Earlier visual N1 latencies in expert video-game players: a temporal basis of enhanced visuospatial performance.

Increasing behavioural evidence suggests that expert video game players (VGPs) show enhanced visual attention and visuospatial abilities, but what underlies these enhancements remains unclear. We administered the Poffenberger paradigm with concurrent electroencephalogram (EEG) recording to assess occipital N1 latencies and interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) in expert VGPs. Participants comprised 15 right-handed male expert VGPs and 16 non-VGP controls matched for age, handedness, IQ and years of education. Expert VGPs began playing before age 10, had a minimum 8 years experience, and maintained playtime of at least 20 hours per week over the last 6 months. Non-VGPs had little-to-no game play experience (maximum 1.5 years). Participants responded to checkerboard stimuli presented to the left and right visual fields while 128-channel EEG was recorded. Expert VGPs responded significantly more quickly than non-VGPs. Expert VGPs also had significantly earlier occipital N1s in direct visual pathways (the hemisphere contralateral to the visual field in which the stimulus was presented). IHTT was calculated by comparing the latencies of occipital N1 components between hemispheres. No significant between-group differences in electrophysiological estimates of IHTT were found. Shorter N1 latencies may enable expert VGPs to discriminate attended visual stimuli significantly earlier than non-VGPs and contribute to faster responding in visual tasks. As successful video-game play requires precise, time pressured, bimanual motor movements in response to complex visual stimuli, which in this sample began during early childhood, these differences may reflect the experience and training involved during the development of video-game expertise, but training studies are needed to test this prediction

Simon-Task Reveals Balanced Visuomotor Control in Experienced Video-Game Players

Both short and long-term video-game play may result in superior performance on visual and attentional tasks. To further these findings, we compared the performance of experienced male video-game players (VGPs) and non-VGPs on a Simon-task. Experienced-VGPs began playing before the age of 10, had a minimum of 8 years of experience and a minimum play time of over 20 h per week over the past 6 months. Our results reveal a significantly reduced Simon-effect in experienced-VGPs relative to non-VGPs. However, this was true only for the right-responses, which typically show a greater Simon-effect than left-responses. In addition, experienced-VGPs demonstrated significantly quicker reaction times and more balanced left-versus-right-hand performance than non-VGPs. Our results suggest that experienced-VGPs can resolve response-selection conflicts more rapidly for right-responses than non-VGPs, and this may in part be underpinned by improved bimanual motor control

Functional characterization of the protease ClpQ in transgenic Plasmodium berghei in immunologically different murine hosts

