Embedding Outreach into the Undergraduate Science Curriculum – Everyone's a Winner

This article summarizes the authors' experience of developing and delivering undergraduate modules in Science Communication. The modules address two needs: resourcing science outreach activities for children in Years 5-7, and developing transferable skills (oral and written communication, team working, time management) to enhance student employability and engagement.Keywords:  Employability, outreach, transferable skill

Individual differences in white matter microstructure reflect variation in functional connectivity during action choice.

The relation between brain structure and function is of fundamental importance in neuroscience. Comparisons between behavioral and brain imaging measures suggest that variation in brain structure correlates with the presence of specific skills[1-3]. Behavioral measures, however, reflect the integrated function of multiple brain regions. Rather than behavior, a physiological index of function could be a more sensitive and informative measure with which to compare structural measures. Here, we test for a relationship between a physiological measure of functional connectivity between two brain areas during a simple decision making task and a measure of structural connectivity. Paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation indexed functional connectivity between two regions important for action choices: premotor and motor cortex. Fractional anisotropy (FA), a marker of microstructural integrity, indexed structural connectivity. Individual differences in functional connectivity during action selection show highly specific correlations with FA in localised regions of white matter interconnecting regions including the premotor and motor cortex. Probabilistic tractography[4, 5], a technique for identifying fibre pathways from diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), reconstructed the anatomical networks linking the component brain regions involved in making decisions. These findings demonstrate a relationship between individual differences in functional and structural connectivity within human brain networks central to action choice

The Neural Representation of Prospective Choice during Spatial Planning and Decisions

We are remarkably adept at inferring the consequences of our actions, yet the neuronal mechanisms that allow us to plan a sequence of novel choices remain unclear. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate how the human brain plans the shortest path to a goal in novel mazes with one (shallow maze) or two (deep maze) choice points. We observed two distinct anterior prefrontal responses to demanding choices at the second choice point: one in rostrodorsal medial prefrontal cortex (rd-mPFC)/superior frontal gyrus (SFG) that was also sensitive to (deactivated by) demanding initial choices and another in lateral frontopolar cortex (lFPC), which was only engaged by demanding choices at the second choice point. Furthermore, we identified hippocampal responses during planning that correlated with subsequent choice accuracy and response time, particularly in mazes affording sequential choices. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses showed that coupling between the hippocampus and rd-mPFC increases during sequential (deep versus shallow) planning and is higher before correct versus incorrect choices. In short, using a naturalistic spatial planning paradigm, we reveal how the human brain represents sequential choices during planning without extensive training. Our data highlight a network centred on the cortical midline and hippocampus that allows us to make prospective choices while maintaining initial choices during planning in novel environments

Human cerebrovascular contractile receptors are upregulated via a B-Raf/MEK/ERK-sensitive signaling pathway

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cerebral ischemia results in a rapid increase in contractile cerebrovascular receptors, such as the 5-hydroxytryptamine type 1B (5-HT_1B), angiotensin II type 1 (AT₁), and endothelin type B (ET_B) receptors, in the vessel walls within the ischemic region, which further impairs local blood flow and aggravates tissue damage. This receptor upregulation occurs via activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. We therefore hypothesized an important role for B-Raf, the first signaling molecule in the pathway. To test our hypothesis, human cerebral arteries were incubated at 37°C for 48 h in the absence or presence of a B-Raf inhibitor: SB-386023 or SB-590885. Contractile properties were evaluated in a myograph and protein expression of the individual receptors and activated phosphorylated B-Raf (p-B-Raf) was evaluated immunohistochemically.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>5-HT_1B, AT₁, and ET_Breceptor-mediated contractions were significantly reduced by application of SB-590885, and to a smaller extent by SB-386023. A marked reduction in AT₁receptor immunoreactivity was observed after treatment with SB-590885. Treatment with SB-590885 and SB-386023 diminished the culture-induced increase of p-B-Raf immunoreactivity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>B-Raf signaling has a key function in the altered expression of vascular contractile receptors observed after organ culture. Therefore, specific targeting of B-Raf might be a novel approach to reduce tissue damage after cerebral ischemia by preventing the previously observed upregulation of contractile receptors in smooth muscle cells.</p

