Fully solution-processed InSnO/HfGdOx thin-film transistor for light-stimulated artificial synapse

In recent years, the research interest in brain-inspired light-stimulated artificial synaptic electronic devices has greatly increased, due to their great potential in constructing low-power, high-efficiency, and high-speed neuromorphic computing systems. However, in the field of electronic synaptic device simulation, the development of three-terminal synaptic transistors with low manufacturing cost and excellent memory function still faces huge challenges. Here, a fully solution-processed InSnO/HfGdOx thin film transistor (TFT) is fabricated by a simple and convenient solution process to verify the feasibility of light-stimulated artificial synapses. This experiment investigated the electrical and synaptic properties of the device under light stimulation conditions. The device successfully achieved some important synaptic properties, such as paired-pulse facilitation (PPF), excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) and the transition from short-term memory (STM) to long-term memory (LTM). In addition, the device also exhibits brain-like memory and learning behaviors under different colors of light stimulation. This work provides an important strategy for the realization of light-stimulated artificial synapses and may have good applications in the field of artificial neuromorphic computing by light signals in the future.

Discovery of a dual-action small molecule that improves neuropathological features of Alzheimer’s disease mice

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by complex, multifactorial neuropathology, suggesting that small molecules targeting multiple neuropathological factors are likely required to successfully impact clinical progression. Acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) activation has been recognized as an important contributor to these neuropathological features in AD, leading to the concept of using ASM inhibitors for the treatment of this disorder. Here we report the identification of KARI 201, a direct ASM inhibitor evaluated for AD treatment. KARI 201 exhibits highly selective inhibition effects on ASM, with excellent pharmacokinetic properties, especially with regard to brain distribution. Unexpectedly, we found another role of KARI 201 as a ghrelin receptor agonist, which also has therapeutic potential for AD treatment. This dual role of KARI 201 in neurons efficiently rescued neuropathological features in AD mice, including amyloid beta deposition, autophagy dysfunction, neuroinflammation, synaptic loss, and decreased hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity, leading to an improvement in memory function. Our data highlight the possibility of potential clinical application of KARI 201 as an innovative and multifaceted drug for AD treatment.

Neural Circuits and Some New Factors Involved in Hippocampal Memory

Humans and other primates have memory, and the hippocampus plays a critical role in this process. The neural circuitry is one of the structural foundations for the hippocampus in exerting memory function. To understand the relationship between the hippocampus and memory, we need to understand neural circuits. Past research has identified several classical neural circuits involved in memory. Although there are challenges with the study of hippocampal neural circuits, research on this topic has continued, and some progress has been made. Here, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of hippocampal neural circuit mechanisms and some of the newly discovered factors that affect memory. Substantial progress has been made regarding hippocampal memory circuits and Alzheimer’s disease. However, it is unclear whether these novel findings regarding hippocampal memory circuits hold promise for human memory studies. Additional research on this topic is needed.

ASSOCIATION OF TRANSCRANIAL DIRECT CURRENT STIMULATION AND NEUROFEEDBACK, IN THE DECLARATIONAL MEMORY AND CEREBRAL ARTERIAL FLOW IN UNIVERSITY YOUNG PEOPLE - A RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND AND CONTROLLED STUDY PROTOCOL (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The performance of a task depends on ongoing brain activity which can be influenced by attention, excitement or motivation. Scientific studies confirm that mindfulness leads to better performance, health and well-being. However, these cognitive efficiency modulating factors are nonspecific, can be difficult to control, and are not suitable to specifically facilitate neural processing. OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of tDCS associated with Neurofeedback on declarative memory and cerebral blood flow in university students. METHODS In this work, we will use Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), a low-cost physical resource, easy to apply and few adverse effects, associated with a Neurofeedback resource. This, in turn, has been shown to be a training program capable of improving working memory function. RESULTS The trial began in December 2021 and we are currently performing the statistical analysis for the secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS We believe that the resources used in this study can help improve some aspects of declarative memory, since learning and memory processes modify the brain. Strategies to enhance the acquisition, storage and use of information must be able to sensitize (motivate) and involve volunteers in the learning process, thus clarifying their role CLINICALTRIAL https://ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/RBR-4m5j4s

Pathological slow-wave activity and impaired working memory binding in post-traumatic amnesia