The protease ClpQ, encoded by the plasmodial gene hslV (PB000649.02.0), is a threonine peptidase, expressed by plasmodia during the late blood stages. Due to its highly conserved sequence among Plasmodium spp., hslV appears to play a fundamental role in plasmodial cell metabolism. This thesis investigates its function by generation and phenotypic characterization of transgenic, hslV-deficient Plasmodium berghei parasites. hslV-deficient parasites showed a substantial growth retardation of the blood stages, which was partially reversed when MyD88-deficient mice were used as a host organism. An explanation for this phenomenon could be a linkage of hslV-mediated signaling of the parasite and Toll-like receptor signaling of the murine host, which leads to improved growth conditions for the invading parasite. These beneficial environment is probably not provided in hslV-deficient parasites or in a MyD88-deficient-host explaining the lower parasite growth rates under those conditions. How these host-parasite-interactions are mediated, is subject of further investigations. In summary, the obtained results suggest that the protease ClpQ may be involved in the modulation of the host’s innate immune response during an infection with Plasmodium berghei, which suggests that ClpQ is a candidate for a plasmodial virulence factor. Its absence in the mammalian host makes ClpQ an attractive target for future interventional approaches. Further research to characterize related molecular pathways is needed to clarify its role during the innate immune response especially in view of future vaccine development strategies.Die Protease ClpQ, die durch das plasmodiale Gen hslV (PB000649.02.0) kodiert wird, ist eine Threoninpeptidase, die von späten Blutstadien der Plasmodien exprimiert wird. Aufgrund seiner in Plasmodium spp. hochkonservierten Sequenz, scheint hslV für den Zellstoffwechsel der Parasiten von grundlegender Bedeutung zu sein. In dieser Arbeit wurde die Funktion von ClpQ anhand eines hslV-Knockouts in Plasmodium berghei und nachfolgender Phänotypisierung der Knockout-Parasiten untersucht. hslV-defiziente Parasiten zeigten erheblich reduzierte Vermehrungsraten der Blutstadien. Dieser Phänotyp war bei der Infektion von MyD88-Knockout-Mäusen mit WT- und hslV-KO-Parasiten nicht signifikant nachweisbar. Das Phänomen ließe sich durch eine Interaktion von plasmodialem hslV mit Toll-like Rezeptoren des Wirtsorganismus, die zu verbesserten Wachstumsbedingungen für den Parasiten führt, erklären. Diese verbesserten Wachstumsbedingungen fehlen in hslV-defizienten Parasiten oder einem MyD88-defizienten Wirtsorganismus, was die reduzierten Vermehrungsraten unter diesen Bedingungen erklären würde. Welche Signalübertragungswege eine solche Parasit-Wirt-Interaktion vermitteln könnten, ist Gegenstand nachfolgender Studien. Zusammengenommen weisen die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit darauf hin, dass ClpQ an der Interaktion des Malariaparasiten mit dem angeborenen Immunsystem des Wirtsorganismus beteiligt ist und dass es sich somit bei hslV um einen möglichen plasmodialen Virulenzfaktor handelt. Die Tatsache, dass ClpQ im Wirtsorganismus nicht vorkommt, macht die Protease zu einem vielversprechenden Zielmolekül für zukünftige Malariatherapeutika bzw. zu einem Impfantigenkandidaten. Im Hinblick auf zukünftige Ansätze zur Malariabehandlung oder –prophylaxe, sollte durch weitere Experimente geklärt werden, welche Signaltransduktionswege in diesem Zusammenhang von Bedeutung sind

Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia Is Associated with Increased Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone in the Dorsal Striatum of Hemi-Parkinsonian Rats

Background Dyskinesias associated with involuntary movements and painful muscle contractions are a common and severe complication of standard levodopa (L-DOPA, L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) therapy for Parkinson's disease. Pathologic neuroplasticity leading to hyper-responsive dopamine receptor signaling in the sensorimotor striatum is thought to underlie this currently untreatable condition. Methodology/Principal Findings Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was employed to evaluate the molecular changes associated with L-DOPA-induced dyskinesias in Parkinson's disease. With this technique, we determined that thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) was greatly increased in the dopamine-depleted striatum of hemi-parkinsonian rats that developed abnormal movements in response to L-DOPA therapy, relative to the levels measured in the contralateral non-dopamine-depleted striatum, and in the striatum of non-dyskinetic control rats. ProTRH immunostaining suggested that TRH peptide levels were almost absent in the dopamine-depleted striatum of control rats that did not develop dyskinesias, but in the dyskinetic rats, proTRH immunostaining was dramatically up-regulated in the striatum, particularly in the sensorimotor striatum. This up-regulation of TRH peptide affected striatal medium spiny neurons of both the direct and indirect pathways, as well as neurons in striosomes. Conclusions/Significance TRH is not known to be a key striatal neuromodulator, but intrastriatal injection of TRH in experimental animals can induce abnormal movements, apparently through increasing dopamine release. Our finding of a dramatic and selective up-regulation of TRH expression in the sensorimotor striatum of dyskinetic rat models suggests a TRH-mediated regulatory mechanism that may underlie the pathologic neuroplasticity driving dopamine hyper-responsivity in Parkinson's disease.Morris K. Udall Center for Excellence in Parkinson’s Research at MGH/MITNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH NS38372)American Parkinson Disease Association, Inc.University of Alabama at BirminghamMassachusetts General HospitalNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (U.S.) (NIDDK/NIH grant R01 DK58148)National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (U.S.) (R01 NINDS/NIH grant NS045231)Stanley H. and Sheila G. Sydney FundMichael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Researc

Trends in Prevalence of Advanced HIV Disease at Antiretroviral Therapy Enrollment - 10 Countries, 2004-2015.