Prefrontal response and frontostriatal functional connectivity to monetary reward in abstinent alcohol-dependent young adults

Although altered function in neural reward circuitry is widely proposed in models of addiction, more recent conceptual views have emphasized the role of disrupted response in prefrontal regions. Changes in regions such as the orbitofrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex are postulated to contribute to the compulsivity, impulsivity, and altered executive function that are central to addiction. In addition, few studies have examined function in these regions during young adulthood, when exposure is less chronic than in typical samples of alcohol-dependent adults. To address these issues, we examined neural response and functional connectivity during monetary reward in 24 adults with alcohol dependence and 24 psychiatrically healthy adults. Adults with alcohol dependence exhibited less response to the receipt of monetary reward in a set of prefrontal regions including the medial prefrontal cortex, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Adults with alcohol dependence also exhibited greater negative correlation between function in each of these regions and that in the nucleus accumbens. Within the alcohol-dependent group, those with family history of alcohol dependence exhibited lower mPFC response, and those with more frequent drinking exhibited greater negative functional connectivity between the mPFC and the nucleus accumbens. These findings indicate that alcohol dependence is associated with less engagement of prefrontal cortical regions, suggesting weak or disrupted regulation of ventral striatal response. This pattern of prefrontal response and frontostriatal connectivity has consequences for the behavior patterns typical of addiction. Furthermore, brain-behavior findings indicate that the potential mechanisms of disruption in frontostriatal circuitry in alcohol dependence include family liability to alcohol use problems and more frequent use of alcohol. In all, these findings build on the extant literature on reward-circuit function in addiction and suggest mechanisms for disrupted function in alcohol dependence. © 2014 Forbes et al

Polarity of uncertainty representation during exploration and exploitation in ventromedial prefrontal cortex

Environments furnish multiple information sources for making predictions about future events. Here we use behavioural modelling and functional magnetic resonance imaging to describe how humans select predictors that might be most relevant. First, during early encounters with potential predictors, participants’ selections were explorative and directed towards subjectively uncertain predictors (positive uncertainty effect). This was particularly the case when many future opportunities remained to exploit knowledge gained. Then, preferences for accurate predictors increased over time, while uncertain predictors were avoided (negative uncertainty effect). The behavioural transition from positive to negative uncertainty-driven selections was accompanied by changes in the representations of belief uncertainty in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). The polarity of uncertainty representations (positive or negative encoding of uncertainty) changed between exploration and exploitation periods. Moreover, the two periods were separated by a third transitional period in which beliefs about predictors’ accuracy predominated. The vmPFC signals a multiplicity of decision variables, the strength and polarity of which vary with behavioural context

The relation between multi-cultural group work and the integration of home and international students

Group working skills are essential attributes for graduates in higher education, and are highly valued by prospective employers of home and international students. With increasing numbers of international students, with different social, cultural, and academic backgrounds, there is an opportunity to evaluate the students’ perceptions of, and the potential benefits for, student integration in multi-cultural group work. The research measured students’ attitudes towards multi-cultural group activities compared with different aspects of group work in general. The opinions of students in two departments, Chemistry and Geography Planning, towards multi-cultural group work were generally positive, although international students had a better perception of the benefits, and were more likely to self-assign themselves to mixed groups, than home students. International students found the cognitive benefits of culturally mixed groups, and their effect on enhancing integration, more favourable than home students. Conversely, home students have a better overall perception of the benefits of the emotional aspects of the group work, how they will manage the assignment, the development of interpersonal skills, and group assessment than international students. In general, the results imply that tutors should deliberately assign students to multi-culturally mixed groups to encourage integration, and that the academic tasks for the assignments should be developed sensitively to encourage engagement with both cohorts of students.  Keywords: Internationalisation; Integration; Group work; Home; internationa