaculty of Mathematics and Physic

Developing assessment and promotion of tobacco counselling : a cluster-randomised community trial among oral health professionals

Tobacco use adversely affects oral health. Tobacco use cessation (TUC) counselling guidelines recommend that brief TUC counselling should be provided to all tobacco users. In addition to TUC counselling, providing positive support to remain tobacco abstinent is particularly important among adolescents who are about to experiment with tobacco use. Despite excellent opportunities, implementation of tobacco use prevention and cessation (TUPAC) counselling among oral health professionals has proved challenging. Thus, the present study aimed to develop the assessment and promotion of TUPAC counselling among oral health professionals. A sample of Finnish dentists (n = 73) and dental hygienists (n = 22) employed by community dental clinics of the municipal health care regions of Tampere (28 clinics) and Vaasa (9 clinics) were invited to participate. Of those invited, 73 (76.8%) oral health professionals from 34 (91.9%) dental clinics participated. Applying a Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), a 35-item Theoretical Domains Questionnaire (TDQ) was developed to assess factors influencing TUPAC counselling. The provision of TUC counselling at baseline was measured using a questionnaire and an electronic dental record audit to measure the effects of (1) educational and (2) educational + fee-for-service interventions. The estimates of internal consistency and factor analysis supported the reliability and validity of the TDQ developed. The present study showed that the provision of TUC counselling among a sample of oral health professionals was low. Identified implementation barriers suggest that the low adherence to TUPAC counselling could be due to reported environmental constraints (e.g. lack of support and resources), lack of skills, and low self-efficacy. Professional role and identity as well as memory, attention and decision processes were identified as potential determinants for TUPAC counselling. In assessing the effects of educational and education + fee-for-service interventions on preventive counselling, no statistically significant intervention effects were found. Regarding the provision of TUC counselling, signficiant group-by-time interaction showed that education alone and education with fee increased the implementation. . However, there was no statistically significant additional effect was received by adding fee-for-service to the education. In all groups, dental hygienists improved their preventive and cessation counselling more than dentists did. In conclusion, the data indicated a lack of competencies, environmental support and resources regarding TUPAC counselling. Educational intervention showed a favourable impact on the implementation of TUC counselling. In addition to education, interventions that promote professional role and identity in TUPAC counselling as well as interventions offering tools to support decision making (e.g. reminders, feedback) could prove effective.Yleisten terveyttä tuhoavien vaikutusten lisäksi tupakoinnilla on haitallisia vaikutuksia myös suun terveyteen aiheuttaen muun muassa suusyöpää, hampaiden kiinnityskudossairauksia sekä komplikaatioita hammasimplanttien ja muiden suukirurgisten toimenpiteiden yhteydessä. Päivittäin tupakoivista noin 80% on huolissaan tupakan terveysvaikutuksista, ja noin 60% haluaisi lopettaa tupakoinnin. Terveydenhuollon ammattilaisten toteuttama tupakasta vieroitus on tehokasta ja kustannus-vaikuttavaa. Suomalaisen Lääkäriseura Duodecimin julkaiseman Käypä Hoito suosituksen tavoitteena on ohjata ja edistää vieroituksen toteuttamista terveydenhuollossa. Hoitosuosituksen toimeenpano on ollut riittämätöntä etenkin suun terveydenhuollon ammattilaisten osalta. Vuonna 2011 alle 10% suun terveydenhuollossa käyneistä tupakoitsijoista oli saanut kehotuksen lopettaa tupakointi. Koska suun terveydenhuolto palvelee huomattavaa osaa väestöstä vuosittain, kansanterveydelliset vaikutukset olisivat merkittävät, mikäli suun terveydenhuollon ammattilaiset tukisivat potilaidensa tupakoimattomuutta ja auttaisivat tupakasta vieroituksessa nykyistä aktiivisemmin. Väitöskirjassa tutkittiin Vaasan ja Tampereen terveyskeskusten hammaslääkäreiden ja suuhygienistien toteuttamaa tupakoinnin ennaltaehkäisy- ja tupakasta vieroituskokeilua. Tulosten perusteella suun terveydenhuollon ammattilaisten toteuttama tupakoinnin vastustamistyö oli vähäistä. Väitöskirja toi uutta tietoa suun terveydenhuollon ammattilaisten tupakoinnin vastustamistyöhön tarvittavista valmiuksista, jossa suurimmat ongelmat liittyivät puutteelliseksi koettuun kompetenssiin (mm. tiedot ja taidot) sekä työympäristön rajoitteisiin (mm. kiire, kannusteiden ja tuen puute). Koettu ammatillinen rooli sekä päätöksentekokyky ennustivat parhaiten tupakoinnin vastustamistyön toteutumista. Kuuden kuukauden seurantatutkimuksessa koulutuksen todettiin olevan tehokas tapa lisätä tupakkavieroitusta. Sen sijaan rahallisella palkkiolla ei ollut lisävaikutusta tupakkaintervention toteuttamiseen. Kaikkiaan suuhygienistit toteuttivat tupakoinnin vastustamistyötä enemmän kuin hammaslääkärit. Lisäksi koulutus ja rahallinen palkkio toimivat paremmin suuhygienistien ryhmässä verrattuna hammaslääkäreihin. Väitöskirjan tulosten perusteella hammaslääkäreiden ja suuhygienistien huomattava potentiaali tupakoinnin vähentämiseksi saataisiin paremmin käyttöön lisäämällä siihen liittyvää perus- ja täydennyskoulutusta. Lisäksi työssä oppimiseen ja työolojen mukauttamiseen tupakoinnin vastustamistyötä aktivoivaksi tulisi kiinnittää entistä enemmän huomiota

