A High-Density EEG Investigation into Steady State Binaural Beat Stimulation

Binaural beats are an auditory phenomenon that has been suggested to alter physiological and cognitive processes including vigilance and brainwave entrainment. Some personality traits measured by the NEO Five Factor Model have been found to alter entrainment using pulsing light stimuli, but as yet no studies have examined if this occurs using steady state presentation of binaural beats for a relatively short presentation of two minutes. This study aimed to examine if binaural beat stimulation altered vigilance or cortical frequencies and if personality traits were involved. Thirty-one participants were played binaural beat stimuli designed to elicit a response at either the Theta (7 Hz) or Beta (16 Hz) frequency bands while undertaking a zero-back vigilance task. EEG was recorded from a high-density electrode cap. No significant differences were found in vigilance or cortical frequency power during binaural beat stimulation compared to a white noise control period. Furthermore, no significant relationships were detected between the above and the Big Five personality traits. This suggests a short presentation of steady state binaural beats are not sufficient to alter vigilance or entrain cortical frequencies at the two bands examined and that certain personality traits were not more susceptible than others

Frequency of lymphocytic XX-XY chimerism in Leine sheep coming from heterosexual twin and multiple births

The performed cytogenetic analysis included 454 young Leine ewes, aged 3-8 months, coming from heterosexual twins and multiplets. Out of them, the studied 431 animals had a normal diploid chromosome number - 54,XX. Leukocytic 54,XX/54,XY chimerism was identified in 23 young ewes, which makes 5.06% of the studied group of animals

Methods for in vivo determination the amygdala organisation in humans: State of the art

The amygdala is a subcortical structure located bilaterally in the medial temporal lobes. This structure captures the attention of neuroscientists due to its role in emotion processing and learning. Animal studies indicate that groups of nuclei situated in different parts of the amygdala are components of distinct neural circuits underlying in a varied way emotional and cognitive processes. Some authors even argue that the amygdala is deemed a single unit only owing to nuclei groups located closely. Verifying such a hypothesis with regard to humans is very difficult as, until quite recently, there has been only one method of amygdala parcellation, based on post-mortem anatomical tissue analysis. However, in more recent years, several attempts have been made to parcellate the human amygdala on the basis of structural and functional connectivity with other areas of the brain using magnetic resonance imaging techniques. Results of analyses conducted until now are not congruent in respect of the number and localisation of the obtained amygdala parts. This may be a consequence of using different techniques (functional magnetic resonance imaging or diffusion tensor imaging), various acquisition parameters of scanner and distinct data analysis procedures, especially clustering algorithms. Future research should be focused on the development of the most reliable method for parcellation of the human amygdala to enable clear identification. This will allow one to learn more about the functional organisation of this structure in humans

The PRNP gene polymorphism in Rough-coated Pomeranian Landrace sheep

Prion protein (PrP) is a membrane glycoprotein whose abnormal form is believed to cause a group of disorders known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which affect the brain and nervous system of both human beings and animals. The most familiar TSEs are Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in human beings, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and scrapie in sheep and goats. It is well established that resistance or susceptibility to scrapie has a genetic background that is closely linked to amino acid variations within PrP at positions 136 (A/V), 154 (R/H) and 171 (Q/R). The ARR (alanine at codon 136 and arginine at codons 154 and 171) allele is associated with the highest resistance to scrapie, whereas the VRQ allele is linked to the highest susceptibility. In the present study the allelic and genotypic frequencies of the PRNP gene in the Rough-coated Pomeranian Landrace (RPL) were determined. Polymorphisms at codons 136, 154 and 171 were identified with the PCR-RFLP method. Of the eight observed genotypes, ARR/ARQ (35.9%) and ARQ/ARQ (24.4%) were the most frequent. This study reported a presence of AHQ/AHR genotype (2.6%) that has not previously been recorded in any sheep breed. The predominance of wild-type ARQ (46.8%) haplotype, which is linked to the risk of scrapie development, suggested a genetic susceptibility to scrapie in RPL sheep. Although the frequency of ARR/ARR in RPL sheep was low, the highest frequency of the ARR/ARQ genotype could be helpful in increasing the number of individuals carrying the ARR/ARR genotype and reducing the risk of genetic defects within the population.Keywords: Sheep, scrapie, PRNP gene, polymorphis