Stem Gender Gap and Intra-Individual Strengths in Maths and Russian Language

The study investigates STEM gender gap by means of intra-individual strengths (IIS) analysis,defined as the difference between Maths and Russian exam grades. The sample of Russian students (n =788) was split into 3 groups, according to their degrees: Technical (n=282); Natural Sciences (n=128); and Humanities (n=378). Students completed an online battery of cognitive tests and a demographic questionnaire. Their grades for the Unified State Exam (USE) in Maths and Russian Language, taken at the end of compulsory school education, were also collected. IIS were negative for all degrees, indicating that individuals’ maths exam grades were on average lower than Russian exam grades. The size of IIS differed across the three groups (d=.42-.93). Absolute mean values of IIS were smallest for Technical degrees (-9.52±12.88); largest for Humanities (-25.09±21.6); with Natural sciences in between the two (-16.71±21.61). Technical and Natural Sciences groups showed on average significantly higher Maths USE grades than Humanities group (d=.78 and .52, respectively). Technical group showed lower Russian Language USE grade than Humanities group (d=.2); whereas, Natural Sciences and Humanities groups did not differ. Females on average outperformed males in the Russian language exam, with small effect sizes (η2=.01-.05, estimated for the three groups separately). No sex differences were observed for maths exam performance. For intra-individual strengths, negligible sex differences were found for all groups (η2=0.006-0.009). The results suggest that IIS may play a role in the choice of area of study, but is unlikely to explain the STEM Gender Gap in the Russian sample

The Factorial Structure of Spatial Abilities in Russian and Chinese Students

Background: Recent research suggested a unifactorial structure of spatial ability (SA). Research is needed to replicate this finding in different populations. Objective: This study aims to explore the factorial structure of SA in samples of 921 Russian and 229 Chinese university students. Design: A gamified spatial abilities battery was administered to all participants. The battery consists of 10 different domains of SA, including 2D and 3D visualization, mental rotation, spatial pattern assembly, spatial relations, spatial planning, mechanical reasoning, spatial orientation and spatial decision making speed and flexibility. Results: The results of the factor analysis showed a somewhat different pattern for different samples. In the Russian sample, the unifactorial structure, shown previously in a large UK sample (Rimfeld et al., 2017), was replicated. A single factor explained 40% of the variance. In the Chinese sample two factors emerged: first factor explained 26% of the variance and the second factor, including only Mechanical reasoning and Cross-Sections tests, explained 14%. The results also showed that the Chinese sample significantly outperformed the Russian sample in 5 out of the 10 tests. Russian students showed better performance only in two of the tests. The effects of all group comparisons were small. Conclusion: Overall, a similar amount of variance in the 10 tests was explained in the two samples, replicating results from the UK sample. Future research is needed to explain the observed differences in the structure of SA

From Allostatic Load to Allostatic State—An Endogenous Sympathetic Strategy to Deal With Chronic Anxiety and Stress?

The concepts of allostatic load and overload, i. e., a dramatic increase in the allostatic load that predisposes to disease, have been extensively described in the literature. Here, we show that rats engaging in active offensive response (AOR) behavioral strategies to chronic predator scent stress (PSS) display less anxiety behavior and lower plasma cortisol levels vs. rats engaging in passive defensive response (PDR) behavioral strategies to chronic PSS. In the same chronic PSS paradigm, AOR rats also have higher lactate and lower glutamate levels in amygdala but not in control-region hippocampus vs. PDR rats. The implications of these findings for regulation of allostatic and stress responses, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are discussed

Changes in interleukin 6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 expression levels in 3t3-l1 cells after exposure to agrimonia eupatoria l. extract and subsequent oxidative stimulation with tert-buthyl hydroperoxide reveal possible adaptogenic potential

