Jan. 24, 2014 - This Week's Consolidation of Advocacy News
News
Putin Decree Shakes Up Russian Science Funding
Jan. 22, 2014 | Science Insider
In tandem with the reorganization of the Russian Academy of Sciences' (RAS), President Vladimir Putin last week signed a decree that stipulates that all state research funding should be distributed via a competitive grants system. RAS supports competitive funding publicly, but it wishes to maintain control of the distribution of funds within the academy.
Reproducibility
Jan. 17, 2014 | Science
Marcia McNutt, editor in chief of Science, announced that the journal will be adopting recommendations from the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke to increase the likelihood that scientific studies can be replicated.
Omnibus Bill Gives Nudge to Public Access
Jan. 17, 2014 | Science Insider
Congress took a small step toward expanding a requirement that science agencies make federally funded research papers publicly available in the omnibus spending bill. The National Institutes of Health already has policies in place that will fulfill the requirements, but bill language will also affect the Center for Disease Control and the Department of Education.
Policy
Public Meeting of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
• Monday, Feb. 10 (9 a.m.-5 p.m.) and Tuesday, Feb. 11 (9 a.m.-5 p.m.)
The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues will conduct its 16th meeting. At this meeting, the Commission will discuss the BRAIN Initiative and ongoing work in neuroscience. This meeting will be webcast.
Articles of Interest
Seeing X Chromosomes in a New Light
Jan. 20, 2014 | New York Times
SfN member Jeremy Nathans work is featured in this article about how X chromosomes are turned on and off in a complex pattern. In particular, this work shows that in some females, X chromosome activation was lateralized in the brain - for example, the maternal X chromosome was seen dominating the left side of the brain while the paternal copy dominated the right.
Drug Helps to Clear Traumatic Memories
Jan. 16, 2014 | Nature News
SfN Councilor Li-Huei Tsai has recently published a study in the journal Cell that shows extinction therapy in conjunction with the administration of a drug that clears epigenetic tags on DNA may be an effective treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In mice, the drug appeared to create a brief window for which remote memories can be more easily reconsolidated. In the study, mice were able to relearn not to fear a loud noise in response to the combination of the drug and extinction therapy.
- Watch “Sketch of a Memory,” the video that tied for second place in the 2013 Brain Awareness Video Contest.
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