Attending graduate school as an underrepresented trainee can present a number of challenges. From unique backgrounds to culture shock, to literally not speaking the same language, a number of barriers can come into play when trying to build relationships. A strong mentor/mentee relationship is particularly important for trainees, but underrepresented trainees may have difficulty because of those barriers. I was able to find mentors and build these relationships, but I needed to understand a few things first in order to make that possible. In my experience, underrepresented trainees who are hoping to build better relationships with their mentors should: Be willing to communicate your unique needs. Build your mentor village. Understand the boundaries of each mentor/mentee relationship while accepting the lack of a “perfect mentor.”

The Progressive Ratio (PR) schedule is a popular test of motivation. Despite its popularity, the PR task hinges on a low-dimensional behavioral readout—breakpoint, or the maximum work requirement subjects are willing to complete before abandoning the task. Here, we show that with a simple modification, the PR task can be transformed into an optimization problem reminiscent of the patch-leaving foraging scenario, which has been analyzed extensively by behavioral ecologists, psychologists, and neuroscientists. In the Progressive Ratio with Reset (PRR) task, male and female rats performed the PR task on one lever, but could press a second lever to reset the current ratio requirement back to its lowest value at the cost of enduring a reset delay, during which both levers were retracted. Rats used the reset lever adaptively on the PRR task, and their ratio reset decisions were sensitive to the cost of the reset delay. We derived an approach for computing the optimal bout length—the number of rewards to earn bef...

Listening effort reflects the cognitive and motivational resources allocated to speech comprehension, particularly under challenging conditions. Visual cues are known to enhance speech perception, potentially by reducing the cognitive demands of the task. However, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying this facilitation, especially in terms of effort-related changes, remain unclear. In this study, we combined pupillometry and electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate how visual speech cues modulate cognitive effort during speech recognition. Twenty-two participants (seven females) performed a speech-in-noise task under three modalities: (1) auditory-only, (2) audiovisual, and (3) visual-only. Task difficulty was manipulated via signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the first two modalities. Firstly, we found an inverted U-shape relationship between pupil dilation and frontal midline theta with SNR for audiovisual and auditory-only speech, consistent with prior models of effort allocation. Secondly, we obs...

Identifying neural signatures of slow-wave sleep (SWS) is important for a number of reasons including diagnosing potential sleep disorders and examining its role in memory consolidation ( [Diekelmann and Born, 2010][1]; [Klinzing et al., 2019][2]; [Brodt et al., 2023][3]). Studies of sleep in the common marmoset ( Callithrix jacchus ) have revealed similarities to humans and other nonhuman primates, including distinct sleep stages ( [Crofts et al., 2001][4]) and diurnal sleep patterns ( [Hoffmann et al., 2012][5]). Advances in applying wireless technology for recording neural activity during natural, unrestrained behaviors ( [Walker et al., 2021][6]) position the marmoset as an excellent model for studying sleep-related neural activity associated with learning. Here, we identify putative SWS epochs based on the spatially correlated activity of local field potentials (LFPs) recorded from a multielectrode planar array implanted in the sensorimotor cortex of two marmosets (one female and one male). The averag...

ArfGAP, with dual PH domain-containing protein 1/Centaurin-α1 (ADAP1/CentA1), is a brain-enriched and highly conserved Arf6 GTPase-activating and Ras-anchoring protein. CentA1 is involved in dendritic outgrowth and arborization, synaptogenesis, and axonal polarization by regulating the actin cytoskeleton dynamics. CentA1 upregulation and association with amyloid plaques in the human Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain suggest the role of this protein in AD progression. To understand the role of CentA1 in neurodegeneration, we crossbred CentA1 knock-out (KO) mice with the J20 mouse model of AD. We evaluated AD-associated behavioral and neuropathological hallmarks and gene expression profiles in J20 and J20 crossed with CentA1 KO (J20xKO) male mice to determine the impact of eliminating CentA1 expression on AD-related phenotypes. Spatial memory assessed by the Morris water maze test showed significant impairment in J20 mice, which was rescued in J20xKO mice. Moreover, neuropathological hallmarks of AD, such as am...

