Sci-Ed Update 286
Neuroscientists decode Pink Floyd song via brain signals, is the AI boom over?, why can't we tell when we have goosebumps?, syllabus for the AP1 Supplement course, forgetting is learning!, more!
Neuroscientists decoded a Pink Floyd song using people’s brain activity
In what seems like something out of a sci-fi movie, scientists have plucked the famous Pink Floyd song “Another Brick in the Wall” from individuals’ brains.
Using electrodes, computer models and brain scans, researchers previously have been able to decode and reconstruct individual words and entire thoughts from people’s brain activity (SN: 11/15/22; SN: 5/1/23).
The new study, published August 15 in PLOS Biology, adds music into the mix, showing that songs can also be decoded from brain activity and revealing how different brain areas pick up an array of acoustical elements. The finding could eventually help improve devices that allow communication from people with paralysis or other conditions that limit one’s ability to speak.
Kevin Patton comment→ click through to the article to listen to an original song excerpt and a reconstructed excerpt. Yikes!
Read more→ AandP.info/6wr
Is the AI boom already over?
When generative AI products started rolling out to the general public last year, it kicked off a frenzy of excitement and fear.
People were amazed at the images and words these tools could create from just a single text prompt. Silicon Valley salivated over the prospect of a transformative new technology, one that it could make a lot of money off of after years of stagnation and the flops of crypto and the metaverse. And then there were the concerns about what the world would be after generative AI transformed it. Millions of jobs could be lost. It might become impossible to tell what was real or what was made by a computer. And if you want to get really dramatic about it, the end of humanity may be near. We glorified and dreaded the incredible potential this technology had.
Several months later, the bloom is coming off the AI-generated rose. Governments are ramping up efforts to regulate the technology, creators are suing over alleged intellectual property and copyright violations, people are balking at the privacy invasions (both real and perceived) that these products enable, and there are plenty of reasons to question how accurate AI-powered chatbots really are and how much people should depend on them.
Assuming, that is, they’re still using them. Recent reports suggest that consumers are starting to lose interest: The new AI-powered Bing search hasn’t made a dent in Google’s market share, ChatGPT is losing users for the first time, and the bots are still prone to basic errors that make them impossible to trust. In some cases, they may be even less accurate now than they were before. Is the party over for this party trick?
Read more→ AandP.info/fjr
Kevin Patton comment→ You may want to check out my take, recorded at the first explosion of concern among professors…
Baby Gut Microbes: A Link to Early Cognitive Skills?
Summary: Researchers discovered associations between specific microbes in infants’ guts and early cognitive development performance.
This exploratory study examined 56 infants, revealing that certain microbiome compositions corresponded with success in cognitive tests like “point and gaze”. While these findings hint at the microbiome’s potential influence on cognitive development, further research is essential.
Key Facts:
Infants with certain gut microbes exhibited better performance in a social attention test.
Specific patterns of brain activity, when listening to a steady beat, were linked to particular microbial levels and metabolic chemical reactions.
No observable connection was found between the microbiome and infants’ brain blood flow during speech processing.
Read more→ AandP.info/wnq
A&P 1 Supplement: The Syllabus
Episode 141 of The A&P Professor podcast described my A&P 1 Supplement course designed to run concurrently with the A&P 1 course and to provide study skills and other supports to ensure student success.
Some of listeners have asked to see the syllabus of this course to get a better idea of how I laid things out for students. But I don’t teach that course anymore and it’s not easily available online. However, I do have a PDF copy of it that I provide in the TAPP app, which is the free app you can use to listen to The A&P Professor podcast. Beside the convenience that such an app offers, the TAPP app also contain bonus content. This bonus content includes—you guessed it—the PDF copy of my A&P 1 Supplement course syllabus.
Go to theAPprofessor.org/TAPPapp or click an icon below to download the app and get all the bonus content.
Listen to episode 141 the player (or here if the player isn’t visible).
We are hopeless at telling when we have goosebumps
You might think you know when something has made your hair stand on end, but a study shows we generally can’t tell whether or not we have goosebumps, or where on our body they are.
Jonathon McPhetres at Durham University, UK, and his colleagues have done several studies looking at goosebumps over the past few years. “There’s very, very little research on them and it’s just fascinating because it’s one of those things that we’re so familiar with,” says McPhetres. “One of the things that we noticed was that people are self-reporting goosebumps and we’re also watching goosebumps objectively on the camera, and they just don’t match. So we carried out a few other studies to look at this, because this is really strange.”
Our ability to know if we have piloerection is an example of what is known as interoceptive awareness. Other studies have linked poor awareness of what is happening physically to the body to poor mental health.
Read more→ AandP.info/rj1
Neuroscientists successfully test theory that forgetting is actually a form of learning
Neuroscientists today report the first results from experimental tests designed to explore the idea that "forgetting" might not be a bad thing, and that it may represent a form of learning—and outline results that support their core idea.
Last year the neuroscientists behind the new theory suggested that changes in our ability to access specific memories are based on environmental feedback and predictability. And that rather than being a bug, forgetting may be a functional feature of the brain, allowing it to interact dynamically with a dynamic environment.
In a changing world like the one we and many other organisms live in, forgetting some memories would be beneficial, they reasoned, as this can lead to more flexible behavior and better decision-making. If memories were gained in circumstances that are not wholly relevant to the current environment, forgetting them could be a positive change that improves our well-being.
In Cell Reports they present the first in a series of new experimental studies where the effect of natural, "every day" forgetting was investigated with respect to how normal forgetting processes affect particular memories in the brain.
Crucially, using a technique called optogenetics they found that stimulation of the engram cells with light retrieved the apparently lost memories in more than one behavioral situation. Furthermore, when the mice were given new experiences that related to the forgotten memories, the 'lost' engrams could be naturally rejuvenated.
Kevin Patton comment→ In many of my podcast episodes and other venues over the years, I’ve brought up this concept of needing to forget learned concepts, then refreshing them, which then makes the memory easier to retrieve for the long term. I believe this is a central principle of teaching and learning!
Read more→ AandP.info/56d
Vaccines Against Shingles, Pneumonia May Also Lower Your Alzheimer's Risk
Routine adult vaccinations may also reduce seniors' odds of developing Alzheimer's disease by as much as 30%, a new study finds.
In addition to other possible mechanisms, researchers theorize that the vaccines may improve the immune system's ability to clear toxic proteins in the brain.
The new research looked at shingles, pneumonia and tetanus-diphtheria shots. The investigators previously tied the flu vaccine to 40% lower odds of Alzheimer's.
Read more→ AandP.info/exp
With Cases Soaring, Guns Are Now Leading Cause of Death for U.S. Kids
The number of U.S. kids killed by guns between 2018 and 2021 skyrocketed 42%, new research shows
That makes firearms their No. 1 cause of death
A majority of the deaths were unintentional, but homicides are also on the rise and only "a sliver" owe to mass shootings, the lead author said
Read more→ AandP.info/2cx