Personhood, Identity & Artificial Intelligence

                             Personhood and Identity: Finding oneself in modern times 

Personhood-- the concrete definition of what it means to be a person is a question that has baffled philosophers and scientists for centuries. While the concept of personhood seems like one that is known, everyone has a different basis for the way in which they define it. This has been the center of the issue for constructing an objective definition of personhood. Two distinct, but also overlapping approaches regarding personhood are rooted from Naturalism vs Nihilism-- from the biological and philosophical/ethical bases of what it means to be human. What has been found, is that personhood is " the product of an evolved brain system that develops innately and projects itself automatically and irrepressibly onto the world whenever triggered by stimulus figures" (Farah et. Al 2007). This model meshes and encompasses both aspects of the ethical and philosophical, as well as biological, aspects which ultimately govern and distinguish personhood. The concept of personhood relies heavily upon the existence of brain networks that are triggered by "stimulus figures", which can be constituted by anything ranging from a smiley face, to recognizing contingent human behavior even when aware that the stimulus is not a person. Essentially, this principal exemplifies that humans tend to attribute human like qualities in order distinguish humanness from the absence of it, and this personhood is largely impacted by this innate brain model (Farah et. Al 2007). In the modern era, the prevalence of technology-- especially artificial intelligence-- blurs the line between natural human cognition and technology based on human behavior. The advancement of this type of technology ultimately aims to replicate the human experience and personhood, but can also have detrimental effects on the way people view personhood and distinguish their sense of self.

    The question of how personhood is defined is articulated in the paper by Farah et. Al, and focuses on certain mechanisms of the brain which attribute personhood to how the brain represents " the appearance, actions and thoughts of of people in a distinct set of regions, different from those used to represent the appearance, movements and properties of other entities". Other mechanisms which aid in the perception of personhood is "the tendency of the person network to be triggered by certain stimulus features even when we are aware that the stimulus is not human". These characteristics of what it means to be human serve in brain systems which attribute human like characteristics to sometimes even inhuman objects-- further solidifying the ideal that perception of personhood is largely based on the human experience and looking for it in other aspects of the world. Neuroscience has functioned to show us that personhood is to a certain extent objective-- that it is constructed by our brain and projected onto the world around us. 

    Living in the modern era, the majority of the world is exposed to the effects of modern technology and social media in one way or another. Humans are constantly being influenced by technology and social media in one way or another; consciously or subconsciously. Ads, campaigns, products, and endorsements are constantly being fed to humans via social media-- the presence of artificial intelligence and technology that mimics human behavior is becoming almost indistinguishable from actual human behavior due to the current state and progress of technology. The progress of Artificial Intelligence may be beneficial in efforts to revolutionize the world as we know it, but many have reservations on this as it severely disrupts the perception of personhood and intensely blurs the distinctions attributed to personhood. According to an article by Dina Babushkina on the implications of AI, there has to be work done to "identify the risks that the modern technology creates for personhood and the concrete vulnerabilities of the agency in the light of the use of technology". She further states that there needs to be more research done on the possible harmful effects related to the rise of the influence of AI, and "the problem of hybridization of agency (human-technology hybrids) and to explore the disruptive potential of technology for the cognitive practices of a human". Ultimately-- researchers like Babushkina, among various others, are asking the questions regarding AI which need to be asked; is morphing technology and human nature more harmful to the human experience than it is beneficial? 

    In a world where technology is progressing faster than most can keep up to, its important for scientists to step in and understand how the influence of technology and AI on humans can cause a major disruption and shift in personhood-- in quantifying and understanding what it means to be human. Blurring the line between technology and the nature of being human can ultimately have far worse implications than benefits. 

                                                                                 Sources

Babushkina, D., Votsis, A. Disruption, technology and the question of (artificial) identity. AI Ethics 2, 611–622 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-021-00110-y

Martha J. Farah & Andrea S. Heberlein (2007) Personhood andNeuroscience: Naturalizing or Nihilating?, The American Journal of Bioethics, 7:1, 37-48, DOI:10.1080/15265160601064199

Biological Mechanisms that Effect Parkinson's Disease

   

Do we value our brains enough?

Everything we do, experience or think about begins with our brains. Studying the most complex organ that we have, neuroscience can pertain to all aspects of our lives. We can find reasons to why we feel more connected to some things and why we choose to avoid others. While we think we control our brain, perhaps the brain is what controls us. Maybe, the brain that formulates our questions about life is what also answers them. The brain can be our ultimate source to define humanity and what it means to be human.

As we use our brains to explore many parts of our world, we also survey ourselves as humans. For example, Joe Vukov and his colleagues try to find a definition for what it means to be a person by using the study of neuroscience. In their article, “Personhood and Neuroscience: Naturalizing or Nihilating?" the researchers tried to understand and define personhood by researching the human thought system (Farah et al. 2007). The researchers analyze different perspectives from thinkers in the past like Locke, Kant, and Dennet to discuss that many studies thought that there is a concept of person but didn’t realize that cognitive neuroscience is what creates this concept. The researchers find that ultimately, each of our brains makes its own decisions and criteria as to what personhood really means and how it controls our lives (Farah et al. 2007). 

