Suspense refers to the affective state that accompanies anticipation about the delivery of information. To explore the factors that induce suspense in humans, we designed a novel task similar to the card game Blackjack during which we asked people to su...

Category members that are more typical, or perceived to better represent their category, benefit from enhanced semantic processing and resistance to disruption by brain damage. Furthermore, features of typical (compared to atypical) items are more often...

We have proposed an MEG pattern analysis method, called virtual beamformer (VB), for comparing two MEG data [1,2]. MEG data of semantic priming for visually presented words were analyzed with VB. A prime and a target words respectively consisting of three and five Japanese katakana characters were presented (duration: 100ms, ISI: 900ms). Subjects with informed consent were asked for a categorization task for the target words by pressing a yes/no button. There were four combination among the prime and target words, #1) in-category/target, #2) out-category/target, #3) out-category/nontarget, and #4) in-category/nontarget. In VB analysis MEG spatio-temporal pattern, which worked like a conventional filtering kernel, was first leaned from the target MEG data #1 excluding the button-pressing MEG response. The other target MEG data were then analyzed with the pattern. As a result, only VB output #2 revealed a conspicuous peak around latency of 500ms. In the case of the pattern learning in the same way except fro...

Genetic studies have shown an association between smoking and variation at the CHRNA5/A3/B4 gene locus encoding the α5, α3, and β4 nicotinic receptor subunits. The α5 receptor has been specifically implicated because smoking-associated haplotypes contain a coding variant in the CHRNA5 gene. The Chrna5/a3/b4 locus is conserved in rodents and the restricted expression of these subunits suggests neural pathways through which the reinforcing and aversive properties of nicotine may be mediated. Here, we show that, in the interpeduncular nucleus (IP), the site of the highest Chrna5 mRNA expression in rodents, electrophysiological responses to nicotinic acetylcholine receptor stimulation are markedly reduced in α5-null mice. IP neurons differ markedly from their upstream ventral medial habenula cholinergic partners, which appear unaltered by loss of α5. To probe the functional role of α5-containing IP neurons, we used BAC recombineering to generate transgenic mice expressing Cre-recombinase from the Chrna5 locus....

Scientific progress often hinges on the courage to question conventional models and embrace exploratory research. This commentary examines the importance of curiosity-driven science by drawing on historical and contemporary examples, from Darwin's unconventional research methodologies to modern neuroscience investigations that challenge the constraints of traditional laboratory environments. An over-reliance on predictable, controlled conditions—particularly in select rodent models—has potentially limited the translational impact of neuroscience. By exploring novel research paradigms, including raccoon neural investigations and rodent-driven vehicles (ROVs), the value of expanding research models to incorporate diverse species and environments is examined. As neuroscience advances, the field must move beyond the metaphorical lamp post, venturing into uncharted territory to fully capture the complexity of neurobiological variables. By fostering a culture of discovery over predictability—supported by innovat...

Aim of Investigation: NeuroImaging Tools and Resources Collaboratory (NITRC) is a neuroinformatics knowledge environment for MR, PET/SPECT, CT, EEG/MEG, optical imaging, clinical neuroinformatics, computational neuroscience, and imaging genomics tools a...

Unlike value-based decision-making, it is not immediately obvious that political decisions are made using some principled evaluation of alternatives that can be operationalized in the lab. Many scholars consider politics to be a privileged class of deci...

We were interested in the role that attention might play in disordered thought processes frequent in schizophrenia. Specifically, we wanted to examine the role of reflexive and voluntary attentional processes in the semantic domain by using a category-switching manipulation based on Neely’s 1977 work with normal subjects. Similar to an antisaccade task, he used this category-switching paradigm to separate semantic priming that would occur automatically for a related but unexpected word from semantic priming that would occur for a word from an expected but unrelated category. We tested 19 schizophrenic patients (SzP) on a similar lexical decision task. Probe stimuli were either words from 1 of 2 categories (“Animal” or “Body Part”) or pronounceable nonwords. Prime stimuli were the words “Animal,” “Body Part,” or “Neutral”. SzP were told that when the prime word was “Animal” or “Body Part,” then 80% of the time, the following probe would be a word from the opposite category (i.e. Body Part or Animal, respect...

The family of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) consists of five members in mammals, encoded by the CHRM1 -5 genes. The mAChRs are G-protein-coupled receptors, which can be divided into the following two subfamilies: M2 and M4 receptors coupling to Gi/o; and M1, M3, and M5 receptors coupling to Gq/11. However, despite the fundamental roles played by these receptors, their evolution in vertebrates has not yet been fully described. We have combined sequence-based phylogenetic analyses with comparisons of exon–intron organization and conserved synteny in order to deduce the evolution of the mAChR receptors. Our analyses verify the existence of two ancestral genes prior to the two vertebrate tetraploidizations (1R and 2R). After these events, one gene had duplicated, resulting in CHRM2 and CHRM4 ; and the other had triplicated, forming the CHRM1 , CHRM3 , and CHRM5 subfamily. All five genes are still present in all vertebrate groups investigated except the CHRM1 gene, which has not been identified in...

Torpor in hibernating mammals defines the nadir in mammalian metabolic demand and body temperature that accommodates seasonal periods of reduced energy availability. The mechanism of metabolic suppression during torpor onset is unknown, although the CNS is a key regulator of torpor. Seasonal hibernators, such as the arctic ground squirrel (AGS), display torpor only during the winter, hibernation season. The seasonal character of hibernation thus provides a clue to its regulation. In the present study, we delivered adenosine receptor agonists and antagonists into the lateral ventricle of AGSs at different times of the year while monitoring the rate of O2 consumption and core body temperature as indicators of torpor. The A1 antagonist cyclopentyltheophylline reversed spontaneous entrance into torpor. The adenosine A1 receptor agonist N6-cyclohexyladenosine (CHA) induced torpor in six of six AGSs tested during the mid-hibernation season, two of six AGSs tested early in the hibernation season, and none of the ...