Towards a view from within: The contribution of Francisco Varela to the study of consciousness

The contents of consciousness are complex and dynamic and are embedded in perception and cognition. The study of consciousness and subjective experience has been central to philosophy for centuries. However, despite its relevance for understanding cognition and behaviour, the empirical study of consciousness is relatively new, embroiled by the seemingly opposing subjective and objective sources of data. Francisco Varela (1946-2001) pioneered the empirical study of consciousness by developing novel, naturalised and rich approaches in a non-reductive and comprehensive manner. In this article, we review the main conceptual distinctions and philosophical challenges of consciousness research and highlight the main contributions of Varela and his associates: the development of neurophenomenology as a methodological framework that builds a bridge between subjective and objective sources of data and the discovery of gamma-band phase synchronisation as a neural marker of perceptual awareness. Finally, we describe the work of Varela on time consciousness, his philosophical approach and the implementation of his neurophenomenological framework for its study by integrating subjective reports with neural measures

Polymer Fiber Probes Enable Optical Control of Spinal Cord and Muscle Function In Vivo

Restoration of motor and sensory functions in paralyzed patients requires the development of tools for simultaneous recording and stimulation of neural activity in the spinal cord. In addition to its complex neurophysiology, the spinal cord presents technical challenges stemming from its flexible fibrous structure and repeated elastic deformation during normal motion. To address these engineering constraints, we developed highly flexible fiber probes, consisting entirely of polymers, for combined optical stimulation and recording of neural activity. The fabricated fiber probes exhibit low-loss light transmission even under repeated extreme bending deformations. Using our fiber probes, we demonstrate simultaneous recording and optogenetic stimulation of neural activity in the spinal cord of transgenic mice expressing the light sensitive protein channelrhodopsin 2 (ChR2). Furthermore, optical stimulation of the spinal cord with the polymer fiber probes induces on-demand limb movements that correlate with electromyographical (EMG) activity.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (EEC-1028725)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Career Award)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (DMR-0819762)McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT (Neurotechnology Grant)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Simons Center for the Social Brai

Preliminary evidence about the effects of meditation on interoceptive sensitivity and social cognition

Background: Interoception refers to the conscious perception of body signals. Mindfulness is a meditation practice that encourages individuals to focus on their internal experiences such as bodily sensations, thoughts, and emotions. In this study, we selected a behavioral measure of interoceptive sensitivity (heartbeat detection task, HBD) to compare the effect of meditation practice on interoceptive sensitivity among long term practitioners (LTP), short term meditators (STM, subjects that completed a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program) and controls (non-meditators). All participants were examined with a battery of different tasks including mood state, executive function and social cognition tests (emotion recognition, empathy and theory of mind). Findings: Compared to controls, both meditators’ groups showed lower levels of anxiety and depression, but no improvement in executive function or social cognition performance was observed (except for lower scores compared to controls only in the personal distress dimension of empathy). More importantly, meditators’ performance did not differ from that of nonmeditators regarding cardiac interoceptive sensitivity. Conclusion: Results suggest no influence of meditation practice in cardiac interoception and in most related social cognition measures. These negative results could be partially due to the fact that awareness of heartbeat sensations is not emphasized during mindfulness/vipassana meditation and may not be the best index of the awareness supported by the practice of meditation.Fil: Melloni, Margherita. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Couto, Juan Blas Marcos. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Reynoso, Martín. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: Gelormini Lezama, Carlos. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Favaloro, Roberto. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: Canales Johnson, Andres. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Sigman, Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Neurociencia Integrativa; Argentina. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella; ArgentinaFil: Manes, Facundo Francisco. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ibanez Barassi, Agustin Mariano. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

New insights into the analysis of red blood cells from leukemia and anemia patients: Nonlinear quantifiers, fractal mathematics, and Wavelet Transform

The alterations of red blood cells (RBCs) membrane in many hematological diseases prevent blood to accomplish its functions, but how these alterations occur is not completely understood. Hence, the development of a simple and accurate methodology for the characterization of different populations of RBCs is necessary for hematology and clinical diagnosis. In this work, we focus on different pathologies that affect the hemorheological properties of human beings blood. The results were obtained by studying healthy individuals, anemia and leukemia patient samples. Data analysis involved the use of non-linear methods, based on two different analytical strategies. On one hand, we used nonlinear mathematical quantifiers (False Nearest Neighbors, Embedding Dimension, May–Sugihara Correlation, and Hurst Exponent) on ektacytometrically recorded time series measuring the elongation of re-suspended RBCs subjected to well-defined shear stress. On the other hand, we developed an analytical methodology to aid in the diagnosis of those pathologies, based on the box-counting dimension from digital images of cells suspensions that were denoised standardly by application of Wavelet Transform. The results allowed preliminary discrimination of different populations studied and a correlation with its membrane damage.Fil: Bortolato, Santiago Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Química Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Química Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Mancilla Canales, Manuel Arturo. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Riquelme, Bibiana Doris. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Raviola, Mariana Paula. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Leguto, Alcides José. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Rebechi, Juan Pablo. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Ponce de León, Patricia Carolina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Korol, Ana María. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Attachment Patterns Trigger Differential Neural Signature of Emotional Processing in Adolescents

