Using wearable EEG to quantify associations between sleep architecture, anxiety, and fear memory

Memories are shaped by our emotional state during learning and the integration of information during sleep. In this thesis I aim to clarify the contributions of rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep, as well as anxiety, towards emotional memory consolidation. In addition, emergent technologies support the progression of sleep research, but evidence is needed for their accuracy. I therefore also explore the utility of sleep wearables. I conducted a validation of the EEG-based Dreem Headband wearable against the gold standard of sleep measurement, polysomnography, finding Dreem suitable for the estimation of most overnight sleep when manually scored. I then developed and tested a novel, two-day discriminative fear conditioning experiment in 38 healthy people (28 female, aged 18–30 years), utilising Dreem to measure overnight sleep. I extended this investigation in a subset of participants to longer-term extinction learning and fear reinstatement after one week, with an additional exploration of bad dreams. In contrast to current evidence preferentially linking REM sleep and emotional memory consolidation, I found that slow-wave sleep (SWS) duration – as well as slow oscillation event count and density – was associated with greater fear discrimination maintenance across the post-conditioning night. In a dissociation between the stages, more REM sleep in the same night was associated with lower fear responses to safe stimuli the next day. Additionally, anxiety predicted maladaptive reinstatement of fear while bad dreams were associated with maladaptive responses the next day and after one week. My results suggest that SWS, particularly the coordinated network activity that generates slow oscillations, supports fear memory consolidation in young, healthy people. Meanwhile, anxiety and bad dreams may indicate interindividual tendencies towards maladaptive fear. Finally, sleep wearables appear to be a viable tool to support these investigations, moving towards a mechanistic understanding of sleep and fear learning

Animal sentience research: Synthesis and proposals

Most commentaries on our target article broadly support our approach to evaluating evidence of animal sentience. In this Response, we clarify the framework’s purpose and address criticisms of our criteria. A recurring theme is that a framework to synthesise current evidence of sentience is not the same as an agenda for future directions in animal sentience research. Although future directions are valuable, our framework aims to evaluate existing evidence and inform animal welfare legislation

Review of the evidence of sentience in cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans

Sentience is the capacity to have feelings, such as feelings of pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, warmth, joy, comfort and excitement. It is not simply the capacity to feel pain, but feelings of pain, distress or harm, broadly understood, have a special significance for animal welfare law. Drawing on over 300 scientific studies, we have evaluated the evidence of sentience in two groups of invertebrate animals: the cephalopod molluscs or, for short, cephalopods (including octopods, squid and cuttlefish) and the decapod crustaceans or, for short, decapods (including crabs, lobsters and crayfish). We have also evaluated the potential welfare implications of current commercial practices involving these animals

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Birch-Pfeiffer, Charlotte Karoline, 1800-1868, saksa näitlejanna ja näitekirjanikMaterjalide tellimine teatrikostüümide jaok

Evaluation of the impact of a regional educational advertising campaign on harm perceptions of e-cigarettes, prevalence of e-cigarette use, and quit attempts among smokers

INTRODUCTION: We evaluated how effective an advertising campaign that was piloted by Cancer Research UK in January/February 2018 was at promoting quit attempts by increasing awareness of the relative harms of e-cigarettes compared with smoking. METHODS: Adults (≥16 years, n = 2217) living in Greater Manchester (campaign region) and Yorkshire & Humber and the North East of England (control regions) completed cross-sectional surveys immediately before and after the campaign period. Surveys measured socio-demographics, perceptions and use of e-cigarettes, and motivation and attempts to quit smoking. We tested interactions between time (pre, post) and region (campaign, control). RESULTS: 36.7% (95% CI 33.0%-40.6%) of those in the intervention region recognised the campaign. In the general population, interactions were non-significant for all outcomes except for perception of e-cigarettes as effective cessation aids, with smaller increases from pre- to post-campaign in the campaign (49.9% to 54.0%) compared with the control region (40.5% to 55.0%; OR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.45-0.98). Among smokers, motivation to quit increased in the intervention region (44.0% to 48.0%) but decreased in the control region (40.5% to 21.5%; OR = 2.97, 95% CI 1.25-7.16), with no other significant differences between regions over time. A Bayesian analysis confirmed that non-significant results were inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the control region, the campaign was associated with an increase in smokers' motivation to quit but a smaller increase in adults' perception of e-cigarettes as an effective cessation aid. There was insufficient evidence to determine whether the campaign affected other outcomes

Acid Hydrolysis of Wheat Gluten Induces Formation of New Epitopes but Does Not Enhance Sensitizing Capacity by the Oral Route: A Study in “Gluten Free” Brown Norway Rats

Acid hydrolyzed wheat proteins (HWPs) are used in the food and cosmetic industry as emulsifiers. Cases of severe food allergic reactions caused by HWPs have been reported. Recent data suggest that these reactions are caused by HWPs produced by acid hydrolysis.To examine the sensitizing capacity of gluten proteins per se when altered by acid or enzymatic hydrolysis relative to unmodified gluten in rats naïve to gluten.High IgE-responder Brown Norway (BN) rats bred on a gluten-free diet were sensitized without the use of adjuvant to three different gluten products (unmodified, acid hydrolyzed and enzymatic hydrolyzed). Rats were sensitized by intraperitoneal (i.p.) immunization three times with 200 µg gluten protein/rat or by oral dosing for 35 days with 0.2, 2 or 20 mg gluten protein/rat/day. Sera were analyzed for specific IgG and IgE and IgG-binding capacity by ELISA. IgE functionality was measured by rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) assay.Regardless of the route of dosing, all products had sensitizing capacity. When sensitized i.p., all three gluten products induced a strong IgG1 response in all animals. Acid hydrolyzed gluten induced the highest level of specific IgE but with a low functionality. Orally all three gluten products induced specific IgG1 and IgE but with different dose-response relations. Sensitizing rats i.p. or orally with unmodified or enzymatic hydrolyzed gluten induced specific IgG1 responses with similar binding capacity which was different from that of acid hydrolyzed gluten indicating that acid hydrolysis of gluten proteins induces formation of 'new' epitopes.In rats not tolerant to gluten acid hydrolysis of gluten enhances the sensitizing capacity by the i.p. but not by the oral route. In addition, acid hydrolysis induces formation of new epitopes. This is in contrast to the enzymatic hydrolyzed gluten having an epitope pattern similar to unmodified gluten