Pula-ajan kalusteet

Toisen maailman sodan aikana ja sen jälkeen elettiin Suomessa pula-aikaa. Pulaa oli miltei kaikesta: ruuasta, rakennusmateriaaleista, tekstiileistä, työvoimasta ja energiasta. Kandidaatin työssä selvitetään, kuinka pula-aika vaikutti kalusteteollisuuteen, kalustekauppaan ja kalustesuunnittelijoiden työhön. Teollisuuden käyttöön meneviä raaka-aineita säännösteltiin tiukasti. Niukkuus asetti haasteita, niin suunnittelijoille kuin tuotannosta vastaaville. Kalusteiden valmistamiseen pyrittiin käyttämään vain välttämätön määrä materiaalia ja monet tutut materiaalit vaihdettiin korvikemateriaaleihin. Korvikemateriaaleina käytettiin muun muassa paperikankaita, puuta, paperia, pahvia, sellofaania ja bakeliittia. Materiaalien säännöstelystä vastasi kansanhuoltoministeriö. Kansanhuoltoministeriö määritteli kalusteille hinnat ja puuttui myös moniin muotoon liittyviin seikkoihin. Toisaalta tiukentunut valvonta kavensi tarjontaa, toisaalta se pakotti tehtaita tehostamaan tuotantoaan ja tarjoamaan asiakkailleen uudenlaisia mallistoja. Tiukka valvonta synnytti myös uusia ideoita ja ratkaisuja. Pula-aikana Suomessa yleistyi funktionaalinen tyylisuuntaus, jonka yhtenä tavoitteena oli tarjota kaikille, varallisuusluokkaan katsomatta, mahdollisuus hyvään elämään. Yksi funktionalismin tavoitteista oli kehittää teollisia tuotantotapoja, joilla saatiin alas korkeita valmistuskustannuksia alas. Sotien jälkeen rintamalta palaaville sotilaille haluttiin varmistaa koti, perheitä perustettiin ennätysvauhtia. Karjalasta muutti siirtolaisia ja koulunkäynti laajeni, eli kalusteille oli kova kysyntä. Kandidaatin työssä pohditaan, voisiko pula-ajan asenteesta ja toimista ottaa oppia nykypäivän tilanteeseen, jossa ilmastonmuutos pakottaa myös kalusteteollisuuden muutokseen. Suunnittelijoiden on ryhdyttävä käyttämään materiaaleja säästeliäästi, keksimään, tutkimaan ja kokeilemaan uusia ekologisia materiaaleja. Kuluttajien on opeteltava tekemään harkitumpia hankintoja, sietämään epätäydellisyyttä ja kulumista, korjaamaan ja kunnostamaan ja pärjäämään vähemmällä

Habit Learning by Naive Macaques Is Marked by Response Sharpening of Striatal Neurons Representing the Cost and Outcome of Acquired Action Sequences

Over a century of scientific work has focused on defining the factors motivating behavioral learning. Observations in animals and humans trained on a wide range of tasks support reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms as accounting for the learning. Still unknown, however, are the signals that drive learning in naive, untrained subjects. Here, we capitalized on a sequential saccade task in which macaque monkeys acquired repetitive scanning sequences without instruction. We found that spike activity in the caudate nucleus after each trial corresponded to an integrated cost-benefit signal that was highly correlated with the degree of naturalistic untutored learning by the monkeys. Across learning, neurons encoding both cost and outcome gradually acquired increasingly sharp phasic trial-end responses that paralleled the development of the habit-like, repetitive saccade sequences. Our findings demonstrate an integrated cost-benefit signal by which RL and its neural correlates could drive naturalistic behaviors in freely behaving primates. Video Abstract: Feedback about the costs and benefits of our actions is an essential part of how we learn. Desrochers et al. show that neurons in the striatum of monkeys develop combined cost-benefit signals marking movement sequences that they acquire without explicit training.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01 EY012848)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01 NS025529)United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Grant NBCHC070105)United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-07-1-0903

Habit Learning by Naive Macaques Is Marked by Response Sharpening of Striatal Neurons Representing the Cost and Outcome of Acquired Action Sequences