Background: Research suggests that individuals with different attachment patterns process social information differently, especially in terms of facial emotion recognition. However, few studies have explored social information processes in adolescents. This study examined the behavioral and ERP correlates of emotional processing in adolescents with different attachment orientations (insecure attachment group and secure attachment group; IAG and SAG, respectively). This study also explored the association of these correlates to individual neuropsychological profiles. Methodology/Principal Findings We used a modified version of the dual valence task (DVT), in which participants classify stimuli (faces and words) according to emotional valence (positive or negative). Results showed that the IAG performed significantly worse than SAG on tests of executive function (EF attention, processing speed, visuospatial abilities and cognitive flexibility). In the behavioral DVT, the IAG presented lower performance and accuracy. The IAG also exhibited slower RTs for stimuli with negative valence. Compared to the SAG, the IAG showed a negative bias for faces; a larger P1 and attenuated N170 component over the right hemisphere was observed. A negative bias was also observed in the IAG for word stimuli, which was demonstrated by comparing the N170 amplitude of the IAG with the valence of the SAG. Finally, the amplitude of the N170 elicited by the facial stimuli correlated with EF in both groups (and negative valence with EF in the IAG). Conclusions/Significance: Our results suggest that individuals with different attachment patterns process key emotional information and corresponding EF differently. This is evidenced by an early modulation of ERP components’ amplitudes, which are correlated with behavioral and neuropsychological effects. In brief, attachments patterns appear to impact multiple domains, such as emotional processing and EFs

Feedback information transfer in the human brain reflects bistable perception in the absence of report

In the search for the neural basis of conscious experience, perception and the cognitive processes associated with reporting perception are typically confounded as neural activity is recorded while participants explicitly report what they experience. Here, we present a novel way to disentangle perception from report using eye movement analysis techniques based on convolutional neural networks and neurodynamical analyses based on information theory. We use a bistable visual stimulus that instantiates two well-known properties of conscious perception: integration and differentiation. At any given moment, observers either perceive the stimulus as one integrated unitary object or as two differentiated objects that are clearly distinct from each other. Using electroencephalography, we show that measures of integration and differentiation based on information theory closely follow participants’ perceptual experience of those contents when switches were reported. We observed increased information integration between anterior to posterior electrodes (front to back) prior to a switch to the integrated percept, and higher information differentiation of anterior signals leading up to reporting the differentiated percept. Crucially, information integration was closely linked to perception and even observed in a no-report condition when perceptual transitions were inferred from eye movements alone. In contrast, the link between neural differentiation and perception was observed solely in the active report condition. Our results, therefore, suggest that perception and the processes associated with report require distinct amounts of anterior–posterior network communication and anterior information differentiation. While front-to-back directed information is associated with changes in the content of perception when viewing bistable visual stimuli, regardless of report, frontal information differentiation was absent in the no-report condition and therefore is not directly linked to perception per se

The man who feels two hearts: the different pathways of interoception

Recent advances in neuroscience have provided new insights into the understanding of heart–brain interaction and communication. Cardiac information to the brain relies on two pathways, terminating in the insular cortex (IC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), along with the somatosensory cortex (S1-S2). Interoception relying on these neuroanatomical pathways has been shown to modulate social cognition. We report the case study of C.S., a patient with an external heart (an extracorporeal left-univentricular cardiac assist device, LVAD). The patient was assessed with neural/behavioral measures of cardiac interoception complemented by neuropsychological and social cognition measures. The patients performance on the interoception task (heartbeat detection) seemed to be guided by signals from the artificial LVAD, which provides a somatosensory beat rather than by his endogenous heart. Cortical activity (HEP, heartbeat-evoked potential) was found decreased in comparison with normal volunteers, particularly during interoceptive states. The patient accurately performed several cognitive tasks, except for interoception-related social cognition domains (empathy, theory of mind and decision making). This evidence suggests an imbalance in the patients cardiac interoceptive pathways that enhances sensation driven by the artificial pump over that from the cardiac vagal-IC/ACC pathway. A patient with two hearts, one endogenous and one artificial, presents a unique opportunity to explore models of interoception and heart–brain interaction.Fil: Couto, Juan Blas Marcos. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Salles, Alejo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Neurociencia Integrativa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Peradejordi Lastras, Margarita Ana. Universidad Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Barttfeld, Pablo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Neurociencia Integrativa; ArgentinaFil: Canales Johnson, Andres. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Vidal Dos Santos, Hector Yamil. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Neurociencia Integrativa; ArgentinaFil: Huepe, David. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Bekinschtein, Tristán Andrés. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sigman, Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Neurociencia Integrativa; Argentina. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella; ArgentinaFil: Favaloro, Roberto. Universidad Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Manes, Facundo Francisco. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Brain signatures of moral sensitivity in adolescents with early social deprivation

