scholarly journals Sleep and memory consolidation: a common mechanism across species?

2017 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Giovanni Frighetto ◽  
Nicola Cellini
Keyword(s):  
Memory Consolidation ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
Target Information ◽  
Curr Biol ◽  
The Relationship

In humans, memory consolidation can be aided by the representation of an odor previously associated with target information during sleep. In an elegant study, Zwaka et al. ( Curr Biol 25: 2869–2874, 2015) have demonstrated that the same process occurs in honeybees, suggesting that the relationship between sleep and memory may be similar across different animal species.

Antenatal corticosteroid therapy and blood pressure at 14 years of age in preterm children

2000 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. W. DOYLE ◽  
G. W. FORD ◽  
N. M. DAVIS ◽  
C. CALLANAN
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Corticosteroid Therapy ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Antenatal Corticosteroid ◽  
Antenatal Corticosteroids ◽  
Preterm Children ◽  
Clinical Hypertension ◽  
Blood Pressures ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Mercury Sphygmomanometer

Antenatal corticosteroid therapy substantially improves the survival rate of preterm infants, with few side effects. Higher blood pressure in adulthood has been described in several animal species after exposure to antenatal corticosteroids, but there are no similar reports in humans. The objective of the present study was to determine the relationship between exposure to antenatal corticosteroid therapy and blood pressure at 14 years of age. This was a cohort study of 210 preterm survivors with birthweights of < 1501 g born in the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, between 1 January 1977 and 31 March 1982. Blood pressure was measured in 177 subjects (84.3%) at 14 years of age with a standard mercury sphygmomanometer. Children exposed to antenatal corticosteroids (n = 89) had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures than those not exposed to corticosteroids (n = 88) [mean difference (95% confidence interval) (mmHg): systolic, 4.1 (0.1–8.0); diastolic, 2.8 (0.05–5.6)]. However, few had blood pressure in the hypertensive range. It is concluded that antenatal corticosteroid therapy is associated with higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures in adolescence, and might lead to clinical hypertension in survivors well beyond birth.

scholarly journals Autonomic activity during sleep predicts memory consolidation in humans

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (26) ◽  
pp. 7272-7277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren N. Whitehurst ◽  
Nicola Cellini ◽  
Elizabeth A. McDevitt ◽  
Katherine A. Duggan ◽  
Sara C. Mednick
Keyword(s):  
Memory Consolidation ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Sleep Stages ◽  
Remote Associates Test ◽  
Daytime Nap ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
With Memory ◽  
Good Sleep ◽  
Variance Explained

Throughout history, psychologists and philosophers have proposed that good sleep benefits memory, yet current studies focusing on the relationship between traditionally reported sleep features (e.g., minutes in sleep stages) and changes in memory performance show contradictory findings. This discrepancy suggests that there are events occurring during sleep that have not yet been considered. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) shows strong variation across sleep stages. Also, increases in ANS activity during waking, as measured by heart rate variability (HRV), have been correlated with memory improvement. However, the role of ANS in sleep-dependent memory consolidation has never been examined. Here, we examined whether changes in cardiac ANS activity (HRV) during a daytime nap were related to performance on two memory conditions (Primed and Repeated) and a nonmemory control condition on the Remote Associates Test. In line with prior studies, we found sleep-dependent improvement in the Primed condition compared with the Quiet Wake control condition. Using regression analyses, we compared the proportion of variance in performance associated with traditionally reported sleep features (model 1) vs. sleep features and HRV during sleep (model 2). For both the Primed and Repeated conditions, model 2 (sleep + HRV) predicted performance significantly better (73% and 58% of variance explained, respectively) compared with model 1 (sleep only, 46% and 26% of variance explained, respectively). These findings present the first evidence, to our knowledge, that ANS activity may be one potential mechanism driving sleep-dependent plasticity.

The effect of nutrition on fibre characteristics and production in the alpaca

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 ◽  
pp. 101-101
Author(s):  
A.J.F. Russel ◽  
H. Redden ◽  
J.W. Kay
Keyword(s):  
Animal Species ◽  
Fibre Length ◽  
Fibre Production ◽  
The Other ◽  
South American ◽  
Cashmere Goat ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Fibre Characteristics

In single-coated animal species selected for fibre production, such as sheep and Angora goats, nutrition is known to have a positive effect on fibre length and diameter, and hence on the weight of fibre produced, while in double-coated species, such as the cashmere goat, the fibre characteristics of the undercoat appear relatively insensitive to nutritional influence. Recent studies on the relationship between nutrition and fibre production in the llama, a double-coated species, indicate that it conforms to the above generalisation in that the growth rate and diameter of its fibre are not amenable to nutritional manipulation (Russel and Redden, 1994). There is a lack of information on the effects of nutrition on fibre characteristics and production in the other domesticated species of South American camelid, the single-coated alpaca. The experiment reported here was designed to provide such information.

