Vztahy mezi vědomostmi, postoji a skutečným jednáním u žáků druhého stupně základní školy v rámci enviromentální výchovy

Studie prezentuje výzkum, který je zaměřen na zkoumání vztahů mezi vědomostmi, postoji a skutečným jednáním v rámci environmentální výchovy u žáků druhého stupně základní školy. Deskriptivní část výzkumu se zabývá zejména analýzou jednotlivých položek didaktického testu. Studie seznamuje čtenáře s teoretickými východisky pro výzkum, jeho cíli a popisuje uplatněnou metodologii. Zvolena byla kvantitativní metodologie, výzkumnými nástroji jsou didaktický test a dotazník. Některé dílčí výsledky jsou uvedeny v závěru studie

Sparse, decorrelated odor coding in the mushroom body enhances learned odor discrimination

Sparse coding may be a general strategy of neural systems for augmenting memory capacity. In Drosophila melanogaster, sparse odor coding by the Kenyon cells of the mushroom body is thought to generate a large number of precisely addressable locations for the storage of odor-specific memories. However, it remains untested how sparse coding relates to behavioral performance. Here we demonstrate that sparseness is controlled by a negative feedback circuit between Kenyon cells and the GABAergic anterior paired lateral (APL) neuron. Systematic activation and blockade of each leg of this feedback circuit showed that Kenyon cells activated APL and APL inhibited Kenyon cells. Disrupting the Kenyon cell–APL feedback loop decreased the sparseness of Kenyon cell odor responses, increased inter-odor correlations and prevented flies from learning to discriminate similar, but not dissimilar, odors. These results suggest that feedback inhibition suppresses Kenyon cell activity to maintain sparse, decorrelated odor coding and thus the odor specificity of memories

Unraveling the principles of auditory cortical processing: can we learn from the visual system?

Studies of auditory cortex are often driven by the assumption, derived from our better understanding of visual cortex, that basic physical properties of sounds are represented there before being used by higher-level areas for determining sound-source identity and location. However, we only have a limited appreciation of what the cortex adds to the extensive subcortical processing of auditory information, which can account for many perceptual abilities. This is partly because of the approaches that have dominated the study of auditory cortical processing to date, and future progress will unquestionably profit from the adoption of methods that have provided valuable insights into the neural basis of visual perception. At the same time, we propose that there are unique operating principles employed by the auditory cortex that relate largely to the simultaneous and sequential processing of previously derived features and that therefore need to be studied and understood in their own right