The predictive value of changes in effective connectivity for human learning

During learning, neural responses decrease over repeated exposure to identical stimuli. This repetition suppression is thought to reflect a progressive optimization of neuronal responses elicited by the task. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to study the neural basis of associative learning of visual objects and their locations. As expected, activation in specialized cortical areas decreased with time. However, with path analysis it was shown that, in parallel to this adaptation, increases in effective connectivity occurred between distinct cortical systems specialized for spatial and object processing. The time course of these plastic changes was highly correlated with individual learning performance, suggesting that interactions between brain areas underlie associative learning.     

真蛸肌肉营养成分及氨基酸含量分析

[目的]分析真蛸肌肉营养成分,评价其营养价值。[方法]利用常规肌肉营养测试法对真蛸的肌肉营养成分进行测定。[结果]真蛸肌肉（鲜样）中水分、粗蛋白质、粗脂肪、粗灰分和总糖的质量分数分别为79.40%、18.00%、0.50%、2.08%和0.59%。肌肉中含有17种氨基酸,总量（TAA）为76.65%,其中8种人体必需氨基酸（EAA）占氨基酸总量的38.25%,必需氨基酸和非必需氨基酸的比值（WEAA/WNEAA）为78.22%。[结论]真蛸必需氨基酸的构成比例基本符合联合国粮农组织/世界卫生组织（FAO/WHO）的标准。     

Operant reward learning in Aplysia: neuronal correlates and mechanisms

Operant conditioning is a form of associative learning through which an animal learns about the consequences of its behavior. Here, we report an appetitive operant conditioning procedure in Aplysia that induces long-term memory. Biophysical changes that accompanied the memory were found in an identified neuron (cell B51) that is considered critical for the expression of behavior that was rewarded. Similar cellular changes in B51 were produced by contingent reinforcement of B51 with dopamine in a single-cell analog of the operant procedure. These findings allow for the detailed analysis of the cellular and molecular processes underlying operant conditioning.     

Postsynaptic receptor trafficking underlying a form of associative learning

To elucidate molecular, cellular, and circuit changes that occur in the brain during learning, we investigated the role of a glutamate receptor subtype in fear conditioning. In this form of learning, animals associate two stimuli, such as a tone and a shock. Here we report that fear conditioning drives AMPA-type glutamate receptors into the synapse of a large fraction of postsynaptic neurons in the lateral amygdala, a brain structure essential for this learning process. Furthermore, memory was reduced if AMPA receptor synaptic incorporation was blocked in as few as 10 to 20% of lateral amygdala neurons. Thus, the encoding of memories in the lateral amygdala is mediated by AMPA receptor trafficking, is widely distributed, and displays little redundancy.     

中年ICR小鼠学习记忆损害与血清甲状腺素的关系

研究中年ICR小鼠在新物体再认任务和六臂辐射状水迷宫(RAWM)中的学习记忆能力变化及其与血清甲状腺素(TH)的相关性。结果表明,新物体再认试验中12月龄与6月龄ICR小鼠间的成绩无显著性差异;RAWM中,12月龄小鼠较6月龄小鼠空间学习记忆能力减退;12月龄小鼠血清TH水平(FT3,FT4)低于6月龄小鼠,且FT3水平既与小鼠的空间性学习能力相关,又与记忆能力相关,而FT4仅与空间性学习能力相关。这些结果提示血清TH水平下降可能参与了中年ICR小鼠空间学习记忆能力减退。     

浙江北部沿岸春夏季长蛸时空分布及其与海洋环境的关系

根据2014—2016年春夏季浙江北部沿岸拖网调查数据,选取时空因子(年、月、经纬度)和环境因子(底层温度SBT、底层盐度SBS、深度Depth和溶解氧DO),分析长蛸(Octopus minor)资源的时空分布情况,并利用提升回归树(boosted regression tree, BRT)模型研究各因子对长蛸资源丰度(以渔获量g/h表示)的影响程度。结果表明:2014年的平均渔获量明显高于2015和2016年,同一年中4月份的渔获量均高于其他月份;主要渔获量分布在122.75°E～123.25°E,30°N～30.5°N之间;2015年的渔场重心较其他年份略向北移动,4月至6月间渔场重心向东北方向移动,但变化不明显;选择以学习率(learning rate,lr)为0.001和复杂度(tree complexity,tc)为4的模型来建立时空环境因子与渔获量的关系,发现溶解氧对渔获量的影响最大,占所有影响因子的45.5%;其次为年和盐度,随后依次为深度(10.7%)、底层温度(7.3%)、纬度(4.7%)、月(4.7%)以及经度(2.3%)。相比较时空因子而言,环境因子对长蛸的渔获量影响更大。溶解氧是直接影响长蛸活动的重要因素,后续研究应该对此因子提高关注。     