The Effects of Cue Utilization and Target-Related Information on Target Detection during a Simulated Drone Search and Rescue Task

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-231
Author(s):  
Shaheen Shekh ◽  
Jaime C. Auton ◽  
Mark W. Wiggins
Keyword(s):  
Target Detection ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Target Information ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Cognitive Demands ◽  
Cue Utilization ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Bus Driver ◽  
The Relationship

Remotely piloted vehicles or ‘drones’ have become ubiquitous both privately and commercially. One of the numerous applications for drones involves the search and rescue for specified targets. The use of ‘cues’ during target detection has been shown to improve performance and reduce cognitive demands in many environments. This study examined the relationship between cue utilization and level of target detail during a high-fidelity simulated drone search and rescue task. Seventy-six undergraduate students from an Australian University operated a payload (long range camera) to detect a ‘target’ (a bus driver stranded in the Utah desert) while flying on a pre-programmed flight path. The results indicated that the provision of detailed target information was associated with greater rates of target detection. Further, participants with higher cue utilization were more likely to locate the target. Finally, participants with higher cue utilization, and provided with basic target information, were more likely to locate the target than participants with lower cue utilization. The practical and theoretical implications of the outcomes are discussed.

scholarly journals OXYGEN-STABLE HEMOLYSINS OF GROUP A STREPTOCOCCI

1965 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Ginsburg ◽  
Zvi Bentwich ◽  
T. N. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Trypan Blue ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Ph Dependence ◽  
Optimal Production ◽  
Streptolysin S ◽  
Hemolytic Effect ◽  
Group A ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Maximal Production

The relationship of the streptococcal hemolysin which is recognized on incubation of RBC with streptococcal cells (cell-bound hemolysin, CBH), to RNA hemolysin, a representative of oxygen-stable hemolysin (streptolysin S) has been studied. A number of similarities have been found in the conditions for optimal production of each of these hemolysins, a requirement for cysteine, Mg++, and glucose; maximal production by streptococci in the stationary phase; similar curves of pH-dependence. In both systems, the production of hemolysin was inhibited by certain antibiotics, by ultraviolet irradiation, and by sonic disruption and was absent in the same streptococcal mutant strain. The hemolytic activity of both systems was inhibited by lecithin, trypan blue, and papain. Similarities were also found in relative susceptibilities to the two hemolytic systems of erythrocytes of a number of animal species. These data support a suggestion advanced in an earlier study that a streptococcal hemolytic moiety, which can be induced by, and carried on, a number of diverse agents to comprise the group of oxygen-stable hemolysins, serves, in its original attachment to a component of the streptococcal cell, to produce the hemolytic effect recognized as the cell-bound hemolysin.

scholarly journals 0084 Sleep Consolidates Incidentally Encoded Information After Deep but Not Shallow Encoding

SLEEP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A34-A34
Author(s):  
E M Wernette ◽  
K M Fenn
Keyword(s):  
Slow Wave ◽  
Memory Consolidation ◽  
Slow Wave Sleep ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Test ◽  
Memory Traces ◽  
Incidental Encoding ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
With Memory

Abstract Introduction Slow wave sleep (SWS) strengthens declarative memory for information studied for a later test. However, research on the effect of sleep on information that is not intentionally remembered is scare. Previous research from our lab suggests sleep consolidates some, but not all, information that has been encoded incidentally, meaning that it has been acted on but not intentionally remembered. It remains unclear what determines which information benefits from sleep-dependent consolidation processes and what aspects of sleep are related to these mnemonic benefits. In two experiments, we test the hypothesis that sleep consolidates strong but not weak memory traces following incidental encoding, and assess the relationship between memory performance and objective sleep characteristics. Methods In Experiment 1, participants rated words one (weak traces) or three times (strong traces) in a deep or shallow incidental encoding task. Participants either rated words on a scale from ‘concrete’ to ‘abstract’ (deep) or counted the vowels in the words (shallow). Following a 12-hour period containing sleep or wakefulness, participants took a surprise memory test. In Experiment 2, participants rated words one or three times in the deep encoding task, received an 8-hour sleep opportunity with polysomnography, and took the surprise memory test. Results In Experiment 1, participants remembered words better after sleep than wake regardless of whether words were encoded one or three times, but only after deep encoding. Sleep did not consolidate information following shallow encoding. Experiment 2 is ongoing, but we predict that the amount of SWS will correlate positively with memory. Conclusion Results thus far suggest sleep may have consolidated information based on the strength of memory traces. Because deep encoding results in stronger memory traces than shallow encoding, this work is broadly consistent with theories of memory consolidation that predict sleep is more beneficial for strong memory traces than weak, such as the synaptic downscaling hypothesis. Support N/A

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition and cancer stemness: the Twist1–Bmi1 connection

2011 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 449-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kou-Juey Wu ◽  
Muh-Hwa Yang
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Mechanistic Explanation ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
Cancer Stemness ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Major Mechanism ◽  
Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 ◽  
The Relationship

