What do zebrafish prefer? Directional and color preferences in maze tasks

Studies regarding the animals innate preferences help elucidate and avoid probable sources of bias and serve as a reference to improve and develop new behavioral tasks. In zebrafish research, the results of innate directional and color preferences are often not replicated between research groups or even inside the same laboratory raising huge concerns on the replicability and reproducibility. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the male and female zebrafish innate directional and color preferences in the plus-maze and T-maze behavioral tasks. As revealed by the percentage of time spent in each zone of the maze, our results showed that males and females zebrafish demonstrated no difference in directional preference in the plus-maze task. Surprisingly, male and female zebrafish showed color preference differences in the plus-maze task; males did not show any color preference, while female zebrafish demonstrated a red preference compared to white, blue, and yellow colors. Moreover, both male and female zebrafish demonstrated a strong black color preference compared to the white color in the T-maze task. Thus, our results demonstrate the importance of innate preference assays involved with the directionality of the apparatus or the application of colors as a screening process conducting behavioral tests (e.g., anxiety, learning and memory assessment, locomotion, and preference) and highlight the need to analyze sex differences.

Memory and witness testimony: what the psychiatrist cannot know

SUMMARYPsychiatrists called on to assess the reliability of witness testimony in the courts enter an arena fraught with uncertainties. This commentary discusses Commane & Kopelman's exploration of both the ‘normal’ fallibility of memory and disordered memory and considers the unavoidable limitations of their guidance on memory assessment and medico-legal work.

Evaluation of Comparative Efficacy of Jyotishmati (Celastrus paniculatus Wild) and Yastimadhu (Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn) in Enhancing IQ and Memory of Different Prakriti School Going Children-A Study Protocol of Double Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Education plays a major role in life, whereas lack of intelligence, learning, and memory will lead to failure in school performance and school dropout. Medhya drugs are used frequently to enhance the memory and IQ in children. Jyotishmati and Yashtimadhu are medhya (IQ-enhancing & memory-booster) drugs, described in numerous classical texts of Ayurveda. However, comparative efficacy and randomized trials on various prakriti types have not been studied. Thus, to assess the comparative efficacy of Jyotishmati in enhancing IQ and memory in relation to Yastimadhu as standard control, this research has been planned. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of Jyotishmati on IQ and memory, and compare the efficacy with that of Yastimadhu in children with different prakriti types. Methodology: It will be conducted on healthy school-age children of 8-13 years, recruited from CBSE schools near Mahatma Gandhi Ayurved College, Hospital and Research Centre, Salod, Wardha. The study will be a randomized, standard-controlled, double-blind, parallel group clinical study. All participants will be randomly divided into two groups, each of 30 individuals; each group is subdivided into three subgroups of 10 individuals each. One group will be given Jyotishmati while the other will be given Yastimadhu, both in granule form. IQ assessment will be done by using the Draw a Man test and the PGI memory scale for memory assessment. Expected Results: This study will validate the efficacy of Jyotishmati and Yastimadhuin enhancing IQ and memory, and it will give detailed information about their efficacy in different Prakriti dominantchildren. Conclusion: This study will provide unique information to increase awareness of the administration of Medhya drugs according to Prakriti, as well as knowledge about which drug is best for improving either IQ or memory, or both.

The Relationship Between Loneliness and the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cognition and Well-Being in Older Adults

Social distancing is necessary to limit the spread of Covid-19. However, many older adults are predisposed to isolation and loneliness despite calls to socially distance. The current study examined loneliness during Covid-19 in relation to cognition and wellbeing in older adults. Data were extracted from a U.S. ADRC longitudinal study of aging database. Cognition was assessed using the NACC UDS 3.0 battery. Measures of well-being include: Short Form Health Survey, Subjective Memory Assessment, and Geriatric Depression Scale. Measurement of loneliness was selected from the NIH ADRC Covid-19 questionnaire. Data were from 115 older adults with normal cognition or MCI with a visit ≤18 months before research stoppage in March 2020 and after resumption in late-June 2020. Cognition and wellbeing are compared before and after onset of pandemic. Isolation due to Covid-19 may have long-term implications. Results of this study will highlight the need for acute assessments and psychosocial interventions.

