Comparing ICA-based and Single-Trial Topographic ERP Analyses

Single-trial analysis of human electroencephalography (EEG) has been recently proposed for better understanding the contribution of individual subjects to a group-analyis effect as well as for investigating single-subject mechanisms. Independent Component Analysis (ICA) has been repeatedly applied to concatenated single-trial responses and at a single-subject level in order to extract those components that resemble activities of interest. More recently we have proposed a single-trial method based on topographic maps that determines which voltage configurations are reliably observed at the event-related potential (ERP) level taking advantage of repetitions across trials. Here, we investigated the correspondence between the maps obtained by ICA versus the topographies that we obtained by the single-trial clustering algorithm that best explained the variance of the ERP. To do this, we used exemplar data provided from the EEGLAB website that are based on a dataset from a visual target detection task. We show there to be robust correpondence both at the level of the activation time courses and at the level of voltage configurations of a subset of relevant maps. We additionally show the estimated inverse solution (based on low-resolution electromagnetic tomography) of two corresponding maps occurring at approximately 300ms post-stimulus onset, as estimated by the two aforementioned approaches. The spatial distribution of the estimated sources significantly correlated and had in common a right parietal activation within Brodmann's Area (BA) 40. Despite their differences in terms of theoretical bases, the consistency between the results of these two approaches shows that their underlying assumptions are indeed compatibl

Single cell oils of the cold-adapted oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glacialis DBVPG 4785

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The production of microbial lipids has attracted considerable interest during the past decade since they can be successfully used to produce biodiesel by catalyzed transesterification with short chain alcohols. Certain yeast species, including several psychrophilic isolates, are oleaginous and accumulate lipids from 20 to 70% of biomass under appropriate cultivation conditions. Among them, <it>Rhodotorula glacialis </it>is a psychrophilic basidiomycetous species capable to accumulate intracellular lipids.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>Rhodotorula glacialis </it>DBVPG 4785 is an oleaginous psychrophilic yeast isolated from a glacial environment. Despite its origin, the strain abundantly grew and accumulated lipids between -3 to 20°C. The temperature did not influence the yield coefficients of both biomass and lipids production, but had positive effect on the growth rate and thus on volumetric productivity of lipid. In glucose-based media, cellular multiplication occurred first, while the lipogenic phase followed whenever the culture was limited by a nutrient other than glucose. The extent of the carbon excess had positive effects on triacylglycerols production, that was maximum with 120 g L^-1glucose, in terms of lipid concentration (19 g L^-1), lipid/biomass (68%) and lipid/glucose yields (16%). Both glucose concentration and growth temperature influenced the composition of fatty acids, whose unsaturation degree decreased when the temperature or glucose excess increased.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study is the first proposed biotechnological application for <it>Rhodotorula glacialis </it>species, whose oleaginous biomass accumulates high amounts of lipids within a wide range of temperatures through appropriate cultivation C:N ratio. Although <it>R. glacialis </it>DBVPG 4785 is a cold adapted yeast, lipid production occurs over a broad range of temperatures and it can be considered an interesting microorganism for the production of single cell oils.</p

Neural detection of complex sound sequences in the absence of consciousness

Neural responses to violations of global regularities are thought to require consciousness. However, Tzovara et al. show that some comatose patients can also detect deviations in sequences composed of repeated groups of sounds, suggesting that the unconscious brain has a greater capacity to track sensory inputs than previously believe

Progetti di alternanza scuola-lavoro inclusivi nella scuola secondaria di II grado

From a pedagogical perspective, school-work alternation (SWA) represents an important opportunity to create synergies between the educational and the professional field. Moreover, SWA may allow to value individual learning styles, interests and vocations, to promote flexible teaching/learning strategies and to stimulate the development of the key competences in view of the life project.In order to fully exploit the potential of SWA, teacher education and training is a crucial aspect. In this respect, the course for Special Education Teachers (Ministerial Decree 30 September 2011) provides the laboratory of “Orientation, Life Project and School-Work Alternation” addressed to upper secondary school teachers. On the basis of the analysis of the projects works developed by the prospective teachers who attended the course at University of Rome Foro Italico (A.Y. 2013/2014 and A.Y. 2014/2015), the present research aims to identify a set of indicators that may be helpful to design inclusive SWA projects, taking into account all students’ needs, school curriculum and opportunities offered bythe local area

Perceptual and Semantic Contributions to Repetition Priming of Environmental Sounds

Repetition of environmental sounds, like their visual counterparts, can facilitate behavior and modulate neural responses, exemplifying plasticity in how auditory objects are represented or accessed. It remains controversial whether such repetition priming/suppression involves solely plasticity based on acoustic features and/or also access to semantic features. To evaluate contributions of physical and semantic features in eliciting repetition-induced plasticity, the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study repeated either identical or different exemplars of the initially presented object; reasoning that identical exemplars share both physical and semantic features, whereas different exemplars share only semantic features. Participants performed a living/man-made categorization task while being scanned at 3T. Repeated stimuli of both types significantly facilitated reaction times versus initial presentations, demonstrating perceptual and semantic repetition priming. There was also repetition suppression of fMRI activity within overlapping temporal, premotor, and prefrontal regions of the auditory "what” pathway. Importantly, the magnitude of suppression effects was equivalent for both physically identical and semantically related exemplars. That the degree of repetition suppression was irrespective of whether or not both perceptual and semantic information was repeated is suggestive of a degree of acoustically independent semantic analysis in how object representations are maintained and retrieve