Structural changes in dendritic spines underlie long-term potentiation (LTP). While CaMKII has been considered as the primary driver of these changes, we show that transient, localized activation of Rac1 alone is sufficient to induce structural LTP in hippocampal slices prepared from rat pups of either sex. Using photoactivatable Rac1 (PA-Rac1), we demonstrated that Rac1 activation triggers spine enlargement and actin polymerization. This PA-Rac1-induced plasticity was blocked by Rac1 and Pak1 inhibitors but not by a CaMKII inhibitor. Our results identify Rac1 as an upstream of persistent signaling that stabilizes actin-based spine structural changes critical for synaptic memory encoding.

Attachment theory offers an important clinical framework for understanding and treating negative effects of early life adversity. Attachment styles emerge during critical periods of development in response to caregivers' ability to consistently meet their offspring’s needs. Attachment styles are classified as secure or insecure (anxious, avoidant, or disorganized), with rates of insecure attachment rising in high-risk populations and correlating with a plethora of negative health outcomes throughout life. Despite its importance, little is known about the neural basis of attachment. Work in rats has demonstrated that limited bedding and nesting (LB) impairs maternal care and produces abnormal maternal attachment linked to increased pup corticosterone. However, the effects of LB on attachment-like behavior have not been investigated in mice where additional genetic and molecular tools are available. Furthermore, no group has utilized home-cage monitoring to link abnormal maternal care with deficits in attach...

In natural, free-viewing settings, visual perception is driven by a series of saccades and fixations. Perceptual mechanisms are typically studied through averaged fixation-related potentials generated from simultaneous eye-tracking and EEG recordings. Lambda responses following fixation onsets signal the arrival of new visual input to the primary visual cortex. In our study, we investigate the use and preprocessing parameter dependence of independent component analysis (ICA) in separating the lambda response from other neural sources. In our experiment, 10 subjects (2 males and 8 females) viewed 80 art paintings in natural, free-viewing settings, during which EEG data were recorded. Our results show that unique lambda response components can be detected reliably and individual lambda waves can be extracted in a single-trial manner, without signal averaging. ICA decomposition is most sensitive to high-pass filtering producing best results with a minimum 1 Hz filtering. We also propose a method that automati...

Hippocampal pyramidal cells are involved in spatial coding and memory formation. Recent evidence shows that they can be classified according to the origin of their axon, either emerging from the soma (non-AcD for “nonaxon-carrying dendrite”) or from a proximal basal dendrite (AcD). We have shown that AcD neurons account for ∼50% of CA1 pyramidal neurons and that they integrate excitatory inputs differently. They are less susceptible to perisomatic inhibition and more strongly recruited during memory-related network oscillations with strong inhibitory activity. Here, we tested whether AcD and non-AcD neurons are differentially engaged during distinct stages of spatial learning. We trained mice of either sex on a spatial memory task (m-maze) and quantified c-Fos expression in CA1 pyramidal neurons at different training stages. AcD and non-AcD cells were distinguished by staining the axon initial segment. Across learning stages, dorsal and medioventral hippocampus showed distinct activation patterns. In dorsa...

Higher education (HE) is undergoing rapid transformation, shaped as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the expansion of digital learning, and the increasing presence of artificial intelligence (AI). For educators, these shifts raise important questions about their evolving purpose and responsibilities. In this commentary, we reflect on the role of bioscience educators in the United Kingdom, highlighting the enduring need for human connection, empathy, and belonging in teaching, alongside the integration of digital tools. We discuss changing student motivations, the necessity of flexible and inclusive learning environments, and the balance between traditional practices and innovative pedagogies. Practical training, active learning, and responsible engagement with emerging technologies remain central to equipping students with transferable skills such as adaptability, critical thinking, and resilience. We argue that while digital innovations can enhance accessibility and engagement, they cannot replace the u...