A Combined Therapeutic Regimen of Buspirone and Environmental Enrichment is more Efficacrious than Either Alone in Enhancing Spatial Learning in Brain-Injured Rats

Abstract Buspirone, a 5-HT1A receptor agonist, and environmental enrichment (EE) enhance cognition and reduce histopathology after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in adult rats, but have not been fully evaluated after pediatric TBI, which is the leading cause of death in children. Hence, the aims of this study were to assess the efficacy of buspirone alone (Experiment 1) and in combination with EE (Experiment 2) in TBI postnatal day-17 male rats. The hypothesis was that both therapies would confer cognitive and histological benefits when provided singly, but their combination would be more efficacious. Anesthetized rats received a cortical impact or sham injury and then were randomly assigned to receive intraperitoneal injections ofbuspirone (0.08 mg/kg, 0.1 mg/kg, and 0.3 mg/kg) or saline vehicle (1.0 mL/kg) 24 h after surgery and once daily for 16 days (Experiment 1). Spatial learning and memory were assessed using the Morris water maze (MWM) on post-operative days 11-16, and cortical lesion volume was quantified on day 17. Sham controls for each condition were significantly better than all TBI groups. In the TBI groups, buspirone (0.1 mg/kg) enhanced MWM performance versus vehicle and buspirone (0.08 mg/kg and 0.3 mg/kg) (p\u3c0.05) and reduced lesion volume relative to vehicle (p=0.038). In Experiment 2, buspirone (0.1 mg/kg) or vehicle was combined with EE after TBI, and the data were compared to the standard (STD)-housed groups from Experiment 1. EE lead to a significant enhancement of spatial learning and a reduction in lesion size versus STD. Moreover, the combined treatment group (buspirone+EE) performed markedly better than the buspirone+STD and vehicle+EE groups, which suggests an additive effect and supports the hypothesis. The data replicate previous studies assessing these therapies in adult rats. These novel findings may have important rehabilitation-relevant implications for clinical pediatric TBI

A Multisite Preregistered Paradigmatic Test of the Ego-Depletion Effect

We conducted a preregistered multilaboratory project (k = 36; N = 3,531) to assess the size and robustness of ego-depletion effects using a novel replication method, termed the paradigmatic replication approach. Each laboratory implemented one of two procedures that was intended to manipulate self-control and tested performance on a subsequent measure of self-control. Confirmatory tests found a nonsignificant result (d = 0.06). Confirmatory Bayesian meta-analyses using an informed-prior hypothesis (δ = 0.30, SD = 0.15) found that the data were 4 times more likely under the null than the alternative hypothesis. Hence, preregistered analyses did not find evidence for a depletion effect. Exploratory analyses on the full sample (i.e., ignoring exclusion criteria) found a statistically significant effect (d = 0.08); Bayesian analyses showed that the data were about equally likely under the null and informed-prior hypotheses. Exploratory moderator tests suggested that the depletion effect was larger for participants who reported more fatigue but was not moderated by trait self-control, willpower beliefs, or action orientation.</p

Building a Systematic Online Living Evidence Summary of COVID-19 Research

Throughout the global coronavirus pandemic, we have seen an unprecedented volume of COVID-19 researchpublications. This vast body of evidence continues to grow, making it difficult for research users to keep up with the pace of evolving research findings. To enable the synthesis of this evidence for timely use by researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders, we developed an automated workflow to collect, categorise, and visualise the evidence from primary COVID-19 research studies. We trained a crowd of volunteer reviewers to annotate studies by relevance to COVID-19, study objectives, and methodological approaches. Using these human decisions, we are training machine learning classifiers and applying text-mining tools to continually categorise the findings and evaluate the quality of COVID-19 evidence

Grizzly Bears and Their Management in the Western Bitterroot Ecosystem

Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) were extirpated from central Idaho’s Bitterroot Ecosystem (BE) by 1946. After a failed attempt to reintroduce grizzlies to the BE in the 1990s, individual grizzlies have been documented in the region since 2007, dispersing from other established populations to the north. To explore BE residents’ tolerance towards grizzlies and their management and who they trust and do not trust for grizzly management, this research uses interviews and focus groups to collect data that can inform proactive conservation and management efforts amidst potential natural recovery. Results indicate: (1) distrust of management agencies and conservation organizations that stems from general perceptions of untrustworthiness and the wolf reintroduction that occurred in central Idaho in the mid-1990s, (2) trust-building preferences, including accessible staff and participatory opportunities, and ways for agencies and organizations to increase perceptions of trustworthiness, (3) intolerance towards management that stems from perceptions of an inequitable constitutive process that excludes BE residents from decision-making, potential threats from Endangered Species Act regulations, and a lack of clarity about current and future management plans, (4) preferred actions to increase tolerance towards management, including a decentralized decision-making process, educational outreach about grizzlies, and a hunting season, (5) intolerance towards grizzlies that stems from safety, economic, and cultural concerns, and (6) tolerance towards grizzlies that stems from appreciation and the belief in their right to exist. These findings suggest that improved communication efforts about management intentions and a more equitable constitutive process may address issues of social injustice and some of the material and non-material costs of grizzly presence to improve BE residents’ tolerance and foster more trusting relationships.masters, M.S., Natural Resources -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2022-0