Using choir conducting to improve leadership practice

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Somatosensory processing in neurodevelopmental disorders

The purpose of this article is to review the role of somatosensory perception in typical development, its aberration in a range of neurodevelopmental disorders, and the potential relations between tactile processing abnormalities and central features of each disorder such as motor, communication, and social development. Neurodevelopmental disorders that represent a range of symptoms and etiologies, and for which multiple peer-reviewed articles on somatosensory differences have been published, were chosen to include in the review. Relevant studies in animal models, as well as conditions of early sensory deprivation, are also included. Somatosensory processing plays an important, yet often overlooked, role in typical development and is aberrant in various neurodevelopmental disorders. This is demonstrated in studies of behavior, sensory thresholds, neuroanatomy, and neurophysiology in samples of children with Fragile X syndrome, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and cerebral palsy (CP). Impaired somatosensory processing is found in a range of neurodevelopmental disorders and is associated with deficits in communication, motor ability, and social skills in these disorders. Given the central role of touch in early development, both experimental and clinical approaches should take into consideration the role of somatosensory processing in the etiology and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders

Situational awareness within objective structured clinical examination stations in undergraduate medical training - a literature search

Background: Medical students may not be able to identify the essential elements of situational awareness (SA) necessary for clinical reasoning. Recent studies suggest that students have little insight into cognitive processing and SA in clinical scenarios. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) could be used to assess certain elements of situational awareness. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature with a view to identifying whether levels of SA based on Endsley's model can be assessed utilising OSCEs during undergraduate medical training. Methods: A systematic search was performed pertaining to SA and OSCEs, to identify studies published between January 1975 (first paper describing an OSCE) and February 2017, in peer reviewed international journals published in English. PUBMED, EMBASE, PsycINFO Ovid and SCOPUS were searched for papers that described the assessment of SA using OSCEs among undergraduate medical students. Key search terms included "objective structured clinical examination", "objective structured clinical assessment" or "OSCE" and "non-technical skills", "sense-making", "clinical reasoning", "perception", "comprehension", "projection", "situation awareness", "situational awareness" and "situation assessment". Boolean operators (AND, OR) were used as conjunctions to narrow the search strategy, resulting in the limitation of papers relevant to the research interest. Areas of interest were elements of SA that can be assessed by these examinations. Results: The initial search of the literature retrieved 1127 publications. Upon removal of duplicates and papers relating to nursing, paramedical disciplines, pharmacy and veterinary education by title, abstract or full text, 11 articles were eligible for inclusion as related to the assessment of elements of SA in undergraduate medical students. Discussion: Review of the literature suggests that whole-task OSCEs enable the evaluation of SA associated with clinical reasoning skills. If they address the levels of SA, these OSCEs can provide supportive feedback and strengthen educational measures associated with higher diagnostic accuracy and reasoning abilities. Conclusion: Based on the findings, the early exposure of medical students to SA is recommended, utilising OSCEs to evaluate and facilitate SA in dynamic environment

Easy first steps and their implication to the use of a mouse-based and a script-based strategy

The present study evaluated the convention to design training environments by giving access to easy strategies first and progressing to more difficult and efficient strategies thereafter. An experiment was conducted focusing on training in a simplified editing task. This task could be performed with an easy (mouse-based) strategy as well as with a more efficient (script-based) strategy. Two learning environments were compared, based on the order of the introduction of the following 2 strategies to participants: an easy-first program and a difficult-first program. The results highlight 2 interesting patterns. First, initial training in an easy strategy impaired the acquisition of a more efficient strategy. Second, learning the easy strategy first reduced between-subjects variability. It helped poor performers but resulted in a lower proportion of high-level performers

Degradation in spatial knowledge acquisition when using automatic navigation systems

Over-reliance on automated navigation systems may cause users to be "mindless" of the environment and not develop the spatial knowledge that maybe required when automation fails. This research focused on the potential degradation in spatial knowledge acquisition due to the reliance on automatic wayfinding systems. In addition, the impact of "keeping the user in the loop" strategies on spatial knowledge was examined. Participants performed wayfindings tasks in a virtual building with continuous or by-request position indication, in addition to responding to occasional orientation quizzes. Findings indicate that having position indication by request and orientation quizzes resulted in better acquired spatial knowledge. The findings are discussed in terms of keeping the user actively investing mental effort in the wayfinding task as a strategy to reduce the possible negative impact of automated navigation systems

A PARP1-ERK2 synergism is required for the induction of LTP.

Unexpectedly, a post-translational modification of DNA-binding proteins, initiating the cell response to single-strand DNA damage, was also required for long-term memory acquisition in a variety of learning paradigms. Our findings disclose a molecular mechanism based on PARP1-Erk synergism, which may underlie this phenomenon. A stimulation induced PARP1 binding to phosphorylated Erk2 in the chromatin of cerebral neurons caused Erk-induced PARP1 activation, rendering transcription factors and promoters of immediate early genes (IEG) accessible to PARP1-bound phosphorylated Erk2. Thus, Erk-induced PARP1 activation mediated IEG expression implicated in long-term memory. PARP1 inhibition, silencing, or genetic deletion abrogated stimulation-induced Erk-recruitment to IEG promoters, gene expression and LTP generation in hippocampal CA3-CA1-connections. Moreover, a predominant binding of PARP1 to single-strand DNA breaks, occluding its Erk binding sites, suppressed IEG expression and prevented the generation of LTP. These findings outline a PARP1-dependent mechanism required for LTP generation, which may be implicated in long-term memory acquisition and in its deterioration in senescence