Vukov and colleagues believe that our brains control us. That is why we can study our brains to understand many other things we choose to do in our lives. For example, our brains can define our desires in our lives and why many choose to practice and rely on religion. Similarly, in the article, “The neuroscience of religious and spiritual experience,” Anna Sandoui suggests that the brain can help us understand what and why we think about spirituality (Sandoui 2018). The article states that there is even a special branch of neuroscience for this type of study, called “neurotheology” (Sandoui 2018). The author explains that many researchers in this field hypothesize that because our prefrontal cortex is what controls our decision-making, practicing and relying on religion helps our brain not have to make many big decisions in our lives.

Ultimately, we need to understand that our brains have more worth than we give them. The two types of research show us that we can explore and investigate all kinds of information with our brains. The study of neuroscience is an emerging field, and will grow even more, the more we try to find answers to our many questions. In conclusion, we just need to make the decision to give more value to our brains. Of course, this isn’t possible without the help of our brains.

References:

Sandoiu, A. (2018, July 20). The neuroscience of religious and spiritual experience. Medical News Today. Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322539 

Farah, Martha J., Heberlein, Andrea S. (2007). Personhood and Neuroscience: Naturalizing or Nihilating? The American Journal of Bioethics, 7:1, 37-48, DOI: 10.1080/15265160601064199, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15265160601064199

The importance of sleep in memory.

 

The discussion surrounding the mechanisms behind homeostatic and circadian control of sleep is important in learning how sleep deprivation affects organisms. In their article "Circadian programming of the ellipsoid body sleep homeostat on Drosophila", Allada and colleagues provide insight into the role of R5 ellipsoid body (EB) by sleep depriving (SD) flies to determine how it affects sleep rebound. The results of this article show evidence to support sleep homeostasis is regulated through a circadian control that causes the homeostat to go up at night and maintain sleep and lower in the morning to sustain wakefulness. The interaction of sleep homeostasis and circadian control of sleep is defined by the two-process model of sleep. Where circadian control of sleep can be seen with phasic cycles of melatonin increases and body temperature but can also respond to environmental cues like the sun. The sleep homeostasis is based on the increase in sleep debt when one does not get enough quality sleep.

Sleep deprivation has become a very common and many studies have shown the effects it can have on mood, performance in tasks, immune function, and cognitive abilities. A study published in frontiers “Effect of sleep deprivation on the working memory-related N2-P3 components of the event-related potential waveform” Peng et. al, design three working memory tasks to observe the cognitive impairments in the participants after total sleep deprivation. These tasks included a pronunciation working memory, spatial working memory and object working memory. They had sixteen participants that had been regularly sleeping for 7-9 hours per day. The participants performed the tasks after a night of sleep first. Then after a 36-hour total sleep deprivation period performed the tasks again. The results showed an increase in the reaction time for the individuals during the cognitive task while there was a decrease in the accuracy.  Peng and colleagues show that the lack of sleep influences the quality of the information stored and the rate at which the information is processed. 

The Importance of Nature on Children’s Cognitive Development

            In an increasingly urban and industrialized world, easy access to a healthy and holistic environment as it relates to nature is becoming increasingly difficulty to maintain. This is specially concerning given the strong relationship that is present between cognitive development and healthy environments. In the study by Berman et al., the authors discuss how the relationship between an individual’s physical environment plays a huge role in their neuronal development, and how this is a newly developing filed of high salience to the future direction of neuroscience. In the study by Flouri et al., the researchers discuss how access to green space increases children’s capacity for emotional and behavioral resilience and regulation. When considered together, both studies demonstrate how the physical environment around individuals plays a huge part in their cognitive and neuronal development and function, which in turn shows how the intersection between environment and neuroscience is a relationship that should be heavily emphasized and studied in future research.

            In the paper “Environmental Neuroscience” by Marc G. Berman et al., the team of researchers discuss the importance of environmental neuroscience, a growing sub field of neuroscience that explores the relationship between organisms and the social/physical environments they come from (Berman et al., 2019). The researchers discussed a few different experiments to highlight the relationship between nature and cognitive/neuronal functioning. In one of these experiments, the researchers found that participants who were able to take walks in nature performed better on working memory tasks than those who did not (Berman et al., 2019). The researchers also found that increased exposure to nature results in decreased aggression, better mood, and better attention (Berman et al., 2019). Furthermore, Berman and colleagues discussed the possible role that exposure to nature can have on decreasing stress levels and increasing capacity for attention through a restorative fashion. All in all, the discussion surrounding environmental neuroscience by Berman and his colleagues shows that exposure to nature can play a mediating and restorative role in our cognitive and neuronal function.

