scholarly journals Complexity of brain dynamics as a correlate of consciousness in anaesthetized monkeys

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Fuentes ◽  
Alexis García ◽  
Ramón Guevara ◽  
Roberto Orofino ◽  
Diego M. Mateos

AbstractThe use of anaesthesia is a fundamental tool in the investigation of consciousness. Anesthesia procedures allow to investigate different states of consciousness from sedation to deep anesthesia within controlled scenarios. In this study we use information quantifiers to measure the complexity of electrocorticogram recordings in monkeys. We apply these metrics to compare different stages of general anesthesia for evaluating consciousness in several anesthesia protocols. We find that the complexity of brain activity can be used as a correlate of consciousness. For two of the anaesthetics used, propofol and medetomidine, we find that the anaesthetised state is accompanied by a reduction in the complexity of brain activity. On the other hand we observe that use of ketamine produces an increase in complexity measurements. We relate this observation with increase activity within certain brain regions associated with the ketamine used doses. Our measurements indicate that complexity of brain activity is a good indicator for a general evaluation of different levels of consciousness awareness, both in anesthetized and non anesthetizes states.

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ane López-González ◽  
Rajanikant Panda ◽  
Adrián Ponce-Alvarez ◽  
Gorka Zamora-López ◽  
Anira Escrichs ◽  
...  

AbstractLow-level states of consciousness are characterized by disruptions of brain activity that sustain arousal and awareness. Yet, how structural, dynamical, local and network brain properties interplay in the different levels of consciousness is unknown. Here, we study fMRI brain dynamics from patients that suffered brain injuries leading to a disorder of consciousness and from healthy subjects undergoing propofol-induced sedation. We show that pathological and pharmacological low-level states of consciousness display less recurrent, less connected and more segregated synchronization patterns than conscious state. We use whole-brain models built upon healthy and injured structural connectivity to interpret these dynamical effects. We found that low-level states of consciousness were associated with reduced network interactions, together with more homogeneous and more structurally constrained local dynamics. Notably, these changes lead the structural hub regions to lose their stability during low-level states of consciousness, thus attenuating the differences between hubs and non-hubs brain dynamics.


De Jure ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Haman ◽  
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◽  

The difference between intent (dolus) and negligence (culpa) was rarely emphasized in codified medieval laws and regulations. When compared to the legal statements related to intent, negligence was mentioned even more rarely. However, there are some laws that distinguished between the two concepts in terms of some specific crimes, such as arson. This paper draws attention to three medieval Slavic legal documents – the Zakon Sudnyj LJudem (ZSLJ), the Vinodol Law and the Statute of Senj. They are compared with reference to regulations regarding arson, with the focus being on arson as a crime committed intentionally or out of negligence. The ZSLJ as the oldest known Slavic law in the world shows some similarities with other medieval Slavic legal codes, especially in the field of criminal law, since most of the ZSLJ’s articles are related to criminal law. On the other hand, the Vinodol Law is the oldest preserved Croatian law and it is among the oldest Slavic codes in the world. It was written in 1288 in the Croatian Glagolitic script and in the Croatian Chakavian dialect. The third document – the Statute of Senj – regulated legal matters in the Croatian littoral town of Senj. It was written in 1388 – exactly a century after the Vinodol Law was proclaimed. When comparing the Vinodol Law and the Statute of Senj with the Zakon Sudnyj LJudem, there are clear differences and similarities, particularly in the field of criminal law. Within the framework of criminal offenses, the act of arson is important for making a distinction between intent and negligence. While the ZSLJ regulates different levels of guilt, the Vinodol Law makes no difference between dolus and culpa. On the other hand, the Statute of Senj strictly refers to negligence as a punishable crime. Even though the ZSLJ is almost half a millennium older than the Statute of Senj and around 400 years older than the Vinodol Law, this paper proves that the ZSLJ defines the guilt and the punishment for arson much better than the other two laws.


Author(s):  
Vlad Glăveanu

This chapter addresses why people engage in creativity. This question can be answered at different levels. On the one hand, one can refer to what motivates creative people to do what they do. On the other hand, the question addresses a deeper level, that of how societies today are built and how they, in turn, construct the meaning and value of creativity. Nowadays, people consider creativity intrinsically valuable largely because of its direct and indirect economic benefits. However, creative expression also has a role for health and well-being. Creativity also relates to meaning in life. The chapter then considers how creativity can be used for good or for evil.


Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 569
Author(s):  
Arpita Mitra

There has been a long-standing academic debate on the religious orientation of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahaṁsa (1836–1886), one of the leading religious figures of modern India. In the light of his teachings, it is possible to accept that Rāmakṛṣṇa’s ideas were Vedāntic, albeit not in a sectarian or exclusive way. This article explores the question of where exactly to place him in the chequered history of Vedāntic ideas. It points out that Rāmakṛṣṇa repeatedly referred to different states of consciousness while explaining the difference in the attitudes towards the Divine. This is the basis of his harmonization of the different streams within Vedānta. Again, it is also the basis of his understanding of the place of śakti. He demonstrated that, as long as one has I-consciousness, one is operating within the jurisdiction of śakti, and has to accept śakti as real. On the other hand, in the state of samādhi, which is the only state in which the I-consciosuness disappears, there is neither One nor many. The article also shows that, while Rāmakṛṣṇa accepted all of the different views within Vedānta, he was probably not as distant from the Advaita Vedānta philosopher Ādi Śaṁkara as he has been made out to be.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Yaseen A. Azi

Based on the literature review, the three patterns (fillers, repairs and repetitions) in the conversations of the native English speakers are generally regarded as results of the normal speaking between people. On the other hand, the same patterns in the conversations of the L2 speakers are always seen as a marker of disfluency and linguistic disabilities of the nonnative speakers. Therefore, this study simply focuses on finding how the three disfluency patterns are used by the Saudi English speakers from different levels of fluency. The sampling of the study includes two groups of participants from different fluency levels. Through the transcriptions and the discourse analysis of one hour recoding of the two groups, the results showed that the three patterns (fillers, repairs and repetitions) should not be generally associated with disfluency. Instead, repetitions and self-repairs have been equally used by the two groups and such patterns can be used as a conversational device. However, the filler “uh” with longer pausing can clearly predict disfluency among the Saudi English speakers. 


2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didem Hilkat Aksakal ◽  
Tanay Bilal

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of various calcium: total phosphorus (Ca:tP) ratios due to addition of microbial phytase and 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol [1,25-(OH)2D3] on the absorption levels of minerals. In a 42-day experiment repeated three times, 144 day-old male broiler chicks (ISA 220) were divided into six groups of eight chicks each. Diets containing two different (1:1 and 2:1) Ca levels were prepared. Groups 1, 2 and 3 received a diet of 1:1 Ca:tP ratio while Groups 4, 5 and 6 a diet of 1:2 Ca:tP ratio. These diets contained 1,25-(OH)2D3 and phytase in levels of 5 µg/kg and 600 FYT/kg, respectively. The faeces was collected to analyse the absorption of minerals. At the end of the study, the absorption levels of Ca, P, Zn, Mn and Cu were increased by the addition of phytase enzyme (p < 0.05). This effect was obvious in the 3rd week. On the other hand, in the 6th week only Ca and P absorption levels were influenced positively by the addition of phytase enzyme. The results proved the positive effect of phytase, an enzyme which is used for increasing the utilisation rate of phytate P, Ca and other minerals in broilers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-38
Author(s):  
Khalid C.K. Al-Salhie ◽  
Abdulkarim M. Al- Waeli

The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of adding different levels of ginseng roots to the diet on some physiological characteristics of Japanese quail males. A total of 120 Japanese quail males aged one week were used in this study. The males were randomly distributed into four experimental treatments (n=30). Each treatment was replicated three times (10 individual each). Males were fed experimental diets that were formulated to contain the same components as the control diet which contained red ginseng roots powder at levels 250, 500 and 750 mg/ kg feed  in other three experimental diets respectively. The results showed that the males of the fourth treatment recorded the lowest mean of the age of sexual puberty. While the highest average of sexual puberty age was recorded by the males of first treatment. On the other hand, the fourth treatment recorded the highest relative weight of testes compared with the other treatments at the age of 30 and 60 days. The results indicated that the males of the fourth treatment recorded highest Testosterone, FSH and LH levels compared with the other treatments at the age of 60 days. We can conclude from this study that the highest concentration of powder ginseng roots (750mg/kg feed) can promote the development of testes and increase testosterone, FSH and LH hormones in the serum of Japanese quail males.


