Multisensory Training Improves Auditory Spatial Processing following Bilateral Cochlear Implantation

Cochlear implants (CIs) partially restore hearing to the deaf by directly stimulating the inner ear. In individuals fitted with CIs, lack of auditory experience due to loss of hearing before language acquisition can adversely impact outcomes. For example, adults with early-onset hearing loss generally do not integrate inputs from both ears effectively when fitted with bilateral CIs (BiCIs). Here, we used an animal model to investigate the effects of long-term deafness on auditory localization with BiCIs and approaches for promoting the use of binaural spatial cues. Ferrets were deafened either at the age of hearing onset or as adults. All animals were implanted in adulthood, either unilaterally or bilaterally, and were subsequently assessed for their ability to localize sound in the horizontal plane. The unilaterally implanted animals were unable to perform this task, regardless of the duration of deafness. Among animals with BiCIs, early-onset hearing loss was associated with poor auditory localization performance, compared with late-onset hearing loss. However, performance in the early-deafened group with BiCIs improved significantly after multisensory training with interleaved auditory and visual stimuli. We demonstrate a possible neural substrate for this by showing a training-induced improvement in the responsiveness of auditory cortical neurons and in their sensitivity to interaural level differences, the principal localization cue available to BiCI users. Importantly, our behavioral and physiological evidence demonstrates a facilitative role for vision in restoring auditory spatial processing following potential cross-modal reorganization. These findings support investigation of a similar training paradigm in human CI users

SPAG17 Mediates Nuclear Translocation of Protamines During Spermiogenesis

Protamines (PRM1 and PRM2) are small, arginine-rich, nuclear proteins that replace histones in the final stages of spermiogenesis, ensuring chromatin compaction and nuclear remodeling. Defects in protamination lead to increased DNA fragmentation and reduced male fertility. Since efficient sperm production requires the translocation of protamines from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, we investigated whether SPAG17, a protein crucial for intracellular protein trafficking during spermiogenesis, participates in protamine transport. Initially, we assessed the protein-protein interaction between SPAG17 and protamines using proximity ligation assays, revealing a significant interaction originating in the cytoplasm and persisting within the nucleus. Subsequently, immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry (IP/MS) assays validated this initial observation. Sperm and spermatids fro

Identity Politics as Secular Religion

The CRS-POL is a modified version of an existing measure - Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS) - commonly used to examine the significance of traditional forms of religion in individuals’ personalities, beliefs, and transcendent experiences. This scale is prevalent in the field of the Psychology of Religion and has been validated cross-culturally, so that it may be utilized for interreligious studies, and has rendered itself the principal measure in most research assessing the salience of religiosity in the individual. The CRS, however far-reaching, does not measure an emerging type of religion that is becoming more prevalent by the day; secular religion. Eminent sociologists such as Peter Berger predicted in the 1960s that as societies evolved, they would become increasingly secular and eventually dispose of religion altogether. This concept would be coined the Secularization Hypothesis. This hypothesis served as the theoretical framework on which our CRS-POL was constructed; a new measure of religiosity that discards traditional religious terms and replaces them with language relevant to the particular ideology that is suspected to have a religious type of architecture (in this case, Identity Politics). Through our modifications, the goal was to preserve the fundamental structure of the five dimensions of the original CRS: Intellect, Ideology, Public Practice, Private Practice, and Experience. It is hypothesized that pervading left-wing ideologies concerning social injustice and intersectionality, have emerged as a collection of ideas that can be classified as a secular religion. Keywords: centrality of religiosity; measurement; dimensions; secular religion; Peter Berger; secularization hypothesi