            The implications of environmental neuroscience are made even more clear in the article “The Role of Urban Neighborhood Green Space in Children’s Emotional and Behavioural Resilience” by Flouri et al. In this study, a sample of youth from the United Kingdom is tested for their behavior and emotional patterns as they relate to the exposure to green space they have access to. The authors quantified the area of green space that the children had easy access to and saw that increased green space lead to decrease behavioral problems (Flouri et al., 2014). Furthermore, the authors also found that this relationship extended beyond socioeconomic status. Often times, correlations between youth cognitive factors and green space is moderated by the SES of the youth; wealthier children generally have greater access to green space, which usually also indicates better access to a higher quality of education, activities, etc. This study, however, found that youth with lower SES statuses from urban areas had fewer emotional problems and that green space can promote emotional well-being (Flouri et al., 2014). This shows that nature can play a huge part in the affect regulation of developing youth, and that this intersection may be a possible intervention for youth with trouble surrounding affect regulation

            Berman and colleagues established the importance of environmental neuroscience while Flouri and colleagues exemplified this importance. The study by Berman et al broadly discussed the importance of studying the environment of subjects in an effort to better understand their neuroscience. Flouri gave a specific example of this model as it relates to youth. Both studies served to show that exposure to nature, specially in the developmental phase that comes with childhood, can play a moderating role in many cognitive functions such as mood, affect, memory, attention, and more.

            

 

 

Works Cited

Berman, Marc G., et al. “Environmental Neuroscience.” American Psychologist, vol. 74, no. 9, 2019, pp. 1039–1052., https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000583. 

Flouri, Eirini, et al. “The Role of Urban Neighbourhood Green Space in Children's Emotional and Behavioural Resilience.” Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 40, Dec. 2014, pp. 179–186., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.06.007. 

Fear Conditioning and Virtual Reality

  

                                                        Fear Conditioning and Virtual Reality 

Rathna Kalluri 

Website URL: https://www.brainfacts.org/diseases-and-disorders/mental-health/2021/virtual-reality-is-creating-a-safe-space-to-face-your-fears-with-some-caveats-031621

Stephanie L. Grella’s research article, “Reactivating hippocampal-mediated memories during reconsolidating to disrupt fear” details the study she performed on mice related to the processing of fear. In this study, Grella tests a potential method to treat fears and phobias through memory reconsolidating. This is a method that involves reconditioning memories that were previously associated with fearful reactions to more positive conditions, thus “updating” the memory so that it is no longer associated with fear. To test this theory, Grella and her team used the Tet-tag system in order to identify and distinguish the positive, negative, and neutral memories and the neurons that are activated when those are experienced within mice. The memories were then artificially reactivated, and a positive memory is optically simulated while the negative neuron is active. This study showed that positive interference during reactivation of a fearful memory can disrupt the level of fear felt and help reduce the amount of fear that a person is capable of feeling. This is a method of treatment that could be incredibly impactful in the treatment of anxiety disorders, and even PTSD. 

Another article that I found that also discusses methods of fear conditioning is one that was published on March 16, 2021 by Hannah Thomasy. This article, entitled “Virtual Reality is Creating a Safe Space to Face Your Fears, With some Caveats”, discusses VR and its abilities to help people with fears and anxieties face their fears. VR therapy is said to improve various phobias, and has potential positive effects with regards to the treatment of PTSD as well. The article describes how virtual reality could be a more inexpensive way to treat fears and phobias. This article was connected to Grella’s research article in my opinion because it made me think of ways to potentially unite the two treatment methods. I feel like finding a way to combing the two therapies could be a way to provide someone with a more comprehensive way to tackle fears and anxiety.  This combination of treatments could also be used to treat more complex disorders that are associated with anxiety, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Works Cited 

Grella, Stephanie L., et al. “Reactivating Hippocampal-Mediated Memories during Reconsolidation to Disrupt Fear.” Nature Communications, vol. 13, no. 1, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32246-8. 

Thomasy, Hannah. “Virtual Reality Is Creating a Safe Space to Face Your Fears, with Some Caveats.” BrainFacts.org, https://www.brainfacts.org/diseases-and-disorders/mental-health/2021/virtual-reality-is-creating-a-safe-space-to-face-your-fears-with-some-caveats-031621. 

Sudden Gains in Two Trauma-Focused Treatments for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

 

PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a mental health condition that can develop in response to a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a car accident, or a violent assault. It is characterized by symptoms such as flashbacks, in which the person experiences vivid and distressing memories of the trauma as if it were happening again; nightmares, in which the person experiences vivid and distressing dreams related to the trauma; avoidance of reminders of the trauma, such as certain places, people, or activities; and intense feelings of fear and anxiety.

Other symptoms of PTSD can include irritability and angry outbursts, difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, and hyper vigilance, or an increased state of alertness. People with PTSD may also experience physical symptoms such as a racing heart, sweating, or trembling. These symptoms can interfere with the person's daily life and relationships and can lead to other mental health conditions such as depression or substance abuse.

PTSD is a treatable condition, and there are several effective treatments available. These can include cognitive-behavioral therapy, which helps the person to change the way they think and react to the traumatic event; exposure therapy, in which the person gradually confronts their fears and memories of the trauma; and medication, such as antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications, which can help to reduce the symptoms of PTSD.