不同安全利用技术对琼北地区稻菜轮作系统镉削减的效果

为探讨不同安全利用技术在海南镉污染耕地上的应用效果,以琼北地区轻中度镉污染稻菜轮作耕地为研究对象,比较了6种安全利用技术对辣椒和稻米中Cd积累的削减效果,以及9种钝化剂对稻米Cd积累的影响。结果表明,各项安全利用技术的降Cd效果由高到低依次为优化施肥+土壤调理+叶面阻控>土壤调理+叶面阻控>优化施肥+叶面阻控>土壤调理>叶面阻控>优化施肥,在辣椒和稻米上的降Cd率分别为61.6%~91.5%、49.4%~91.3%,6项安全利用措施下辣椒Cd暴露的膳食安全风险均可接受,但仅优化施肥+土壤调理+叶面阻控和土壤调理+叶面阻控处理下稻米Cd暴露的膳食安全风险在可接受范围内。施用9种钝化剂均可显著(P<0.05)降低稻米Cd含量,但降Cd率差别较大,变化范围在29.7%~77.0%。其中,生物炭和磷复合钝化剂(生物炭+磷矿粉、生物炭+活化磷矿粉)、蚯蚓粪和铁磷复合钝化剂(蚯蚓粪+零价铁+磷矿粉)的施用效果最佳,稻米降Cd率在 68%以上。针对海南轻中度镉污染耕地,宜采用优化施肥+土壤调理+叶面阻控和土壤调理+叶面阻控的联合措施,其中土壤调理技术中的钝化剂推荐使用生物炭和磷复合钝化剂或蚯蚓粪和铁磷复合钝化剂。     

中国沿海长蛸群体16S rRNA基因的遗传变异研究

采用线粒体16S rRNA基因序列测定技术,分析了我国沿海长蛸4个野生群体的遗传结构及其变异。经比对获得了1个长度为512 bp的核苷酸片段,检测到48个变异位点,占分析位点总数的9.4%,45个个体共检测到30个单倍型,单倍型多样性指数H为0.964 6,总体核苷酸多样性指数Pi为0.032 9,表现出较丰富的遗传多样性。AMOVA分析表明,4个长蛸群体间存在较高的遗传分化,82.07%的遗传差异存在于群体间,而仅有17.93%的遗传差异存在于群体内。聚类分析也表明4个群体可明显聚为2个类群,一个由大连、青岛和舟山群体组成,另一个由厦门群体组成;厦门群体与其它群体间的遗传距离达到0.094,遗传分化系数和基因流分别达到0.97和0.02,表明厦门群体与其它3个群体有着显著的遗传隔离,可能为亚种水平的分化。上述群体间的分化可能与长蛸自身的底栖生活方式、海区水文条件及地理历史因素等有关。     

Generation of a synthetic memory trace

We investigated the effect of activating a competing, artificially generated, neural representation on encoding of contextual fear memory in mice. We used a c-fos-based transgenic approach to introduce the hM(3)D(q) DREADD receptor (designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drug) into neurons naturally activated by sensory experience. Neural activity could then be specifically and inducibly increased in the hM(3)D(q)-expressing neurons by an exogenous ligand. When an ensemble of neurons for one context (ctxA) was artificially activated during conditioning in a distinct second context (ctxB), mice formed a hybrid memory representation. Reactivation of the artificially stimulated network within the conditioning context was required for retrieval of the memory, and the memory was specific for the spatial pattern of neurons artificially activated during learning. Similar stimulation impaired recall when not part of the initial conditioning.     

Unsupervised natural experience rapidly alters invariant object representation in visual cortex

Object recognition is challenging because each object produces myriad retinal images. Responses of neurons from the inferior temporal cortex (IT) are selective to different objects, yet tolerant ("invariant") to changes in object position, scale, and pose. How does the brain construct this neuronal tolerance? We report a form of neuronal learning that suggests the underlying solution. Targeted alteration of the natural temporal contiguity of visual experience caused specific changes in IT position tolerance. This unsupervised temporal slowness learning (UTL) was substantial, increased with experience, and was significant in single IT neurons after just 1 hour. Together with previous theoretical work and human object perception experiments, we speculate that UTL may reflect the mechanism by which the visual stream builds and maintains tolerant object representations.     

Underwater bipedal locomotion by octopuses in disguise

Here we report bipedal movement with a hydrostatic skeleton. Two species of octopus walk on two alternating arms using a rolling gait and appear to use the remaining six arms for camouflage. Octopus marginatus resembles a coconut, and Octopus (Abdopus) aculeatus, a clump of floating algae. Using underwater video, we analyzed the kinematics of their strides. Each arm was on the sand for more than half of the stride, qualifying this behavior as a form of walking.     

Object distance as a determinant of visual fixation in early infancy

Data from two experiments show that the duration of visual fixation of solid objects by infants aged 6 to 20 weeks varies as a function of object distance between 30 and 90 centimeters. There was no characteristic habituation of fixation of an object at 90 centimeters but there was a marked increase in fixation time when objects were advanced to 30 centimeters (experiment 1). A linear decline in fixation times occurred as the object distance increased from 30 to 90 centimeters with the real size and the angular size of the object held constant (experiment 2). No evidence for visual size constancy in young infants was obtained by this method.     