EMT (epithelial–mesenchymal transition), a major mechanism of cancer metastasis, is a process that generates cells with stem-like properties. These stem-like cells in tumours are described as cancer stem cells. The link between EMT and cancer stemness is well documented without detailed mechanistic proof. Bmi1 belongs to the PRC1 (polycomb repressive complex 1) maintaining self-renewal and stemness together with EZH2 (enhancer of zeste homologue 2), which is a component of PRC2. Bmi1 is frequently overexpressed in different types of human cancers. Recent demonstration of an EMT regulator, Twist1, directly regulating the expression of Bmi1 provides a mechanistic explanation of the relationship between EMT and cancer stemness. The functional interdependence between Twist1 and Bmi1 provides a fresh insight into the common mechanism mediating EMT and cancer stemness. This observation is also confirmed using head and neck cancer patient samples. These results provide a critical mechanism of Twist1-induced EMT and cancer stemness in cancer cells through chromatin remodelling. The role of hypoxia and microRNAs in regulating EMT and cancer stemness is also discussed.

scholarly journals Transposons, Genome Size, and Evolutionary Insights in Animals

2015 ◽  
Vol 147 (4) ◽  
pp. 217-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Canapa ◽  
Marco Barucca ◽  
Maria A. Biscotti ◽  
Mariko Forconi ◽  
Ettore Olmo
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Genome Size ◽  
Small Rnas ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Environmental Stressors ◽  
Functional Parameters ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between genome size and the percentage of transposons in 161 animal species evidenced that variations in genome size are linked to the amplification or the contraction of transposable elements. The activity of transposable elements could represent a response to environmental stressors. Indeed, although with different trends in protostomes and deuterostomes, comprehensive changes in genome size were recorded in concomitance with particular periods of evolutionary history or adaptations to specific environments. During evolution, genome size and the presence of transposable elements have influenced structural and functional parameters of genomes and cells. Changes of these parameters have had an impact on morphological and functional characteristics of the organism on which natural selection directly acts. Therefore, the current situation represents a balance between insertion and amplification of transposons and the mechanisms responsible for their deletion or for decreasing their activity. Among the latter, methylation and the silencing action of small RNAs likely represent the most frequent mechanisms.

Numerical and Arithmetic Abilities in Non-primate Species

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Agrillo
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Literature ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Numerical Abilities ◽  
Current State ◽  
Extensive Training ◽  
Mathematical Mind ◽  
The Relationship

In the last decade, several studies have suggested that dozens of animal species are capable of processing numerical information. Animals as diverse as mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, and even some invertebrates have been successfully investigated through extensive training and the observation of spontaneous behaviour, providing evidence that numerical abilities are not limited to primates. The study of non-primate species represents a useful tool to broaden our comprehension of the uniqueness of our cognitive abilities, particularly with regard to the evolutionary roots of the mathematical mind. In this chapter, I will summarize the current state of our understanding of non-primate numerical abilities in the comparative literature, focusing on three main topics: the relationship between discrete (numerical) and continuous quantity, the debate surrounding the existence of a precise subitizing-like process, and the ontogeny of numerical abilities.

Chronogenetics. Its Foundations, Scope, and Impact

1974 ◽  
Vol 23 (S1) ◽  
pp. 131-143
Author(s):  
L. Gedda ◽  
G. Brenci
Keyword(s):  
Preventive Medicine ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Higher Plants ◽  
Cosmic Time ◽  
Future Perspective ◽  
Fourth Dimension ◽  
Biological Time ◽  
Normal Human ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
The Relationship

Many chronological correlations in different plant and animal species, in populations, in human families, and between cotwins, prove the existence of characteristic biological times. Some such times also tend to be related to cosmic time, in which they develop and from which they are induced, resulting in peculiar composite times, such as the daily, monthly, or annual rhythms, that are the object of study of chronobiology.Beyond these examples of exogenous chronological induction, the existence of a hereditary biological time is postulated, as the basic phenomenon in the relationship between time and life. The newborn scientific branch of “chronogenetics” is devoted to the study of the fundamental, endogenous genetic time, with its theoretical and practical, normal and pathologic implications. To explain and interpret the mechanisms of the hereditary biological time, the authors have developed a model based on the concepts of “ergon” (i.e., stability of the gene) and “chronon” (i.e., lifespan of the information). This Ergon/Chronon System is related to the gene, bringing into focus the fourth dimension and the dynamic aspects of unit of inheritance.The applications of chronogenetics extend to every expression of life, from the most primitive unicellular to the higher plants and animals. In the area of normal human traits, the study of the hereditary biological time contributes significantly to the interpretation of such phenomena as development, reproduction, homeostasis, and senescence. In the area of medicine, chronogenetics interpretes, unifies, and develops the temporal phenomena of inheritance. In a future perspective, chronogenetics appears to be fundamental for eugenics, preventive medicine, and prognosis.

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