Fostering Student’s Engagement and Active Learning in Neuroscience Education

[EN] Neurophobia is a term coined to describe university students’ fear of neuroscience, which negatively affect learning. The implementation of new technologies in higher education, such as new response systems, provide an opportunity to improve neurosciences learning and teaching by engaging students. However, most response systems rely on student devices such as clickers. The aim of this study is to illustrate the application of a new digital application for collection of real-time formative assessment data in higher education. Results of this study support the utility paper-based response cards to foster engagement and active learning in higher education, even with complex neuroscience topics, providing real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices

The role of stress in drug addiction. An integrative review

[EN] Background: The high prevalence and burden to society of drug abuse and addiction is undisputed. However, its conceptualisation as a brain disease is controversial, and available interventions insufficient. Research on the role of stress in drug addiction may bridge positions and develop more effective interventions. Aim: The aim of this paper is to integrate the most influential literature to date on the role of stress in drug addiction. Methods: A literature search was conducted of the core collections of Web of Science and Semantic Scholar on the topic of stress and addiction from a neurobiological perspective in humans. The most frequently cited articles and related references published in the last decade were finally redrafted into a narrative review based on 130 full-text articles. Results and discussion: First, a brief overview of the neurobiology of stress and drug addiction is provided. Then, the role of stress in drug addiction is described. Stress is conceptualised as a major source of allostatic load, which result in progressive long-term changes in the brain, leading to a drug-prone state characterized by craving and increased risk of relapse. The effects of stress on drug addiction are mainly mediated by the action of corticotropin-releasing factor and other stress hormones, which weaken the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex and strengthen the amygdala, leading to a negative emotional state, craving and lack of executive control, increasing the risk of relapse. Both, drugs and stress result in an allostatic overload responsible for neuroa- daptations involved in most of the key features of addiction: reward anticipation/craving, negative affect, and impaired executive functions, involved in three stages of addiction and relapse. Conclusion: This review elucidates the crucial role of stress in drug addiction and highlights the need to in- corporate the social context where brain-behaviour relationships unfold into the current model of addition

Análisis del efecto de la exposición a información, del sexo y de la edad sobre las preferencias de tratamiento en depresión leve a moderada

Estudios previos han encontrado que la atención a las preferencias de los pacientes acorta la duración del tratamiento en depresión. Sin embargo, no se conocen las variables que influyen en las preferencias por cada modalidad de tratamiento (psicofarmacológica/psicoterapéutica/combinada). El objetivo del presente estudio es analizar el efecto de la exposición a información mínima sobre eficacia terapéutica, el sexo y la edad de los participantes en sus preferencias de tratamiento. A través de redes sociales, se encuestó a 335 personas sobre preferencias de tratamiento en depresión. La exposición a información no influyó en el grado de preferencia por una u otra. La preferencia por el tratamiento farmacológico fue inferior al psicoterapéutico en mujeres y jóvenes. Los principales motivos expresados fueron la confianza en la terapia combinada y en la psicoterapia. Se discuten las implicaciones para el abordaje del tratamiento de depresión.Previous studies have found that matching patients’ preferences is a strong predictor of a shorter treatment duration in depression. However, variables for patients’ preference towards each treatment type (psychopharmacological/ psychotherapeutic/combined) are unclear. This study aims to analyze the effect of exposure to minimal information on the therapeutic efficacy of each treatment type, the sex and the age of participants, on their treatment preferences. Three hundred and thirty-five people were surveyed through two social networks. Exposure to information on the efficacy of each type of treatment did not influence the degree of preference for any of them. However, preference for the pharmacological treatment was lower than for psychotherapeutic treatment in women and young people. Main reasons indicated were confidence in combination therapy and in psychotherapy. Implications for the treatment of depression are discussed. Dirección d

Editorial: Psychophysiology of Stress

Stress is a multifactorial complex phenomenon where organic resources are mobilized to deal with a real or perceived threat (Cohen et al., 1983). The stress response is one of the most important phylogenetic coping mechanisms that have allowed humans to successfully adapt to highly demanding and potentially dangerous contexts (Hadany et al., 2006; Korzan and Summers, 2021). The intrinsic neurobiological mechanisms involved in the stress response have not changed much in the last stages of the evolution of the human being, prominently including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and the autonomic nervous system (Ulrich-Lai and Herman, 2009;McEwen et al., 2015; Cohen et al., 2016). In contrast, our social context has changed dramatically recently in evolutionary terms

Technological innovations in biomedical training and practice

As we become more integrated into a global world, technological advances and teaching innovation that are grounded in Science have become crucial. Rapid advancements in science education and information technology provide promising resources that require many academic disciplines to work together. Developing new tools and defining new methodologies to share educational experiences, including empirical studies that support their efficiency, constitute a promising approach to improve Health Sciences. The aim of this session is to encourage and enable the exchange of information related with the advance and support of Health Science Education. In this paper the authors summarize the recent advances in technological innovations in biomedical training and practice. Most of the main trends in this field are reviewed, including: training in health sciences through a variety of resources such as computer simulations, stereoscopic visualization systems with augmented reality glasses, computer platforms for managing and using resources and documents; the generation of three-dimensional images developed with commercial software for 3D reconstruction; medical and surgical simulation using Virtual Reality (RV) and Augmented Reality (AR); the role of stereoscopic vision systems in the health sciences; and the use of teaching medical material reconstructed with 3D printers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New technologies in health education and research

The studies in this track provided an updated overview of different technological innovation procedures in distinct health science fields. Thus, technological applications from medical imaging treatment and three-dimensional visualization to simulation systems useful in clinical practice training (simulations with mannequins, training with manual control devices, virtual reality techniques with stereo vision helmets, amongst others) are presented. The main objective of these procedures is to improve the quality of university teaching and continuing education, using the latest resources, which are starting to be implemented in different universities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Psychological (In) Flexibility Mediates the Effect of Loneliness on Psychological Stress. Evidence from a Large Sample of University Professors

This study was funded by the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (Ecuador) (Research Project PROY.PSC.1055 and the National Council for the Control of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (CONSEP). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Ethics Committee for Research in Human Beings (Comité de Ética de Investigación en Seres Humanos, CEISH) of the Ministry of Public Health of the Republic of Ecuador (MSP-DIS-2015-0088-O, 29 June 2015).The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy and ethical reasons.Psychological stress, loneliness, and psychological inflexibility are associated with poorer mental health and professional performance in university teachers. However, the relationship between these variables is understudied. The aim of the present study is to analyze the mediating role of psychological (in)flexibility on the effect of loneliness on psychological stress. A total of 902 professors from 11 universities in Ecuador were analyzed using standardized scales: the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) to assess psychological stress, the Loneliness Scale Revised-Short (UCLA-3) for loneliness, and the Avoidance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-7) and Life Engagement Test as double measures of psychological (in)flexibility. Mediation was tested by using PROCESS macro for SPSS. The results indicated that psychological flexibility mediated the relationship between loneliness and stress in university professors, regardless of sex and the measure of psychological (in)flexibility considered. The practical implications of the results are discussed herein.Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja (Ecuador) PROY.PSC.1055National Council for the Control of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (CONSEP

Integración de la metodología CLIL en la docencia de Psicología Fisiológica

Memoria ID-0189. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2017-2018