The mechanism by which information is bound together in working memory is a central question for cognitive neuroscience. This binding is transiently disrupted during periods of post-traumatic amnesia following significant head injuries. The reason for this impairment is unclear but may be due to electrophysiological changes produced by head impacts. These are common and include pathological low frequency activity, which is associated with poorer neurological outcomes and may disrupt cortical communication. Here, we investigate associative memory binding during post-traumatic amnesia and test the hypothesis that misbinding is caused by a disruption in cortical communication produced by the pathological slowing of brain activity. Thirty acute moderate-severe traumatic brain injury patients (mean time since injury = 10 days) and 26 healthy controls were tested with a precision working memory paradigm that required the association of object and location information. A novel entropy ratio measure was calculated from behavioural performance. This provided a continuous measure of the degree of misbinding and the influence of distracting information. Resting state EEG was used to assess the electrophysiological effects of traumatic brain injury. Patients in post-traumatic amnesia showed abnormalities in working memory function and made significantly more misbinding errors than patients who were not in post-traumatic amnesia and controls. Patients showed a higher entropy ratio in the distribution of spatial responses, indicating that working memory recall was abnormally biased by the locations of non-target items suggesting a specific impairment of object and location binding. Slow wave activity was increased following traumatic brain injury. Increases in the delta-alpha ratio indicative of an increase in low frequency power specifically correlated with binding impairment in working memory. In contrast, although connectivity was increased in the theta band and decreased in the alpha band after traumatic brain injury, this did not correlate with working memory impairment. Working memory and electrophysiological abnormalities both normalised at six-month follow-up, in keeping with a transient increase in slow-wave activity causing post-traumatic amnesia that impaired working memory function. These results show that patients in post-traumatic amnesia show high rates of working memory misbinding that are associated with a pathological shift towards lower frequency oscillations.

Difference in Amyloid Load Between Single Memory Domain and Multidomain Subjective Cognitive Decline: A Study from the SILCODE

Background: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD), an at-risk condition of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), can involve various cognitive domains, such as memory, language, planning, and attention. Objective: We aims to explore the differences in amyloid load between the single memory domain SCD (sd-SCD) and the multidomain SCD (md-SCD) and assess the relationship of amyloid pathology with quantitative SCD scores and objective cognition. Methods: A total of 63 SCD participants from the SILCODE study underwent the clinical evaluation, neuropsychological assessment, and 18F-florbetapir PET scan. Global amyloid standard uptake value ratio (SUVr) was calculated. Additionally, regional amyloid SUVr was quantified in 12 brain regions of interests. A nonparametric rank ANCOVA was used to compare the global and regional amyloid SUVr between the md-SCD (n = 34) and sd-SCD (n = 29) groups. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to test the relationship of amyloid SUVr with quantitative SCD scores and objective cognition. Results: Compared with individuals with sd-SCD, individuals with md-SCD had increased global amyloid SUVr (F = 5.033, p = 0.029) and regional amyloid SUVr in the left middle temporal gyrus (F = 12.309, p = 0.001; Bonferroni corrected), after controlling for the effects of age, sex, and education. When pooling all SCD participants together, the increased global amyloid SUVr was related with higher SCD-plus sum scores and lower Auditory Verbal Learning Test-delayed recall scores. Conclusion: According to our findings, individuals with md-SCD showed higher amyloid accumulation than individuals with sd-SCD, suggesting that md-SCD may experience a more advanced stage of SCD. Additionally, increased global amyloid load was predictive of a poorer episodic memory function in SCD individuals.

Hubungan Status Gizi dan Status Hidrasi dengan Fungsi Memori Jangka Pendek Anak Usia Sekolah

ENGLISHShort-term memory in school-age children is significant in the learning process and academic ability improvement. Adequate intake of nutrients and body fluids are needed to accelerate brain performance so that children have optimum memory function. A preliminary study on short term memory of students in SD N Gembong 2, Pati Regency showed that some students experienced a decrease in short-term memory. The objective of this study was to analyze the correlation between nutritional status and nutritional status with children's short-term memory. This study used a correlational design and involved 52 students from 4th - 6th grade in elementary school. The measurement of hydration status used urine specific gravity, while short-term memory was measured using a digit span test. Then, the Chi-Square test was applied to analyze the data. This study result showed that more than half of children had normal nutritional status, good hydration status and normal short-term memory. Furthermore, nutritional status and hydration status were associated with children's short-term memory. Parents should provide more attention to their children’s nutritional and fluid needs, by 1) the children are getting used to taking breakfast before going to school and 2) parents provide meals and drinks from home for their children. INDONESIAMemori jangka pendek pada anak usia sekolah sangat berpengaruh terhadap proses belajar dan upaya peningkatan kemampuan akademik. Asupan nutrisi dan cairan tubuh yang cukup dibutuhkan untuk meningkatkan kerja otak sehingga fungsi memori anak lebih optimal. Data awal penelitian terkait memori jangka pendek anak di SD N Gembong 2 Pati menunjukkan sebagian anak mengalami penurunan memori jangka pendek. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah menganalisis hubungan status gizi dan status nutrisi dengan memori jangka pendek anak. Metode penelitian korelasional dengan jumlah sampel 52 responden anak kelas 4-6 SD. Pengumpulan data status gizi melalui pengukuran berat badan dan tinggi badan. Pengukuran status hidrasi menggunakan pemeriksaan berat jenis urine dan memori jangka pendek menggunakan test digit span. Analisa menggunakan chi square. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan sebagian besar anak mempunyai status gizi normal, status hidrasi baik dan memori jangka pendek yang normal. Terdapat hubungan antara status gizi dan status hidrasi dengan memori jangka pendek anak. Orang tua sebaiknya lebih memperhatikan kebutuhan nutrisi dan cairan anak dengan cara: 1) membiasakan sarapan sebelum berangkat sekolah; dan 2) pada saat anak ke sekolah lebih baik dibawakan bekal makanan dan minuman.