Monitoring prevalence of advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease (i.e., CD4+ T-cell count <200 cells/μL) among persons starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) is important to understand ART program outcomes, inform HIV prevention strategy, and forecast need for adjunctive therapies.*,†,§ To assess trends in prevalence of advanced disease at ART initiation in 10 high-burden countries during 2004-2015, records of 694,138 ART enrollees aged ≥15 years from 797 ART facilities were analyzed. Availability of national electronic medical record systems allowed up-to-date evaluation of trends in Haiti (2004-2015), Mozambique (2004-2014), and Namibia (2004-2012), where prevalence of advanced disease at ART initiation declined from 75% to 34% (p<0.001), 73% to 37% (p<0.001), and 80% to 41% (p<0.001), respectively. Significant declines in prevalence of advanced disease during 2004-2011 were observed in Nigeria, Swaziland, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe. The encouraging declines in prevalence of advanced disease at ART enrollment are likely due to scale-up of testing and treatment services and ART-eligibility guidelines encouraging earlier ART initiation. However, in 2015, approximately a third of new ART patients still initiated ART with advanced HIV disease. To reduce prevalence of advanced disease at ART initiation, adoption of World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended "treat-all" guidelines and strategies to facilitate earlier HIV testing and treatment are needed to reduce HIV-related mortality and HIV incidence

Social Studies, Science, and Civics: Teacher Education and Citizen Science in the 21st Century

Citizen science, research in which members of the public actively contribute scientific data, has recently evolved as a means to support scientific inquiry in the classroom, particularly in fields related to ecology and environmental science. Our research focuses on a collaborative project with teacher candidates, a science education professor, and a social studies education professor at a Canadian university. Teacher candidates were engaged in the classroom and beyond as they explored topics related to civics education and evidence-based decision making. Our findings demonstrate the potential effectiveness of a citizen science lens for science, social studies, and generalist teachers. Key Words: citizen science, citizenship/civics education, science education, social studies education, teacher education La science citoyenne, c'est-à-dire la recherche dans laquelle les membres du public contribuent activement aux données scientifiques, a récemment évolué comme un moyen de soutenir la recherche scientifique en classe, en particulier dans les domaines liés à l'écologie et aux sciences de l'environnement. Notre recherche porte sur un projet de collaboration avec de futurs enseignants, un professeur d'enseignement des sciences et un professeur d'enseignement des sciences sociales dans une université canadienne. Les candidats à l'enseignement se sont engagés dans la salle de classe et au-delà en explorant des sujets liés à l'éducation civique et à la prise de décision fondée sur des preuves. Nos résultats démontrent l'efficacité potentielle d'une optique de science citoyenne pour les professeurs de sciences, d'études sociales et les enseignants généralistes. Mots clés : science citoyenne; éducation à la citoyenneté/civique; enseignement des sciences; enseignement des études sociales; formation des enseignant

Early engineering: An introduction to young children's potential

Early Engineering Learning comprises two main sections presenting a mix of research studies, theoretical advancements, and classroom empirical examples. As such, this book provides a rich resource for researchers, policy makers, curriculum developers, and classroom teachers alike. Engineering learning is a significant yet underrepresented field in early education, despite being one of the most practical and real-world domains that all children can engage in. As evident in the chapters of this book, young children are eminently capable of solving engineering-based problems; indeed, they do this on a daily basis. Engineering education integrates readily and meaningfully not only within the other STEM domains, but also with literature and the arts more broadly. Various approaches to early engineering learning are showcased throughout this book, with engineering design processes and habits of mind featured prominently. Not only are these design and thinking processes foundational to early engineering but can also enhance learning across several other disciplines