INTRODUCTION: Synthesis and secretion of many inflammatory factors increase with oxidative stimu- lation and the activity of many transcription factors that regulate synthesis of inflammatory cytokines is in- fluenced by the redox condition in the  cell.AIM: The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of aqueous-alcoholic agrimony extract on interleukin 6 (IL-6) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) gene expression levels in cultured preadipocytes under induced oxidative stress  conditions.MATERIALS AND METHODS: To determine the possible adaptogenic potential of agrimony extract treatment on gene  expression,  preadipocytes were  incubated  in a  medium containing different  amounts  of agrimony extract. Tert-butyl hydroperoxide was used to provoke oxidative response in treated cells. Ex- pression of selected genes was measured using two step quantitative PCR. Results were analyzed using the 2-ΔΔCt   method.RESULTS: Incubation of preadypocytes with 2.5% agrimony extract resulted in a significant decrease in mRNA levels of MCP-1. Significant increase in IL-6 transcription levels was detected in the cells incubated with 1.25% and 2.5% agrimony extract. Pre-incubation of the cells with agrimony extract prevented subse- quent oxidative induced stimulation of MCP-1 gene expression. Oxidative provocation appeared to decrease the stimulatory activity of agrimony on IL-6 gene  expression

Parietal Alpha Oscillations: Cognitive Load and Mental Toughness

Cognitive effort is intrinsically linked to task difficulty, intelligence, and mental toughness. Intelligence reflects an individual’s cognitive aptitude, whereas mental toughness (MT) reflects an individual’s resilience in pursuing success. Research shows that parietal alpha oscillations are associated with changes in task difficulty. Critically, it remains unclear whether parietal alpha oscillations are modulated by intelligence and MT as a personality trait. We examined event-related (de)synchronization (ERD/ERS) of alpha oscillations associated with encoding, retention, and recognition in the Sternberg task in relation to intelligence and mental toughness. Eighty participants completed the Sternberg task with 3, 4, 5 and 6 digits, Raven Standard Progressive Matrices test and an MT questionnaire. A positive dependence on difficulty was observed for all studied oscillatory effects (t = −8.497, p < 0.001; t = 2.806, p < 0.005; t = −2.103, p < 0.05). The influence of Raven intelligence was observed for encoding-related alpha ERD (t = −2.02, p = 0.049). The influence of MT was observed only for difficult conditions in recognition-related alpha ERD (t = −3.282, p < 0.005). Findings indicate that the modulation of alpha rhythm related to encoding, retention and recognition may be interpreted as correlates of cognitive effort modulation. Specifically, results suggest that effort related to encoding depends on intelligence, whereas recognition-related effort level depends on mental toughness

Assessing the Relationship between Verbal and Nonverbal Cognitive Abilities Using Resting-State EEG Functional Connectivity

The present study investigates the relationship between individual differences in verbal and non-verbal cognitive abilities and resting-state EEG network characteristics. We used a network neuroscience approach to analyze both large-scale topological characteristics of the whole brain as well as local brain network characteristics. The characteristic path length, modularity, and cluster coefficient for different EEG frequency bands (alpha, high and low; beta1 and beta2, and theta) were calculated to estimate large-scale topological integration and segregation properties of the brain networks. Betweenness centrality, nodal clustering coefficient, and local connectivity strength were calculated as local network characteristics. We showed that global network integration measures in the alpha band were positively correlated with non-verbal intelligence, especially with the more difficult part of the test (Raven’s total scores and E series), and the ability to operate with verbal information (the “Conclusions” verbal subtest). At the same time, individual differences in non-verbal intelligence (Raven’s total score and C series), and vocabulary subtest of the verbal intelligence tests, were negatively correlated with the network segregation measures. Our results show that resting-state EEG functional connectivity can reveal the functional architecture associated with an individual difference in cognitive performance

Comparing spatial ability of male and female students completing humanities vs. technical degrees

Background. Spatial ability (SA) has long been the focus of research in psychology, because it is associated with performance in science, technologies, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Research has shown that males consistently outperform females in most aspects of SA, which may partially explain the observed overrepresentation of male students seeking STEM degrees

Comparing spatial ability of male and female students completing Humanities vs. technical degrees

Background. Spatial ability (SA) has long been the focus of research in psychology, because it is associated with performance in science, technologies, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Research has shown that males consistently outperform females in most aspects of SA, which may partially explain the observed overrepresentation of male students seeking STEM degrees