 

         In the article “Sudden Gains in Two-Trauma Focused Treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” the current study examined the role of cognitive change and emotional expression in cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and written exposure therapy (WET), two types of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study found that the percentage of participants who experienced sudden gains and the magnitude of the sudden gains did not differ between the two treatments. The study also found that experiencing a sudden gain predicted better PTSD treatment outcomes in both therapies and that self-reported cognitive change preceded sudden gains in one study of cognitive therapy for PTSD. The study used the CHANGE coding system to examine negative beliefs about the self and others in the first narratives of WET and CPT as predictors of sudden gains in the trial. The study included 126 treatment-seeking adults diagnosed with PTSD who were randomized to either WET or CPT. Participants were required to meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and to be stable on any psychiatric medication for at least four weeks. Potential participants were excluded if they were at high risk for suicide, were actively psychotic or manic, had severe cognitive impairment, met criteria for severe substance abuse, or were engaged in PTSD-focused psychotherapy. Sudden gains were identified using ratings on the PTSD.

The results of the study showed that the percentage of participants who experienced sudden gains and the magnitude of the sudden gains did not differ between the two treatments. In addition, experiencing a sudden gain predicted better PTSD treatment outcomes in both therapies. The study also found that self-reported cognitive change preceded sudden gains in one study of cognitive therapy for PTSD. The CHANGE coding system was used to examine negative beliefs about the self and others in the first narratives of WET and CPT as predictors of sudden gains in the trial. The study also investigated whether more expression of negative emotions in the narratives was associated with experiencing a sudden gain.

In conclusion, the study found that the percentage of participants who experienced sudden gains and the magnitude of the sudden gains did not differ between the two treatments and that experiencing a sudden gain predicted better PTSD treatment outcomes in both therapies. The study also found that self-reported cognitive change preceded sudden gains in one study of cognitive therapy for PTSD. The CHANGE coding system was used to examine negative beliefs about the self and others in the first narratives of WET and CPT as predictors of sudden gains in the trial.

         In the article called “Reactivating hippocampal-mediated memories during reconsolidation to disrupt fear” by Stephanie L. Grella et al discusses a study that explored the use of memory reactivation and reconsolidation as a potential therapeutic mechanism for reducing conditioned fear in individuals with anxiety disorders such as PTSD. The researchers used a mouse model to show that reactivating memories associated with a positive experience during memory recall can disrupt the consolidation of negative memories, leading to a reduction in conditioned fear. These findings suggest that targeting the dorsal dentate gyrus could be a potential therapeutic approach for reducing fear in individuals with anxiety disorders such as PTSD.

         In both articles, PTSD is used as a condition that can be treated using cognitive-behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, and medication. In the first article, "Sudden Gains in Two-Trauma Focused Treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," PTSD is used as the primary focus of the study, which examines the role of cognitive change and emotional expression in cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and written exposure therapy (WET), two treatments for PTSD. The study aims to investigate whether sudden gains in therapy are predictive of better treatment outcomes and whether negative beliefs and emotional expression are associated with sudden gains in treatment. In the second article, "Reactivating hippocampal-mediated memories during reconsolidation to disrupt fear," PTSD is used as an example of an anxiety disorder that can be treated using memory reactivation and reconsolidation. The study shows that reactivating memories associated with a positive experience during memory recall can disrupt the consolidation of negative memories, leading to a reduction in conditioned fear. This finding suggests that targeting the dorsal dentate gyrus could be a potential therapeutic approach for reducing fear in individuals with anxiety disorders such as PTSD.

 

 

 

                                                 References

Grella, Stephanie L., et al. “Reactivating Hippocampal-Mediated Memories during Reconsolidation to Disrupt Fear.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 12 Sept. 2022, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32246-8.  

Author links open overlay panelDenise M.SloanPersonEnvelopeJohannaThompson-HollandsAdele M.HayesDaniel J.LeeElizabethAlpertBrian P.Marx, et al. “Sudden Gains in Two Trauma-Focused Treatments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.” Behavior Therapy, Elsevier, 30 Aug. 2021, https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0005789421001076?token=7B1045AF07C4FB6204D1D7309771835DBE0BF4D02903E54A58A6821D33A9BE988B2C4D8E08B647DD002B412ED3C57609&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20221215005237.