Popular Song Composition Based on Deep Learning and Neural Network

For the general public, composition appears to be professional and the threshold is relatively high. However, automatic composition can improve this problem, allowing more ordinary people to participate in the composition, especially popular music composition, so the music becomes more entertaining, and its randomness can also inspire professionals. This article combines deep learning to extract note features from the demonstration audio and builds a neural network model to complete the composition of popular music. The main work of this paper is as follows. First, we extract the characteristic notes, draw on the design process of mel-frequency cepstral coefficient extraction, and combine the characteristics of piano music signals to extract the note characteristics of the demonstration music. Then, the neural network model is constructed, using the memory function of the cyclic neural network and the characteristics of processing sequence data, the piano notes are combined into a sequence according to the musical theory rules, and the neural network model automatically learns this rule and then generates the note sequence. Finally, the ideal popular piano music scores are divided into online music lover scores and offline professional ratings. The score index is obtained, and each index is weighted by the entropy weight method.

Brain White Matter Development Over the First 13 Years in Very Preterm and Typically Developing Children Based on the T1-W/T2-W Ratio

Objective:To investigate brain regional white matter development in full-term (FT) and very preterm (VP) children at term-equivalent, 7 and 13 years of age based on the ratio of T1-weighted and T2-weighted magnetic resonance images (T1-w/T2-w), including: (1) whether longitudinal changes differ between birth groups or sexes; (2) associations with perinatal risk factors in VP children, and; (3) relationships with neurodevelopmental outcomes at 13 years.Methods:Prospective longitudinal cohort study of VP (born <30 weeks’ gestation or <1250 g) and FT infants born between 2001-2004 and followed up at term-equivalent age, 7 years of age and 13 years of age, including magnetic resonance imaging studies and neurodevelopmental assessments. T1-w/T2-w images were parcellated into 48 white matter regions of interest.Results:Of 224 VP participants and 76 FT participants, 197 VP and 55 FT participants had usable T1-w/T2-w data from at least one timepoint. T1-w/T2-w values increased between term-equivalent and 13 years of age, with little evidence that longitudinal changes varied between birth groups or sexes. VP birth, neonatal brain abnormalities, being small for gestational age and postnatal infection were associated with reduced regional T1-w/T2-w values in childhood and adolescence. Increased T1-w/T2-w values across the white matter at 13 years were associated with better motor and working memory function for all children. Within the FT group only, larger increases in T1-w/T2-w values from term-equivalent to 7 years were associated with poorer attention and executive function, and higher T1-w/T2-w values at 7 years were associated with poorer mathematics.Conclusion:VP birth and multiple known perinatal risk factors are associated with long-term reductions in the T1-w/T2-w ratio in white matter regions in childhood and adolescence, which may relate to alterations in microstructure and myelin content. Furthermore, increased T1-w/T2-w ratio at 13 years appeared to be associated with better motor and working memory function, and there appeared to be developmental differences between VP and FT children in the associations for attention, executive functioning and mathematics.

Study on Memory Function of Stroke Patients under Exercise Relearning Based on DWI Image Analysis Based on Optimized Registration Algorithm

Objective. This paper uses an optimized registration algorithm to analyze the diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) scan parameters of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in the memory function of stroke patients under exercise relearning (MRP). Methods. This study used a random case-control study. 65 patients with stroke and hemiplegia were randomly divided into a control group: conventional rehabilitation intervention (32 cases), and a treatment group: MRP (33 cases). Each patient uses 4 parameters for DWI examination and obtains 4 sets of images, group 1 is the control sequence, group 2 uses parallel acquisition technology, group 3 uses parallel acquisition technology and reduces the number of excitations, group 4 uses parallel acquisition technology to reduce repetition time (TR) and echo time (TE) and enlarge the field of view, and the scan time of each group is 177, 81, 23, and 18 s in sequence. At the time of enrollment and after 12 weeks of treatment, patients in each group were evaluated with Fugl-Meyer motor function score (FMA) and modified Pap index (MBI) for hand and wrist motor function and ADL. Results. After treatment, the FMA and MBI values of the treatment group were significantly higher than those of the control group ( P < 0.05 ). Conclusion. By adopting a parallel acquisition technique and reducing the number of excitations (group 3) scanning scheme, not only the scanning time is significantly shortened, but also the image quality can meet the diagnostic requirements, which has great application value for AIS patients who need emergency treatment. MRP can obviously promote the hand and wrist motor function and daily living ability of stroke hemiplegic patients.