✔️ The A&P Professor Science & Education Updates - Issue #124

Life Science

Researchers have identified a population of neurons in the auditory cortex that responds to signing, but not any other type of music.

Chewing a sugar-free gum daily reduced preterm births in a large study in Malawi. The oral intervention was inspired by past research linking poor oral health and preterm birth. The gum contains xylitol — a chemical that can boost oral health — in place of regular sugar.

Efforts to chart and reduce bias in scholarly publishing will ask authors, reviewers and editors to disclose their race or ethnicity.

A new study reveals brain oscillations associated with memory retrieval alter in the moments before death, suggesting the brain may replay significant life events just before we die.

Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphoid cells that eliminate cancer cells, produce cytokines, and are being investigated as a nascent cellular immunotherapy. Impaired NK cell function, expans...

Teaching & Learning

How we learn has puzzled neuroscientists and philosophers for decades. A common idea is that the brain operates on a principle called predictive coding. The brain generates a mental model of the environment, which it then adjusts through comparisons with the real world. Over time, these mental maps become more accurate and reliable.

But amid the bewildering complexity of a brain, how could such a system work? Behavioral neuroscientists now propose a bold new explanation: individual neurons can, in a sense, predict their own future activity.

TAPP News & Notes

8 More Simple Things We Can Do to Improve and Maintain Access and Inclusion in Our Anatomy & Physiology Course