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.

Peter Ferrazzano, MD – Slide of the Week

Adolescent traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health concern, resulting in over 35,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. each year. While neuroimaging is a primary diagnostic tool in the clinical assessment of TBI, our understanding of how specific neuroimaging findings relate to outcome remains limited. Our study aims to identify imaging biomarkers of long-term neurocognitive outcome after severe adolescent TBI.

Caroline A Niziolek, PhD – Slide of the Week

Speakers use auditory feedback to guide their speech output, although individuals differ in the magnitude of their compensatory response to perceived errors in feedback. Little is known about the factors that contribute to the compensatory response or how fixed or flexible they are within an individual. Here, we test whether manipulating the perceived reliability of auditory feedback modulates speakers’ compensation to auditory perturbations, as predicted by optimal models of sensorimotor control.

James Li, PhD – Slide of the Week

There is substantial heterogeneity in the development of depression from adolescence into adulthood. Yet, little is known about the risk factors underlying its various patterns of development. For instance, despite the discovery of genetic variants for depression, these discoveries have not accounted for the high degree of genetic covariation between multiple disorders, nor have they been applied to disambiguate its heterogeneous developmental presentations.