 

 

 

 

The Circadian Clock, Your Body’s Internal Homeostat

     Understanding the importance of your body’s circadian clock and how it shapes your eating and sleeping habits can be one of the most important things in living a healthy life. Many scientists have spent years researching the body’s circadian clock, some even taking it a step further to study the circadian clock in animals. Specifically, the circadian programming in Drosophila, also known as fruit flies, has been investigated in a lab in the Department of Neurobiology at Northwestern University. Tomas Andreani and his team have worked to determine the way in which the circadian clock and R5 sleep homeostat work together to regulate sleep in Drosophila. Their work, Circadian Programming of the Ellipsoid Body Sleep Homeostat in Drosophila, described how they scheduled 2.5 hour periods of sleep deprivation and assessed the sleep rebound for 4.5 hours at different times throughout the day, over a 7 day period, until all 24 hours of the day had been assessed. Comparisons were made to flies’ baseline sleep in order to determine the level of rebound sleep that had occurred. Overall, it was noted that homeostatic regulation was influenced by the circadian clock. In parallel, a recent news article, Your Body Has an Internal Clock that Dictates When you Eat, Sleep and Might Have a Heart Attack, All Based on Time of Day, written by Dr. Shogo Sato, outlines some of the major hormones and daily actions that affect your circadian rhythm. Furthermore, Sato describes his analysis of tissue samples harvested from mice in the early morning and late evening using mass spectrometry to look at exercise metabolism. Let us look deeper into what your circadian rhythm is and how it affects both the internal cycle of humans and Drosophila.

Let’s begin with the first study, Circadian Programming of the Ellipsoid Body Sleep Homeostat in Drosophila by Tomas Andreani and his colleagues: Clark Rosensweig, Shiju Sisobhan, Emmanuel Ogunlana, William Kath, and Ravi Allada. In contrast with the news article, this paper discussed how the circadian clock works independently of one’s sleep homeostat to regulate sleep. We can characterize sleep, as the period of time in which changes in neuronal activity and increased arousal thresholds are observed and circadian and homeostatic regulation takes place. One’s sleep homeostat operates in a feedback loop that consists of 4 stages: wake, factor, sensor, outputs. When one is sleep deprived, a decrease in motor function, memory, and efficiency can be observed in addition to an increased chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease or depression. In this study, Drosophila were used because they are a well-established model for studying circadian rhythms and sleep. They were exposed to 7-hour sleep deprivation and recovery cycles and underwent homeostatic testing every hour. The results found that sleep rebound remains consistent throughout the entire trial indicating that fruit flies make a full recovery in the allotted rebound time. Furthermore, rebound was significantly higher in the morning compared to the evening in which rebound was observed to be suppressed. In the news article, Sato observed a similar pattern in the tissue samples obtained from mice in the early morning. These differences in the Drosophila were observed in correlation to increases in calcium levels. Extended wakefulness in Drosophila was tied to elevated calcium levels and the inhibition of calcium allowed for reduced rebound which supports the role of calcium signaling in behavioral output. In conclusion, although the two operate independently of one another, the effects of one can influence the other and sleep deprivation can lead to a higher rebound in the morning compared to the afternoon.

Shifting focus to Dr. Shogo Sato’s article in Eat This, Not That, Your Body Has an Internal Clock that Dictates When you Eat, Sleep and Might Have a Heart Attack, All Based on Time of Day, Sato elaborates on the impacts of your daily routine on your circadian cycle and vice versa. In his own work, Sato used mass spectrometry to analyze tissue samples from mice who had exercised in the early morning or late evening to try and determine if metabolic rates varied depending on the time of day exercise occurred. His data led to the formation of the “atlas of exercise metabolism”, which revealed a common pattern. Similar to the findings surrounding rebound rates in the first study, the tissue of the mice who exercised in the morning showed higher metabolic rates than those who exercised in the evening. Specifically, the tissues from the morning showed reduced blood glucose levels. Nonetheless, evening exercise also had its own benefit in the fact that mice were able to utilize stored energy from their meals throughout the day to boost their endurance. Another main point of Sato's article was that your daily routine impacts your circadian cycle, by way of the body’s endocrine system. The pineal gland in humans is the site of melatonin release and this release can be altered by the presence of artificial blue light before bed. Another hormone, leptin, which controls the body’s appetite is regulated by sleep. When your sleep cycle is off, your appetite shifts and you may find yourself craving food at abnormal times throughout the day or experiencing a lack of appetite. Overall, Sato proposes that regular sunlight exposure, daily activity, and abstinence from late night coffee or artificial light before bed can all help improve your body’s circadian clock. 

Both studies emphasize the strong correlation between the body’s circadian cycle and one’s sleeping and eating patterns. Tomas Andreani and Dr. Shogo Sato highlight just some of the numerous studies surrounding circadian cycles and the body’s internal homeostatic regulation systems. Evidence supports that your body’s circadian cycle impacts many things including sleep rebound, appetite, and increased risk of mood disorders and degenerative diseases. Going forward, the study of sleep cycles and one’s circadian rhythm should be considered a key component in further understanding the mechanisms behind an individual’s internal homeostatic control.

Works Cited

Andreani, Tomas, et al. “Circadian Programming of the Ellipsoid Body Sleep Homeostat in Drosophila.” ELife, vol. 11, 2022, https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.74327. 

Sato, Dr. Shogo. “Your Body Has an Internal Clock That Dictates When You Eat, Sleep and Might Have a Heart Attack, All Based on Time of Day.” Eat This Not That, 2 Dec. 2022, https://www.eatthis.com/your-body-has-an-internal-clock/.