Aversive learning enhances perceptual and cortical discrimination of indiscriminable odor cues

Learning to associate sensory cues with threats is critical for minimizing aversive experience. The ecological benefit of associative learning relies on accurate perception of predictive cues, but how aversive learning enhances perceptual acuity of sensory signals, particularly in humans, is unclear. We combined multivariate functional magnetic resonance imaging with olfactory psychophysics to show that initially indistinguishable odor enantiomers (mirror-image molecules) become discriminable after aversive conditioning, paralleling the spatial divergence of ensemble activity patterns in primary olfactory (piriform) cortex. Our findings indicate that aversive learning induces piriform plasticity with corresponding gains in odor enantiomer discrimination, underscoring the capacity of fear conditioning to update perceptual representation of predictive cues, over and above its well-recognized role in the acquisition of conditioned responses. That completely indiscriminable sensations can be transformed into discriminable percepts further accentuates the potency of associative learning to enhance sensory cue perception and support adaptive behavior.     

Building neural representations of habits

Memories for habits and skills ("implicit or procedural memory") and memories for facts ("explicit or episodic memory") are built up in different brain systems and are vulnerable to different neurodegenerative disorders in humans. So that the striatum-based mechanisms underlying habit formation could be studied, chronic recordings from ensembles of striatal neurons were made with multiple tetrodes as rats learned a T-maze procedural task. Large and widely distributed changes in the neuronal activity patterns occurred in the sensorimotor striatum during behavioral acquisition, culminating in task-related activity emphasizing the beginning and end of the automatized procedure. The new ensemble patterns remained stable during weeks of subsequent performance of the same task. These results suggest that the encoding of action in the sensorimotor striatum undergoes dynamic reorganization as habit learning proceeds.     

Differential classical conditioning of a defensive withdrawal reflex in Aplysia californica

The defensive siphon and gill withdrawal reflex of Aplysia is a simple reflex mediated by a well-defined neural circuit. This reflex exhibits classical conditioning when a weak tactile stimulus to the siphon is used as a conditioned stimulus and a strong shock to the tail is used as an unconditioned stimulus. The siphon withdrawal component of this reflex can be differentially conditioned when stimuli applied to two different sites on the mantle skin (the mantle shelf and the siphon) are used as discriminative stimuli. The differential conditioning can be acquired in a single trial, is retained for more than 24 hours, and increases in strength with increased trials. Differential conditioning can also be produced within the field of innervation of a single cluster of sensory neurons (the LE cluster) since two separate sites on the siphon skin can serve as discriminative stimuli. The finding that two independent afferent inputs that activate a common set of interneurons and motor neurons can be differentially conditioned restricts the possible cellular loci involved in the associative learning.     

Neuroscience. From molecules to memory in the cerebellum

Neuroscientists have long sought to elucidate the molecular underpinnings of the memories needed to learn, for example, a motor task. In his Perspective, Linden discusses new work (Koekkoek et al.) suggesting that long-term depression in Purkinje cells mediated by protein kinase C signaling is responsible for motor memory in a task called associative eyelid conditioning.     

The in vitro Classical Conditioning of the Gill Withdrawal Reflex of Aplysia californica

Associative learning has been demonstrated in a reduced siphon, mantle, gill, and abdominal ganglion preparation of Aplysia. The preparations learned to respond to a previously neutral stimulus as a consequence of training in a classical conditioning paradigm. Backward conditioning, presentation of the conditioned stimulus alone, or presentation of the unconditioned stimulus at some random interval after presentation of the conditioned stimulus failed to produce conditioning. This model system can be used to study the neural mechanisms underlying associative learning.     

Retrograde amnesia produced by electroconvulsive shock after reactivation of a consolidated memory trace

Rats had a memory loss of a fear response when they received an electroconvulsive shock 24 hours after the fear-conditioning trial and preceded by a brief presentation of the conditioned stimulus. No such loss occurred when the conditioned stimulus was not presented. The memory loss in animals given electroconvulsive shock 24 hours after conditioning was, furthermore, as great as that displayed in animals given electroconvulsive shock immediately after conditioning. This result throws doubt on the assertion that electroconvulsive shock exerts a selective amnesic effect on recently acquired memories and thus that electroconvulsive shock produces amnesia solely through interference with memory trace consolidation.     

《信息资源检索与利用》翻转课堂运用——基于学生自评学习表单的实施

以学生自评学习任务表单为构架,在高校《信息资源检索与利用》课程中运用翻转课堂的教学模式,提升学生的学习兴趣,强化知识学习与内化吸收过程。设计“学生自评学习任务表单”,重构教学内容结构为单个具体可执行的任务,师生围绕着学习任务表单进行课上课下的教学协调。     

Memory disruption by electrical stimulation of substantia nigra, pars compacta

Electrical stimulation of the substantia nigra, pars compacta, of albino rats while they were learning a simple foot shock task of withdrawal and response suppression disrupted retention of that task 24 hours after original learning. Stimulation in the reticular zone of the substantia nigra was without effect on retention performance. Stimulation through electrodes in the medial lemniscus, red nucleus, or brainstem regions surrounding the substantia nigra, pars compacta, was also ineffective. Original learning performance, measured as time to criterion, was unimpaired by the stimulation. Posttrial stimulation in the substantia nigra, pars compacta, but not in adjacent structures, also disrupted retention performance.