Exploring the Relationship between Creativity and Dimensions of Religiosity

There is a substantial body of research that investigates creativity and religiosity as separate phenomena. Creativity tends to fall in the domain of cognitive and personality psychology, while religiosity is typically a variable of interest in social psychology. While some prior research has suggested a negative relationship between religiosity and creativity (Nguyen, 2012), more research is necessary to fully understand the association between these variables. The current study will conceptually replicate and expand upon recent research showing that some dimensions of religiosity are predictive of performance on creative generations tasks (Nguyen, 2012). This study expands on that research by measuring different aspects of religiosity (including fundamentalism) and having participants complete different creative generation tasks than have been used previously. Research measuring religiosity and creativity as multidimensional constructs is limited. The present study attempts to extend current research on creativity and religion by employing different measures of creativity and more inclusive measures of religiosity. This research will help us to better understand the nature of the relationship between religiosity and creative behavior

Exploring the Relationship between Creativity and Dimensions of Religiosity

There is a substantial body of research that investigates creativity and religiosity as separate phenomena. Creativity tends to fall in the domain of cognitive and personality psychology, while religiosity is typically a variable of interest in social psychology. While some prior research has suggested a negative relationship between religiosity and creativity (Nguyen, 2012), more research is necessary to fully understand the association between these variables. The current study will conceptually replicate and expand upon recent research showing that some dimensions of religiosity are predictive of performance on creative generations tasks (Nguyen, 2012). This study will expand on that research by measuring different aspects of religiosity (including fundamentalism) and having participants complete different creative generation tasks than have been used previously

Bilateral cochlear implantation in the ferret: A novel animal model for behavioral studies

Bilateral cochlear implantation has recently been introduced with the aim of improving both speech perception in background noise and sound localization. Although evidence suggests that binaural perception is possible with two cochlear implants, results in humans are variable. To explore potential contributing factors to these variable outcomes, we have developed a behavioral animal model of bilateral cochlear implantation in a novel species, the ferret. Although ferrets are ideally suited to psychophysical and physiological assessments of binaural hearing, cochlear implantation has not been previously described in this species. This paper describes the techniques of deafening with aminoglycoside administration, surgical implantation of an intracochlear array and chronic intracochlear electrical stimulation with monitoring for electrode integrity and efficacy of stimulation. Experiments have been presented elsewhere to show that the model can be used to study behavioral and electrophysiological measures of binaural hearing in chronically implanted animals. This paper demonstrates that cochlear implantation and chronic intracochlear electrical stimulation are both safe and effective in ferrets, opening up the possibility of using this model to study potential protective effects of bilateral cochlear implantation on the developing central auditory pathway. Since ferrets can be used to assess psychophysical and physiological aspects of hearing along with the structure of the auditory pathway in the same animals, we anticipate that this model will help develop novel neuroprosthetic therapies for use in humans

SPAG17 mediates nuclear translocation of protamines during spermiogenesis

Protamines (PRM1 and PRM2) are small, arginine-rich, nuclear proteins that replace histones in the final stages of spermiogenesis, ensuring chromatin compaction and nuclear remodeling. Defects in protamination lead to increased DNA fragmentation and reduced male fertility. Since efficient sperm production requires the translocation of protamines from the cytoplasm to the nucleus, we investigated whether SPAG17, a protein crucial for intracellular protein trafficking during spermiogenesis, participates in protamine transport. Initially, we assessed the protein-protein interaction between SPAG17 and protamines using proximity ligation assays, revealing a significant interaction originating in the cytoplasm and persisting within the nucleus. Subsequently, immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry (IP/MS) assays validated this initial observation. Sperm and spermatids from Spag17 knockout mice exhibited abnormal protamination, as revealed by chromomycin A3 staining, suggesting defects in protamine content. However, no differences were observed in the expression of Prm1 and Prm2 mRNA or in protein levels between testes of wild-type and Spag17 knockout mice. Conversely, immunofluorescence studies conducted on isolated mouse spermatids unveiled reduced nuclear/cytoplasm ratios of protamines in Spag17 knockout spermatids compared to wild-type controls, implying transport defects of protamines into the spermatid nucleus. In alignment with these findings, in vitro experiments involving somatic cells, including mouse embryonic fibroblasts, exhibited compromised nuclear translocation of PRM1 and PRM2 in the absence of SPAG17. Collectively, our results present compelling evidence that SPAG17 facilitates the transport of protamines from the cytoplasm to the nucleus