Don't Give Up on Your Dreams, Sleep Longer

Don’t Give Up on Your Dreams, Sleep Longer

            What is the purpose of sleep, and why do we spend so much time doing it? Human beings spend about a third of their lives sleeping and considering our busy lives when we are awake, we might wish that we had those extra hours to do whatever we need to do. Wei-Lin Chen’s article, “Consequences of Inadequate Sleep During the College Years: Sleep Deprivation, Grade Point Average, and College Graduation” goes into detail about how sleeping is important, especially for college students. The researchers found that there is a relationship between students’ lack of sleep, their GPAs, and receiving a college degree (Chen et al.). For the brain to function properly, students require enough sleep, which is difficult to achieve because of an abundance of deadlines, requirements, and involvements that they might undertake.

It has been reported that 70% of college students obtain an insufficient amount of sleep (Chen et al.). When the brain is not well-rested, it is more difficult to learn and retain information. We may find ourselves dosing off while trying to pay attention in class after staying up past our usual bedtime to finish that last assignment or study that last chapter. It is important to realize the implications of getting enough sleep in achieving our goals, and instead of pulling that all-nighter, it might be a better idea to just go to bed. Sleep deprivation was also found to be associated with lower odds of graduation, with a greater effect if it occurs during senior year (Chen et al.). So, we should carefully weigh our options, and it is easy to fall behind on sleep and struggle to catch up due to our requirements and behaviors.

This article relates to the research presented by Dr. Ravi Allada, specifically the article “Circadian Programming of the Ellipsoid Body Sleep Homeostat in Drosophila”, by Andreani et al., as they both talk about the effects of sleep deprivation. Ravi goes into detail about answering the question of why we sleep. He studies sleep cycles and sleep homeostasis, and these relate to the article as there is a certain amount of sleep that every person needs to obtain per night. The homeostatic process of sleep functions to promote sleep length and depth in relation to the duration and intensity of prior waking experience (Andreani et al.). The circadian rhythm, which is our body’s internal clock, functions with the sleep homeostat to restrict sleep to certain amount of the day, while the homeostat is what results in sleep drive – the need to sleep (Andreani et al.). If one does not get enough rest, this causes sleep deprivation, which is a result of the sleep drive increasing beyond normal tiredness. The circadian rhythm fluctuates based on a molecular clock, but the sleep drive is only reduced if we can fall asleep (Andreani et al.). As a result, there are specific parts of the day when people should perform certain activities. Sleep should happen at night, which is when the circadian rhythm is at its lowest level of sleep inhibition, which is why we feel tired around the time we usually fall asleep. It has been found that homeostatic sleep rebound is higher in the morning that in the evening, showing that by increasing our time awake, we increase the need for sleep independent of the time of day, which could explain why we might feel so tired during the day when we don’t get enough sleep (Andreani et al.). 

Sleep is important to health and learning. As college students, sometimes we sacrifice it because of our academic and social requirements, but this might cause more harm than good in the end. It also raises some questions about how our educational system is structured in the first place – should college students ever need to sacrifice sleep for their studies? As both Chen et al. and Andreani et al. have shown, skipping sleep has greater implications than we might think, both on our education and our state of being.

 

Works Cited

Andreani, T., Rosensweig, C., Siscobhan, S., Ogunlana, E., Kath, W., & Allada, R. (2022, June 

23). Circadian programming of the ellipsoid body sleep homeostat in drosophila. eLife. 

Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://elifesciences.org/articles/74327

Chen, W.-L., & Chen, J.-H. (2019). Consequences of inadequate sleep during the college years: Sleep deprivation, grade point average, and college graduation. Preventive Medicine, 124, 23–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.04.017 

Circadian Rhythm Regulation

Allada et al.’s article, “Circadian programming of the ellipsoid body sleep homeostat in Drosophila”, reminds me of virtually any article informing individuals on achieving better sleep habits. One article that really stuck out that I was also able to draw some similarities from is one by Healthline’s Kaitlin Vogel, entitled “Exposure to Natural Light During the Day May Help You Sleep Better”.

         Ravi Allada’s article investigates wake/sleep patterns in Drosophila. Through a series of different daily scheduled deprivation sessions, they noted that they found elevated morning rebound in comparison to the evening. They also gathered from this deprivation sequence that there were elevated levels of calcium in response to morning sleep loss. Through these findings, they revealed the circuit and molecular mechanisms that power a homeostatic sleep center powered by circadian clock neurons.

         Kaitlin Vogel’s article, while still focusing on circadian rhythm, primarily highlights the notion that daily natural light exposure has the ability to improve one’s sleep at night. Vogel proceeds to explain how light exposure is especially crucial in the winter months, as many don’t find themselves outside enough—thus resulting in poor sleep, and in turn, poor mental health.

