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Fulltext A case report on the use of an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (donepezil) in traumatic brain injury

Samuel G, Ng YS

Med J Malaysia, 2013 Aug;68(4):376-8.
PMID: 24145276

Traumatic Brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common causes of death and disability worldwide, with recent interest in the use of cholinomimetics in the treatment of TBI patients for cognitive impairments. Our patient who suffered TBI was started on a trial of an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (Donepezil) for five weeks. Cognitive and memory testing with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Functional Independence Measurement (FIM) showed some degree of improvement: The three item recall component of MMSE improved and the FIM Memory score increased from 1 (Complete dependence) to 6 (Functional independence). Subjective assessment of his behaviour in the ward also showed improvement. This suggests that donepezil may help improve memory and behaviour of moderately severe traumatic brain injury patients, although more research in this direction should be undertaken.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory
DeepPSP: A Global-Local Information-Based Deep Neural Network for the Prediction of Protein Phosphorylation Sites

Guo L, Wang Y, Xu X, Cheng KK, Long Y, Xu J, et al.

J Proteome Res, 2021 01 01;20(1):346-356.
PMID: 33241931 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00431

Identification of phosphorylation sites is an important step in the function study and drug design of proteins. In recent years, there have been increasing applications of the computational method in the identification of phosphorylation sites because of its low cost and high speed. Most of the currently available methods focus on using local information around potential phosphorylation sites for prediction and do not take the global information of the protein sequence into consideration. Here, we demonstrated that the global information of protein sequences may be also critical for phosphorylation site prediction. In this paper, a new deep neural network model, called DeepPSP, was proposed for the prediction of protein phosphorylation sites. In the DeepPSP model, two parallel modules were introduced to extract both local and global features from protein sequences. Two squeeze-and-excitation blocks and one bidirectional long short-term memory block were introduced into each module to capture effective representations of the sequences. Comparative studies were carried out to evaluate the performance of DeepPSP, and four other prediction methods using public data sets The F1-score, area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC), and area under precision-recall curves (AUPRC) of DeepPSP were found to be 0.4819, 0.82, and 0.50, respectively, for S/T general site prediction and 0.4206, 0.73, and 0.39, respectively, for Y general site prediction. Compared with the MusiteDeep method, the F1-score, AUROC, and AUPRC of DeepPSP were found to increase by 8.6, 2.5, and 8.7%, respectively, for S/T general site prediction and by 20.6, 5.8, and 18.2%, respectively, for Y general site prediction. Among the tested methods, the developed DeepPSP method was also found to produce best results for different kinase-specific site predictions including CDK, mitogen-activated protein kinase, CAMK, AGC, and CMGC. Taken together, the developed DeepPSP method may offer a more accurate phosphorylation site prediction by including global information. It may serve as an alternative model with better performance and interpretability for protein phosphorylation site prediction.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory, Short-Term
Fulltext Auditory sensory gating in Huffaz using an auditory brainstem response with a psychological task: A preliminary investigation

Dzulkarnain AAA, Azizi AK, Sulaiman NH

J Taibah Univ Med Sci, 2020 Dec;15(6):495-501.
PMID: 33318741 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtumed.2020.08.007

Objective: This study aims to investigate the auditory sensory gating capacity in Huffaz using an auditory brainstem response (ABR) test with and without psychological tasks.
Methods: Twenty-three participants were recruited for this study. The participants were comprised of 11 Huffaz who memorized 30 chapters of the Islamic Scripture (from the Quran) and 12 non-Huffaz as the control group. All participants had normal hearing perception and underwent an ABR test with and without psychological tasks. The ABR was elicited at 70 dB nHL using a 3000 Hz tone burst stimulus with a 2-0-2 cycle at a stimulus repetition rate of 40 Hz. The ABR wave V amplitude and latencies were measured and statistically compared. A forward digit span test was also conducted to determine participants' working memory capacity.
Results: There were no significant differences in the ABR wave V amplitudes and latencies between Huffaz and non-Huffaz in ABR with and without psychological tasks. There were also no significant differences in the ABR wave V amplitudes and latencies in both groups of ABR with and without psychological tasks. In addition, no significant differences were identified in the digit span working memory score between both groups.
Conclusions: In this study, based on the ABR findings, Huffaz showed the same auditory sensory gating capacity as the non-Huffaz group. The ABR result was consistent with the digit span working memory test score. This finding implies that both groups have similar working memory performance. However, the conclusion is limited to the specific assessment method that we used in this study.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory, Short-Term
Fulltext Habenula kisspeptin retrieves morphine impaired fear memory in zebrafish

Sivalingam M, Ogawa S, Parhar IS

Sci Rep, 2020 11 11;10(1):19569.
PMID: 33177592 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76287-9

The habenula is an evolutionarily conserved brain structure, which has recently been implicated in fear memory. In the zebrafish, kisspeptin (Kiss1) is predominantly expressed in the habenula, which has been implicated as a modulator of fear response. Hence, in the present study, we questioned whether Kiss1 has a role in fear memory and morphine-induced fear memory impairment using an odorant cue (alarm substances, AS)-induced fear avoidance paradigm in adult zebrafish, whereby the fear-conditioned memory can be assessed by a change of basal place preference (= avoidance) of fish due to AS-induced fear experience. Subsequently, to examine the possible role of Kiss1 neurons-serotonergic pathway, kiss1 mRNA and serotonin levels were measured. AS exposure triggered fear episodes and fear-conditioned place avoidance. Morphine treatment followed by AS exposure, significantly impaired fear memory with increased time-spent in AS-paired compartment. However, fish administered with Kiss1 (10-21 mol/fish) after morphine treatment had significantly lower kiss1 mRNA levels but retained fear memory. In addition, the total brain serotonin levels were significantly increased in AS- and Kiss1-treated groups as compared to control and morphine treated group. These results suggest that habenular Kiss1 might be involved in consolidation or retrieval of fear memory through the serotonin system.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory Disorders/chemically induced; Memory Disorders/drug therapy*; Memory Disorders/genetics
Replicating remembering "remembering"