1998 ◽  
Vol 5 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Kohlenbach

It is well-known by now that large parts of (non-constructive) mathematical reasoning can be carried out in systems T which are conservative over primitive recursive arithmetic PRA (and even much weaker systems). On the other hand there are principles S of elementary analysis (like the Bolzano-Weierstrass principle, the existence of a limit superior for bounded sequences etc.) which are known to be equivalent to arithmetical<br />comprehension (relative to T ) and therefore go far beyond the strength of PRA (when added to T ). <br />In this paper we determine precisely the arithmetical and computational strength (in terms of optimal conservation results and subrecursive characterizations of provably recursive functions) of weaker function parameter-free schematic versions S− of S, thereby<br />exhibiting different levels of strength between these principles as well as a sharp borderline between fragments of analysis which are still conservative over PRA and extensions which just go beyond the strength of PRA.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigit Haryadi ◽  
Salma Huda California

In this paper, we proposed a modification of the measurement of the personality consistency level of the Pauli &amp; Kraepelin Test in the field of psychology, using the formula made in April 2016, by Sigit Haryadi, and named "the Harmony in Gradation" or “the Haryadi Index”. The purpose of this proposal is because the existing formula uses only the mean value of the deviation, which leads to the possibility that the result of consistency measurement on people whose facts are different levels of consistency will be considered to have the same consistency level, on the other hand, the proposed method will be more accurate and precise in terms of providing an assessment of the level of personality consistency of a person.


Author(s):  
М.Г. Абрамзон ◽  
А.А. Завойкин ◽  
В.Д. Кузнецов ◽  
И.А. Сапрыкина

В статье впервые публикуются серебряные монеты конца 6 середины 5 в. до н.э. из раскопок Фанагории. Этот нумизматический материал имеет важное значение для уточнения датировки слоев поздней архаики ранней классики на акрополе Фанагории и открытого в них целого ряда объектов жилищ, общественных зданий, фортификационных сооружений. С другой стороны, археологический контекст находок монет позволяет корректировать хронологию некоторых типов самих монет. Для этих целей особенно важны находки монет, которые происходят из разных уровней жизни общественного здания (294), построенного во второй половине 6 в. до н.э. и с перестройками дожившего до середины 5 в. до н.э. Кроме того, большое значение имеют находки монет в слое разрушения древнейших оборонительных сооружений Фанагории (679), которые погибли ок. 480 г. до н.э. К этому же времени относится клад боспорских серебряных монет, спрятанный под стеной дома (205). В целом хронология ранних серебряных монет, найденных на раскопе Верхний город , согласуется с характеристиками этого района города в период поздней архаики ранней классики (примерно до середины 5 в. до н.э.), что позволяет, опираясь на фанагорийские материалы, четко определить рубеж, отделяющий датировки более поздних монетных типов. Публикуемая коллекция представляет собой ценный источник информации о денежном обращении ранней Фанагории, а исследование химического состава металла монет дает возможность подойти к решению вопросов об источниках серебра для ранней боспорской чеканки и атрибуции ряда выпусков. The article is the first publication of the 6th first half of the 5th century B.C. silver coins from excavations at Phanagoria. These numismatic finds are most important for the verification of the date of the Late Archaic and Early Classical layers at the acropolis of Phanagoria and a number of structures discovered there dwellings, public buildings, fortifications. On the other hand, the archaeological context of numismatic finds allows us to verify the chronology of certain types of coins. Most important in this connection are coin finds from different levels of a public building (294) erected in the second half of the 6th century B.C., which existed, after a number of reconstructions, till the middle of the 5th century B.C. There are also important coin finds from the ruined fortifications of Phanagoria (679) destroyed circa 480 B.C. A hoard of Bosporan silver coins concealed under the wall of a dwelling (205) belongs to the same period. In general, the chronology of early silver coins found in the excavation site the Upper City agrees with the features of this area in the Late Archaic and Early Classic times (approximately before 450 B.C.), which allows us to define the border dating later coin types. The collection presented here is a valuable evidence for the currency in early Phanagoria, and the study of the chemical composition of the coin alloy allows us to find out the sources of silver for the Early Bosporos coins and the attribution for a number of issues.


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