         While Allada’s article primarily highlights the scientific background of sleep on a neural level, Vogel’s approach to this topic is more so based on circadian rhythm as a whole. Where they intersect, however, is regarding the sleep/wake pattern explanation in Vogel’s article, and the morning/evening rebound patterns in Drosophila that Allada and his crew investigated. The similarities drawn from this are the quicker rebounds found in the morning, versus faster and more efficient wake time that corresponds with daylight exposure. Allada also focuses on circadian disruption correlated with sleep deprivation in the Drosophila species. Vogel, in her article, also mentions circadian disruption, not in correlation with sleep deprivation, but once again due to lack of daylight exposure—especially in the winter months. What we are able to gather from both articles is that 1) enough sleep on a nightly basis, and 2) enough natural light exposure on a daily basis, are imperative to maintain a healthy circadian rhythm.

The Significance of Memory Reconsolidation in the Treatment of PTSD and other Fear-Related Disorders

Maladaptive memory and fear disorders like post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and phobias are very prevalent in the general population and can be extremely debilitating for those who struggle with them. These disorders are commonly treated with medications and different forms of psychotherapy. In recent years, a focus of investigation pertaining to these disorders has been the process of memory reconsolidation. Memories residing in long term memory cannot be necessarily changed or altered. However, when a memory is retrieved from long term memory into our consciousness and working memory, it is much more malleable and more easily modulated. When the memory is restored into long term memory, this is referred to as memory reconsolidation. This sensitive period is comparable to the state of initial short-term memories. That period has been the target of manipulation in the hopes of developing therapeutic treatments for maladaptive memory disorders. Research has been done to investigate both behavioral and biological interventions (or a combination of both) aimed at disrupting fear memories while they are being reconsolidated as a form of treatment.

In a study titled Reactivating hippocampal-mediated memories during reconsolidation to disrupt fear by Grella et al. (2022) set out to investigate a potential therapeutic invention that disrupts fear memory reconsolidation using optogenetics to activates neurons in the dorsal dentate gyrus (dDG) of the hippocampus. Grella et al. (2022) used the Tet-tag system to label neurons in the dDG that are activated during exposure to positive, negative, or neutral experiences. The researchers then induced the formation of fear memories in mice by using a shock conditioning system. The mice were then given a fear recall test where they were re-exposed to the conditioning environment and stimulus. During the recall test session, blue light was used to activate the tagged neurons in the hippocampus. This optogenetic component occurred either in the first or last 10 minutes of a 20-minute fear recall session. The mice then underwent extinction sessions in the conditioning environment where they received no shock or light stimulation. After the extinction sessions they were re-exposed to the shock stimulus in a different environment and then again in the conditioning environment. During all the shock sessions, the mice’s levels of freezing in response to the shock was recorded. This study found that when positive memories are reactivated during the fear memory reconsolidation, it can reduce the level of fear experienced during subsequent fear memory reconsolidations. Their findings are promising roots of potential treatments for humans with disorders like PTSD and anxiety.

            The review paper titled Reconsolidation/Destabilization, extinction and forgetting of memory as therapeutic targets for PTSD by Satoshi Kida discusses how the investigation and discovery of fear mechanisms on the cellular, molecular, and circuit level have facilitated the improvement of PTSD interventions. Kida notes how the strong memories and flashbacks tied to PTSD that people experience repeatedly is theorized to be very hippocampus dependent and never really gets fully consolidated into further out cortical regions. iT is thought to be this way because those who PTSD will experiences the same flashbacks repeatedly, bringing it into their consciousness awareness and working memory repeatedly. Kida mentions how one theorized disruption of the reconsolidation of a memory is the inhibition of gene expression during that reconsolidation. It is also noted how research has shown that memory retrieval does not always lead to the destabilization/reconsolidation of the fear memory and that this can be dependent on the strength and age of the memory. Another past discovery with the potential for treatment applications is the phenomenon of fear memory extinction. Kida discusses how this does not mean a fear memory is erased, but a newly learned and encoded extinction memory suppresses the fear. Another important area of investigation that could be a base of treatment is the active act of forgetting a memory. Kida discusses how the forgetting a hippocampus-dependent memory involves an increase in adult hippocampal neurogenesis which may contribute to the "clearance" of the memory. Kida notes that this could be a potential basis for a treatment of PTSD, but has garnered controversy that must be noted. Kida makes the point that there needs to be an adequate focus on treating older more consolidated memories which have usually been out into the cortex as opposed to directly hippocampus-dependent memories. Using the mechanism of hippocampal neurogeneis would require making older memories hippocampus-dependent once again. Kida concludes the paper by stating how inducing the forgetting of memories may be a sufficient alternative to improve current PTSD treatments and therapies. 

    The Kida review paper discusses the use of reconsolidation in PTSD research and treatment, similar to the research done in the Grella et al. (2022) Both research paper show the great potential of destabilization/reconsolidation has as a base of different therapies and treatments of PTSD and possibly other disorders that involve maladaptive fear memories. Further research on this neural mechanism could get us closer to developing better supports for the people all over the world who struggle under the weight of maladaptive memory. 