Inhibition of PDE4 by Roflumilast ameliorates sleep deprivation-induced cognitive dysfunction in C57BL/6J mice

Sleep deprivation interferes with long-term memory and cognitive functions by over-activation of phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzymes. PDE4 is a non-redundant regulator of the cyclic nucleotides (cAMP), is densely expressed in the hippocampus, and is involved in learning and memory processes. In the present study, we investigated the effects of Roflumilast (ROF), a PDE4 inhibitor, on sleep deprivation induced cognitive dysfunction in a mouse model. Memory assessment was performed using a novel object recognition task and the cAMP level was estimated by ELISA. The alterations in the expressions of PDE4B, amyloid beta, CREB, BDNF, and synaptic proteins (Synapsin I, SAP 97, PSD 95) were assessed to gain insights on the possible mechanisms of action of ROF using the western blot technique. Results show that ROF reverse SD induced cognitive decline in mice. ROF down-regulated PDE4B and amyloid beta expressions. Additionally, ROF improved cAMP levels and the expressions of synapsin I, SAP 97, and PSD 95 in the hippocampal region of SD mice. Taken together, these results suggest that ROF can suppress the deleterious effects of SD-induced cognitive dysfunction via PDE4-mediated cAMP/CREB/BDNF cascade.

Verbal working memory assessment in Russian-Brazilian Portuguese bilinguals

In Brazil, the learning of a second language (L2) by native Brazilian Portuguese speakers has been extensively explored, but studies on language processing and language interaction among bilinguals are quite recent. The late bilingualism of the first-generation immigrants has been studied mainly from the perspective of their difficulties in learning Brazilian Portuguese. Brazil has numerous communities of heritage speakers of many languages such as Japanese, German, Italian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian. However, the number of studies that focus on the bilingual speech of heritage speakers in Brazil is also quite limited. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the working memory in Russian-Brazilian Portuguese bilinguals as a function of the language and type of bilingualism. For this purpose, 49 first-generation Russophone immigrants and 28 older Russian heritage speakers, all residing in Brazil, were tested in Russian and Portuguese using a Month-Ordering task. We found that the working memory scores of the first-generation Russophone immigrants were not statistically different between both languages, but the median working memory score of the older Russian heritage speakers in Russian was 1.5-fold lower than in Portuguese. As next steps, we plan to verify the relation between the working memory capacity and narrative production abilities of the older Russian heritage-Brazilian Portuguese bilinguals in their heritage and societal languages.

Sleep bolsters schematically incongruent memories

Our ability to recall memories is improved when sleep follows learning, suggesting that sleep facilitates memory consolidation. A number of factors are thought to influence the impact of sleep on newly learned information, such as whether or not we rehearse that information (e.g. via restudy or retrieval practice), or the extent to which the information is consistent with our pre-existing schematic knowledge. In this pre-registered, online study, we examined the effects of both rehearsal and schematic congruency on overnight consolidation. Participants learned noun-colour pairings (e.g. elephant-red) and rated each pairing as plausible or implausible before completing a baseline memory assessment. Afterwards, participants engaged in a period of restudy or retrieval practice for the pairings, and then entered a 12 h retention interval of overnight sleep or daytime wakefulness. Follow-up assessments were completed immediately after sleep or wake, and again 24 h after learning. Our data indicated that overnight consolidation was amplified for restudied relative to retested noun-colour pairings, but only when sleep occurred soon after learning. Furthermore, whereas plausible (i.e. schematically congruent) pairings were generally better remembered than implausible (i.e. schematically incongruent) pairings, sleep (vs wake) reduced the retention advantage for plausible (vs implausible) information. This finding challenges the notion that schema-conformant memories are preferentially strengthened during post-learning sleep.