How do learners gather new information during word learning? One possibility is that learners selectively sample items that help them reduce uncertainty about new word meanings.
Slide of the Week
Marsha R. Mailick, PhD – Slide of the Week
Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most prevalent inherited cause of intellectual disability, remains under-diagnosed in the general population. Clinical studies have shown that individuals with FXS have a complex health profile leading to unique clinical needs. However, the full impact of this X-linked disorder on the health of affected individuals is unclear and the prevalence of co-occurring conditions is unknown.
Krishanu Saha, PhD – Slide of the Week
The move from reading to writing the human genome offers new opportunities to improve human health. The United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) Somatic Cell Genome Editing (SCGE) Consortium aims to accelerate the development of safer and more effective methods to edit the genomes of disease-relevant somatic cells in patients, even in tissues that are difficult to reach.
Bernadette Gillick, PhD, MSPT, PT – Slide of the Week
Cerebral palsy is caused by a congenital brain lesion that occurs early in life with associated motor deficits which may result in lifelong disability. The brain has high neuroplastic potential early in life, stressing the importance for therapy. Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) including transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may enhance pediatric rehabilitation interventions through neuroplasticity.
Luigi Puglielli, MD, PhD – Slide of the Week
Nε-lysine acetylation in the ER is an essential component of the quality control machinery. ER acetylation is ensured by a membrane transporter, AT-1/SLC33A1, which translocates cytosolic acetyl-CoA into the ER lumen, and two acetyltransferases, ATase1 and ATase2, which acetylate nascent polypeptides within the ER lumen. Dysfunctional AT-1, as caused by gene mutation or duplication events, results in severe disease phenotypes.
Tracy L. Hagemann, PhD – Slide of the Week
Alexander disease (AxD) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder that is caused by dominant mutations in the gene encoding glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), an intermediate filament that is primarily expressed by astrocytes. In AxD, mutant GFAP in combination with increased GFAP expression result in astrocyte dysfunction and the accumulation of Rosenthal fibers.
David Gamm, MD, PhD – Slide of the Week
Polymeric scaffolds are revolutionizing therapeutics for blinding disorders affecting the outer retina, a region anatomically and functionally defined by light-sensitive photoreceptors. Recent engineering advances have produced planar scaffolds optimized for retinal pigment epithelium monolayer delivery, which are being tested in early stage clinical trials.
Seth Pollak, PhD – Slide of the Week
To slow the progression of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have recommended wearing face coverings. However, very little is known about how occluding parts of the face might impact the emotion inferences that children make during social interactions.
Robert A. Pearce, MD, PhD – Slide of the Week
Mice carrying the GABAA receptor β3(N265M) point mutation, which renders receptors incorporating β3-subunits insensitive to many general anesthetics, have been used experimentally to link modulation of different receptor subtypes to distinct behavioral endpoints. Remarkably, however, the effect of the mutation on the susceptibility to modulation by isoflurane (a standard reference agent for inhalational vapors) has never been tested directly. Therefore, we compared the modulation by isoflurane of expressed α5β3(N265M)γ2L receptors with their wild type counterparts.
Ben Parrell, PhD – Slide of the Week
Individuals with cerebellar ataxia (CA) caused by cerebellar degeneration exhibit larger reactive compensatory responses to unexpected auditory feedback perturbations than neurobiologically typical speakers, suggesting they may rely more on feedback control during speech. We test this hypothesis by examining variability in unaltered speech. Previous studies of typical speakers have demonstrated a reduction in formant variability (centering) observed during the initial phase of vowel production from vowel onset to vowel midpoint.