Adaptive Prediction Error Coding in the Human Midbrain and Striatum Facilitates Behavioral Adaptation and Learning Efficiency.

Effective error-driven learning benefits from scaling of prediction errors to reward variability. Such behavioral adaptation may be facilitated by neurons coding prediction errors relative to the standard deviation (SD) of reward distributions. To investigate this hypothesis, we required participants to predict the magnitude of upcoming reward drawn from distributions with different SDs. After each prediction, participants received a reward, yielding trial-by-trial prediction errors. In line with the notion of adaptive coding, BOLD response slopes in the Substantia Nigra/Ventral Tegmental Area (SN/VTA) and ventral striatum were steeper for prediction errors occurring in distributions with smaller SDs. SN/VTA adaptation was not instantaneous but developed across trials. Adaptive prediction error coding was paralleled by behavioral adaptation, as reflected by SD-dependent changes in learning rate. Crucially, increased SN/VTA and ventral striatal adaptation was related to improved task performance. These results suggest that adaptive coding facilitates behavioral adaptation and supports efficient learning.This study was supported by the Wellcome Trust (W.S., P.C.F.), Bernard Wolfe Health Neuroscience Fund (P.C.F.) and the Niels Stensen Foundation (K.M.J.D.). We thank William Stauffer, Armin Lak and Joost Haarsma for useful discussions.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Cell Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.04.01

Macrolide antibiotics for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To determine the impact of macrolide antibiotics in the treatment of adults and children with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis

Accommodating 'others'?: housing dispersed, forced migrants in the UK

Utilising insights from a qualitative study in the city of Leeds (UK), this paper considers issues related to the housing of dispersed forced migrants. The term 'dispersed forced migrants' is used here as a general label to include four groups of international migrants (i.e. refugees, asylum seekers, those with humanitarian protection status and failed asylum seekers) who have previously been dispersed, on a no choice basis, to a variety of locations across the UK under the requirements of the Immigration and Asylum Act (1999). The tiering of housing entitlement that exists within the generic population of dispersed forced migrants (a consequence of the particular socio-legal status assigned to individuals), and its role in rendering migrants susceptible to homelessness is outlined. The adequacy/standard of accommodation made available to forced migrants is also discussed. It is concluded that current arrangements fail to meet the basic housing needs of many forced migrants. Any future improvement in this situation will require a significant shift in government policy

The Lantern Vol. 4, No. 2, March 1936

• Cooperative Democracy • Fantasy • Drama: Porgy and Bess • Foreign Entanglements • The Kibitzer • My Gallery of Old Folks • My Friend, Mark Twain • Jimmy and Waffles • Reminiscence • Gold Dust • After Twenty Centuries • All the World\u27s a Stage • Early Medicinehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1007/thumbnail.jp

Stakeholder views regarding ethical issues in the design and conduct of pragmatic trials : study protocol

This work is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research through the Project Grant competition (competitive, peer reviewed), award number PJT-153045. Jeremy Grimshaw holds a Canada Research Chair in Health Knowledge Transfer and Uptake and a CIHR Foundation Grant (FDN-143269). Charles Weijer holds a Canada Research Chair in Bioethics. Joanne McKenzie is supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Career Development Fellowship (1143429). Vipul Jairath hold a personal Endowed Chair at Western University (John and Susan McDonald Endowed Chair). Marion Campbell is based with the Health Services Research Unit which is core-funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates. Ian Graham is a CIHR Foundation Grant recipient (FDN# 143237).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Event-related alpha suppression in response to facial motion

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.While biological motion refers to both face and body movements, little is known about the visual perception of facial motion. We therefore examined alpha wave suppression as a reduction in power is thought to reflect visual activity, in addition to attentional reorienting and memory processes. Nineteen neurologically healthy adults were tested on their ability to discriminate between successive facial motion captures. These animations exhibited both rigid and non-rigid facial motion, as well as speech expressions. The structural and surface appearance of these facial animations did not differ, thus participants decisions were based solely on differences in facial movements. Upright, orientation-inverted and luminance-inverted facial stimuli were compared. At occipital and parieto-occipital regions, upright facial motion evoked a transient increase in alpha which was then followed by a significant reduction. This finding is discussed in terms of neural efficiency, gating mechanisms and neural synchronization. Moreover, there was no difference in the amount of alpha suppression evoked by each facial stimulus at occipital regions, suggesting early visual processing remains unaffected by manipulation paradigms. However, upright facial motion evoked greater suppression at parieto-occipital sites, and did so in the shortest latency. Increased activity within this region may reflect higher attentional reorienting to natural facial motion but also involvement of areas associated with the visual control of body effectors. © 2014 Girges et al