Practice-induced functional plasticity in inhibitory control interacts with aging

Inhibitory control deficits represent a key aspect of the cognitive declines associated with aging. Practicing inhibitory control has thus been advanced as a potential approach to compensate for age-induced neurocognitive impairments. Yet, the functional brain changes associated with practicing inhibitory control tasks in older adults and whether they differ from those observed in young populations remains unresolved.We compared electrical neuroimaging analyses of ERPs recorded during a Go/NoGo practice session with a Group (Young; Older adults) by Session (Beginning; End of the practice) design to identify whether the practice of an inhibition task in older adults reinforces already implemented compensatory activity or reduce it by enhancing the functioning of the brain networks primarily involved in the tasks.We observed an equivalent small effect of practice on performance in the two age-groups. The topographic ERP analyses and source estimations revealed qualitatively different effects of the practice over the N2 and P3 ERP components, respectively driven by a decrease in supplementary motor area activity and an increase in left ventrolateral prefrontal activity in the older but not in the young adults with practice.Our results thus indicate that inhibition task practice in older adults increases age-related divergences in the underlying functional processes

Progression of auditory discrimination based on neural decoding predicts awakening from coma

Auditory evoked potentials are informative of intact cortical functions of comatose patients. The integrity of auditory functions evaluated using mismatch negativity paradigms has been associated with their chances of survival. However, because auditory discrimination is assessed at various delays after coma onset, it is still unclear whether this impairment depends on the time of the recording. We hypothesized that impairment in auditory discrimination capabilities is indicative of coma progression, rather than of the comatose state itself and that rudimentary auditory discrimination remains intact during acute stages of coma. We studied 30 post-anoxic comatose patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest and five healthy, age-matched controls. Using a mismatch negativity paradigm, we performed two electroencephalography recordings with a standard 19-channel clinical montage: the first within 24 h after coma onset and under mild therapeutic hypothermia, and the second after 1 day and under normothermic conditions. We analysed electroencephalography responses based on a multivariate decoding algorithm that automatically quantifies neural discrimination at the single patient level. Results showed high average decoding accuracy in discriminating sounds both for control subjects and comatose patients. Importantly, accurate decoding was largely independent of patients' chance of survival. However, the progression of auditory discrimination between the first and second recordings was informative of a patient's chance of survival. A deterioration of auditory discrimination was observed in all non-survivors (equivalent to 100% positive predictive value for survivors). We show, for the first time, evidence of intact auditory processing even in comatose patients who do not survive and that progression of sound discrimination over time is informative of a patient's chance of survival. Tracking auditory discrimination in comatose patients could provide new insight to the chance of awakening in a quantitative and automatic fashion during early stages of com

Auditory stimulation and deep learning predict awakening from coma after cardiac arrest.

Assessing the integrity of neural functions in coma after cardiac arrest remains an open challenge. Prognostication of coma outcome relies mainly on visual expert scoring of physiological signals, which is prone to subjectivity and leaves a considerable number of patients in a 'grey zone', with uncertain prognosis. Quantitative analysis of EEG responses to auditory stimuli can provide a window into neural functions in coma and information about patients' chances of awakening. However, responses to standardized auditory stimulation are far from being used in a clinical routine due to heterogeneous and cumbersome protocols. Here, we hypothesize that convolutional neural networks can assist in extracting interpretable patterns of EEG responses to auditory stimuli during the first day of coma that are predictive of patients' chances of awakening and survival at 3 months. We used convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to model single-trial EEG responses to auditory stimuli in the first day of coma, under standardized sedation and targeted temperature management, in a multicentre and multiprotocol patient cohort and predict outcome at 3 months. The use of CNNs resulted in a positive predictive power for predicting awakening of 0.83 ± 0.04 and 0.81 ± 0.06 and an area under the curve in predicting outcome of 0.69 ± 0.05 and 0.70 ± 0.05, for patients undergoing therapeutic hypothermia and normothermia, respectively. These results also persisted in a subset of patients that were in a clinical 'grey zone'. The network's confidence in predicting outcome was based on interpretable features: it strongly correlated to the neural synchrony and complexity of EEG responses and was modulated by independent clinical evaluations, such as the EEG reactivity, background burst-suppression or motor responses. Our results highlight the strong potential of interpretable deep learning algorithms in combination with auditory stimulation to improve prognostication of coma outcome

La formazione degli insegnanti di sostegno sulle TIC. Analisi dei prodotti multimediali del corso di specializzazione per le attività di sostegno

ICT has been introduced in the Italian school system for more than 20 years (National Informatics Plan, 1985; 1991, National Digital School Plan, 2007; 2015) in order to facilitate teaching-learning processes for all. Researches show that besides access to technology, ICT-related educational innovation success depends above all on teacher training.In Italy, specialized teaching courses (Ministerial Decree 30/09/2011) prepare prospective teachers for working in inclusive classroom. Within these courses, a 75-hours class provides training for using ICT in the educational processes. The creation of a multimedia product is one of the demands of the final assessment.On the basis of the analysis of multimedia products presented by the prospective teachers who attended the course at University of Rome “Foro Italico” (2014/2015), the present work aims to highlight good practices but also critical aspects in SEN teachers training on ICT in order to reflect on how to improve training efficacy and impact