SummaryOver a century of scientific work has focused on defining the factors motivating behavioral learning. Observations in animals and humans trained on a wide range of tasks support reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms as accounting for the learning. Still unknown, however, are the signals that drive learning in naive, untrained subjects. Here, we capitalized on a sequential saccade task in which macaque monkeys acquired repetitive scanning sequences without instruction. We found that spike activity in the caudate nucleus after each trial corresponded to an integrated cost-benefit signal that was highly correlated with the degree of naturalistic untutored learning by the monkeys. Across learning, neurons encoding both cost and outcome gradually acquired increasingly sharp phasic trial-end responses that paralleled the development of the habit-like, repetitive saccade sequences. Our findings demonstrate an integrated cost-benefit signal by which RL and its neural correlates could drive naturalistic behaviors in freely behaving primates.Video Abstrac

Long-term dopamine neurochemical monitoring in primates

Many debilitating neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders are characterized by dopamine neurotransmitter dysregulation. Monitoring subsecond dopamine release accurately and for extended, clinically relevant timescales is a critical unmet need. Especially valuable has been the development of electrochemical fast-scan cyclic voltammetry implementing microsized carbon fiber probe implants to record fast millisecond changes in dopamine concentrations. Nevertheless, these well-established methods have only been applied in primates with acutely (few hours) implanted sensors. Neurochemical monitoring for long timescales is necessary to improve diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for a wide range of neurological disorders. Strategies for the chronic use of such sensors have recently been established successfully in rodents, but new infrastructures are needed to enable these strategies in primates. Here we report an integrated neurochemical recording platform for monitoring dopamine release from sensors chronically implanted in deep brain structures of nonhuman primates for over 100 days, together with results for behavior-related and stimulation-induced dopamine release. From these chronically implanted probes, we measured dopamine release from multiple sites in the striatum as induced by behavioral performance and reward-related stimuli, by direct stimulation, and by drug administration. We further developed algorithms to automate detection of dopamine. These algorithms could be used to track the effects of drugs on endogenous dopamine neurotransmission, as well as to evaluate the long-term performance of the chronically implanted sensors. Our chronic measurements demonstrate the feasibility of measuring subsecond dopamine release from deep brain circuits of awake, behaving primates in a longitudinally reproducible manner. Keywords: striatum; voltammetry; neurotransmitters; chronic implantsNational Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (U.S.) (Grant R01 NS025529)National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (U.S.) (Grant F32 NS093897)United States. Army Research Office (Contract W911NF-16-1-0474)National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U.S.) (Grant R01 EB016101

子育て支援活動『ぶんぶんひろば』の意義 －学生・参加保護者アンケートの分析－

　本学が2013年度より継続的に実施している子育て支援活動である『ぶんぶんひろば』は、新型コロナウィルス感染症の影響で2020年度および2021年度における実施が従来通りには行えなかった。それを受けて2022年度は２年間空けての対面実施であった。従来通り計画した全６回を実施できた結果から、２年間実施できていなかったことで保護者の方からの反応や、子育て支援としてのニーズがコロナ禍において新しい生活様式の影響を受けて変化しているかを検討した。参加親子の様子やアンケートから、子育て支援活動として本学の『ぶんぶんひろば』の開催は一定の意義があることが確認された。また、今後の子育て支援活動への可能性の示唆も見出された

Systematic review and meta-analysis: prevalence of alcohol use among young people in eastern Africa.

OBJECTIVE: Systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies of alcohol use among young people (age 15-24 years) in eastern Africa to estimate prevalence of alcohol use and determine the extent of use of standardised screening questionnaires in alcohol studies. METHODS: Five databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health, Africa-wide, and PsycINFO) were searched for publications until 30th June 2013. Results were summarised using the guidelines on preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) and on quality assessment using the modified quality assessment tool for systematic reviews of observational studies (QATSO). Heterogeneity was assessed using the I(2) statistic (DerSimonian-Laird). RESULTS: We identified 2785 potentially relevant studies, of which 56 were eligible for inclusion. Only two studies (4%) used the standardised Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire, and six studies (13%) used the Cut down, Annoyed, Guilt, Eye opener (CAGE) questionnaire. The reported median prevalence of alcohol use was ever-use 52% [interquartile range (IQR): 20-58%], use in the last month 28% (IQR: 17-37%), use in the last year 26% (IQR: 22-32%), and problem drinking as defined by CAGE or AUDIT 15% (IQR: 3-36%). We observed high heterogeneity between studies, with the highest prevalence of ever use of alcohol among university students (82%; 95%CI: 79-85%) and female sex workers (66%; 95%CI: 58-74%). Current use was most prevalent among male sex workers (69%; 95%CI: 63-75%). CONCLUSIONS: Reported alcohol use and problem drinking were common among diverse groups of young people in eastern Africa, indicating the urgent need for alcohol-focused interventions in this population. Few studies have used standardised alcohol screening questionnaires. Epidemiological research to investigate alcohol-focused interventions in young people should aim to apply such questionnaires that should be validated for use in this population