The present study examined neural responses associated with moral sensitivity in adolescents with a background of early social deprivation. Using high-density electroencephalography (hdEEG), brain activity was measured during an intentional inference task, which assesses rapid moral decision-making regarding intentional or unintentional harm to people and objects.Wecompared the responses to this task in a socially deprived group (DG) with that of a control group (CG). The event-related potentials (ERPs) results showed atypical early and late frontal cortical markers associated with attribution of intentionality during moral decision-making in DG (especially regarding intentional harm to people). The source space of the hdEEG showed reduced activity for DG compared with CG in the right prefrontal cortex, bilaterally in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), and right insula. Moreover, the reduced response in vmPFC for DG was predicted by higher rates of externalizing problems. These findings demonstrate the importance of the social environment in early moral development, supporting a prefrontal maturation model of social deprivation.Fil: Escobar, Maria Josefina. Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Huepe, David. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Decety, Jean. University of Chicago; Estados UnidosFil: Sedeño, Lucas. Universidad Diego Portales; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Messow, Marie Kristin. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Báez Buitrago, Sandra Jimena. Universidad Diego Portales; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Rivera, Alvaro. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Canales, Andres. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Morales, Juan Pablo. Universidad Diego Portales; ChileFil: Gómez, David Maximiliano. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Schroeder, Johannes. Universitats Klinikum; AlemaniaFil: Manes, Facundo Francisco. Universidad Diego Portales; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, Vladimir. Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: Ibanez Barassi, Agustin Mariano. Universidad Diego Portales; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; Argentina. Universidad Autonoma del Caribe; Colombi

Incubación de empresas, actividad emprendedora y generación de conocimiento en el marco de la relación empresa-universidad-gobierno

En la actualidad, el conocimiento y la innovación son factores clave en los procesos de mejora económica y progresión social. Por tal motivo, las lógicas productivas y de articulación social requieren estar orientadas a generar y difundir información y conocimiento. Desde esta perspectiva, los aspectos intangibles de producción basados en el “saber hacer” son la piedra angular de la dinámica económica y social. Esta era, definida como la economía o la sociedad del conocimiento, se identifica como la estructura o sistema que orienta sus actividades productivas, organizacionales, sociales e institucionales para producir, acumular y transmitir conocimiento, basado en el impulso a la innovación, el espíritu emprendedor y el dinamismo económico. Uno de los ámbitos sustanciales al construir comunidades del aber se localiza en la configuración de vínculos entre universidades, industrias y gobiernos, acto trascendental para potenciar el emprendimiento y generar un ambiente innovador. Una manera de materializar este nuevo contexto productivo es mediante las incubadoras de empresas: estructuras capaces de fortalecer las habilidades del emprendedor, al tiempo que crean y transmiten conocimiento para generar nuevas tecnologías, la creación de empleos y el crecimiento económico, tanto en el ámbito local como nacional. La presente obra contiene diversos resultados de investigación que, desde distintos ángulos teóricos y empíricos, permiten analizar cómo emprender e incubar empresas, la gestión del conocimiento en organizaciones y las condiciones regionales de innovación, ofreciendo contribuciones interesantes en temas medulares que ayudan a entender mejor lo que se define como una economía o sociedad del conocimiento.Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Méxic

MYC dosage compensation is mediated by miRNA-transcription factor interactions in aneuploid cancer

We hypothesize that dosage compensation of critical genes arises from systems- level properties for cancer cells to withstand the negative effects of aneuploidy. We identified several candidate genes in cancer multiomics data and developed a biocomputational platform to construct a mathematical model of their interac- tion network with micro-RNAs and transcription factors, where the property of dosage compensation emerged for MYC and was dependent on the kinetic pa- rameters of its feedback interactions with three micro-RNAs. These circuits were experimentally validated using a genetic tug-of-war technique to overex- press an exogenous MYC, leading to overexpression of the three microRNAs involved and downregulation of endogenous MYC. In addition, MYC overexpres- sion or inhibition of its compensating miRNAs led to dosage-dependent cytotoxicity in MYC-amplified colon cancer cells. Finally, we identified negative correlation of MYC dosage compensation with patient survival in TCGA breast cancer patients, highlighting the potential of this mechanism to prevent aneu- ploid cancer progression.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales (CIET)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Sistema de Estudios de Posgrado::Salud::Maestría Académica en Bioinformática y Biología de SistemasUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ingeniería::Facultad de Ingeniería::Escuela de Ciencias de la Computación e InformáticaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ingeniería::Facultad de Ingeniería::Escuela de Ingeniería EléctricaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docenci