Citations

Grella, S. L., Fortin, A. H., Ruesch, E., Bladon, J. H., Reynolds, L. F., Gross, A., . . . Ramirez, S. (2022). Reactivating hippocampal-mediated memories during reconsolidation to disrupt fear. Nature Communications. doi:10.1101/2021.09.16.460695

Satoshi, K. (2018). Reconsolidation/destabilization, extinction and forgetting of Fear memory as therapeutic targets for PTSD. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30374892/

Using Gestures to Aid In Speech Development

The use of hand gesturing in schools and scientific studies has proven to improve learning in speakers as well as signers. It is proven that when in conversation, there is a higher chance of remembering the conversation compared to if no hand gestures were used. The main goal for using these hand gestures in schools is in order to aid in the development and learning of children. These hand gestures can develop skills not just in language but also in cognitive skills that we use in our day to day life. Research has thus proven these aspects of the use of gesturing with children to boost their speaking and or learning.

In Elizabeth Wakefield’s writing on the use of gesturing to promote learning, she discusses how using gestures on their own while teaching a class help improve the children’s scores compared to using any sort of gesturing. She used eye tracking movements which measured where the child’s attention was throughout the entire math lesson. The student watching the lessons with a teacher using hand gestures aimed their attention toward the problem being explained with the instructor's gestures as an aid. They proved in this study that using gestures is not just beneficial to aid in visual attention but also to synchronize with speech. 

I found this article to be super interesting due to the fact that as a kid when my parents would try and show me something they slowed their speech and pointed at the item. This helped me understand and connect the motion to the auditory speech coming from my parents' mouths. We don't realize it but on a day to day basis we all use gestures whether it be waving hello or goodbye, to pointing out something to guide the attention of another individual. This study made me realize that gestures do help when trying to understand a certain topics when words just do not do the job entirely.

In a recent article I found by “News Medical & Life Sciences”,  they discuss how both gesture and speech go hand in hand when it comes to early language development. They reported that in twins, they typically produce fewer gestures at a young age compared to other children. The interesting part of the article is how they discovered that a lag in gesture almost always developed a lag in speech. This article connects to Wakefield’s article in the sense that both articles have a main focus on how the use of gestures aids in developing cognitive skills as well as speech. 

URL: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210510/Gesture-and-speech-go-hand-in-hand-in-early-language-development-in-twins-shows-studies.aspx

Menopause: The Potential Missing Link in Women’s Susceptibility to Alzheimer’s Disease

Dr. Singh presented his talk on “The Neurobiology of Estrogens, Progestins, and Androgens: Implications for Brain Aging, Neurodegenerative Disease and Brain Tumors.” The effects of gonadal hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, extend beyond the reproductive system, and the brain is a key target of these hormones. Menopause causes a steep decline in levels of progesterone and estrogen, which leads to women spending approximately a third of their lives in an estrogen- and progesterone-deprived state. In addition, women have about a 3-fold higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s than men. Estrogen has been shown to protect neurons from circumstances that are related to neurodegenerative diseases, and progesterone has a neuroprotective function along with activating survival promoting pathways.  

The article by Pincott (2020) describes research by Mosconi et al. (2018), who found that brain glucose metabolism slows by 20 to 30 percent in post-menopause due to a decrease in estrogen, which has a role in regulating brain metabolism. According to the menopause hypothesis, decline in estrogen levels during menopause could leave the brain more vulnerable to damage, leading to women having a one-in-five lifetime chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Compared to women in their 40s and 50s, the brains of males in the same group do not age significantly in the same way. This may be because testosterone also functions as a neuroprotective factor; however, unlike estrogen and progesterone, levels of testosterone do not drop significantly with age. However, studies in recent years have shown differing results in the usefulness of hormone therapy (estrogen and progestin), ranging from a 30 percent reduction in Alzheimer’s risk to a 9-17 percent increase in Alzheimer’s risk. 

The findings of Nguyen et al. (2018) indicate that the microRNA let-7i disrupts Progesterone-induced neuroprotection following ischemia (stroke). Potential further applications of these findings may be the discovery of specific biomarkers that predict those who are likely to respond favorably to treatment with Progesterone. This information may be an important missing piece in the work described in Pincott (2020), which describes studies of hormone therapy in protection against later development of Alzheimer’s disease. Studies using hormone therapy treatment in humans have been inconclusive as to the usefulness of the therapy. The discovery of certain biomarkers that modulate the neuroprotective effects of progesterone during ischemia may also indicate the presence of certain biomarkers that modulate the neuroprotective effects of progesterone and estrogen to prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The discovery of these biomarkers could lead to breakthroughs in hormone therapy treatment, which would allow researchers and clinicians to determine which patients would benefit from neuroprotective treatment with supplemented progesterone and estrogen. 

 

References 

Nguyen, T., Su, C., Singh, M. (2018). Let-7i inhibition enhances progesterone-induced functional recovery in a mouse model of ischemia. PNAS, 115(41), E9668-E9677. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1803384115.  

Pincott, J. (2020). Menopause predisposes a fifth of women to Alzheimer’s. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/menopause-predisposes-a-fifth-of-women-to-alzheimers/.