The A﹠P Professor Science & Education Updates - Issue #209

Life Science

The brain's ability to adapt and rewire itself throughout life continues to surprise neuroscientists.

Bacteria and fungi can join forces to wreak havoc on your teeth, according to a somewhat accidental discovery.

To cut through clickbait advice, a 5-star rating system aims to show how much evidence exists to support particular foods or habits.

Summary: Age itself plays a bigger role than genetics in gene expression and susceptibility to specific diseases as we age.

Electromagnetic radiation leaking from a microwave oven can provide information for estimating the nutrients and calories of the food inside. That could enable smart microwave ovens to measure the nutritional value of both home-cooked casseroles and reheated restaurant leftovers.

Omega-3 fatty acids from fish are linked to greater selective and sustained attention in teenagers, while omega 3’s from plants are linked to lower impulsivity. The study was published in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

A new study from Uppsala University shows that using a weighted blanket at bedtime increases melatonin in young adults. This hormone increases in response to darkness, and some evidence suggests that it promotes sleep. The findings are published in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Long COVID has become a central concern for public health experts. Prior studies have considered the effect of vaccination on the prevalence of future long COVID symptoms, but ours is the first to thoroughly characterize the association between vaccination and clinically diagnosed or computationally derived long COVID. Our results bolster the growing consensus that vaccines retain protective effects against long COVID even in breakthrough infections.

Rat–human hybrid brains offer new ways to study human neuro disorders, but also raise ethical questions.

Teaching & Learning

LINKS AND FURTHER READING: Andrew Huberman explains the psychological sigh in this Stanford Medicine article and video. This 2020 Scientific American piece is also good. For a more comprehensive overview, check out "The Integrative Role of Sigh in Psychology, Physiology, Pathology, and Neurobiology" in Progress in Brain Research. Listen to Huberman's podcast, which is always

TAPP News & Notes

Krista Rompolski chats with host Kevin Patton about student & instructor preference for a combined or split anatomy & physiology sequence.