Janssen SMJ, Anthony K, Chang CYM, Choong EL, Neoh JY, Lim A

Memory, 2020 Dec 31.
PMID: 33382346 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2020.1868525

When examining spontaneously recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse, victims report that there had been periods in which they had forgotten the abuse. However, there are sometimes people with whom the victim had spoken about the abuse during the period in which the victim had supposedly forgotten the abuse, suggesting the victim had not forgotten the abuse but the prior recall of the abuse. The underestimation of previous knowledge is termed the forgot-it-all-along effect. The goal of the present study was replicating the results of a laboratory study that had provided a theoretical understanding for the forgot-it-all-along effect by showing that people have difficulties remembering "remembering" when the memory had previously been recalled in a different context. The effect was replicated by using the same neutral context sentences, suggesting the finding was robust. We also extended the experimental design by using positive and negative context sentences, but it did not become smaller when the positive sentences provided the different context or larger when the negative sentences provided the different context. Although the sample sizes were sufficiently large to provide statistical power for the forgot-it-all-along effect, they may not have been sufficiently large to observe the moderation effects of emotional context.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory
Associations between self-reported and objective face recognition abilities are only evident in above- and below-average recognisers

Estudillo AJ, Wong HK

PeerJ, 2021;9:e10629.
PMID: 33510971 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10629

The 20-Item Prosopagnosia Items (PI-20) was recently introduced as a self-report measure of face recognition abilities and as an instrument to help the diagnosis of prosopagnosia. In general, studies using this questionnaire have shown that observers have moderate to strong insights into their face recognition abilities. However, it remains unknown whether these insights are equivalent for the whole range of face recognition abilities. The present study investigates this issue using the Mandarin version of the PI-20 and the Cambridge Face Memory Test Chinese (CFMT-Chinese). Our results showed a moderate negative association between the PI-20 and the CFMT-Chinese. However, this association was driven by people with low and high face recognition ability, but absent in people within the typical range of face recognition performance. The implications of these results for the study of individual differences and the diagnosis of prosopagnosia are discussed.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory
Fulltext Effects of Stochastic Facilitation in Healthy Subjects with Different Auditory Working Memory Capacity

Othman, E. A., Mohamad, M., Abdul Manan, H., Yusoff, A. N.

Physics and Technology in Medicine, 2020;1(2):27-31.
MyJurnal

This study investigated the effects of stochastic facilitation in healthy subjects with normal and low auditory working memory capacity (AWMC). Forty healthy volunteers were recruited in this study. They performed a backward recall task (BRT) in quiet and under four white noise intensity levels: 45, 50, 55, and 60 dB. Brain activations during the task were measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The behavioral performance in both groups increased significantly in 50 and 55 dB white noise. The normal AWMC group (mean score = 48.70) demonstrated higher activation in the superior temporal gyrus and prefrontal cortex than the low AWMC group (mean score = 30.85). However, comparisons in the brain activation between groups for all noise levels were not statistically different. The results support previous findings that stochastic facilitation enhances cognitive performance in healthy individuals. The results also proposed that brain activity among healthy subjects is more or less similar, at least in the context of auditory working memory. These findings indicated that there were no differential effects of stochastic facilitation in healthy subjects with different AWMC.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory, Short-Term
Fulltext Prediction of hub genes of Alzheimer's disease using a protein interaction network and functional enrichment analysis

Wee JJ, Kumar S

Genomics Inform, 2020 Dec;18(4):e39.
PMID: 33412755 DOI: 10.5808/GI.2020.18.4.e39

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys affected individuals' memory and reasoning faculties, and consequently, their ability to perform the simplest tasks. This study investigated the hub genes of AD. Proteins interact with other proteins and non-protein molecules, and these interactions play an important role in understanding protein function. Computational methods are useful for understanding biological problems, in particular, network analyses of protein-protein interactions. Through a protein network analysis, we identified the following top 10 hub genes associated with AD: PTGER3, C3AR1, NPY, ADCY2, CXCL12, CCR5, MTNR1A, CNR2, GRM2, and CXCL8. Through gene enrichment, it was identified that most gene functions could be classified as integral to the plasma membrane, G-protein coupled receptor activity, and cell communication under gene ontology, as well as involvement in signal transduction pathways. Based on the convergent functional genomics ranking, the prioritized genes were NPY, CXCL12, CCR5, and CNR2.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory
The malleable brain: plasticity of neural circuits and behavior - a review from students to students

Schaefer N, Rotermund C, Blumrich EM, Lourenco MV, Joshi P, Hegemann RU, et al.

J Neurochem, 2017 Jun 20.
PMID: 28632905 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.14107

One of the most intriguing features of the brain is its ability to be malleable, allowing it to adapt continually to changes in the environment. Specific neuronal activity patterns drive long-lasting increases or decreases in the strength of synaptic connections, referred to as long-term potentiation and long-term depression, respectively. Such phenomena have been described in a variety of model organisms, which are used to study molecular, structural, and functional aspects of synaptic plasticity. This review originated from the first International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN) and Journal of Neurochemistry (JNC) Flagship School held in Alpbach, Austria (Sep 2016), and will use its curriculum and discussions as a framework to review some of the current knowledge in the field of synaptic plasticity. First, we describe the role of plasticity during development and the persistent changes of neural circuitry occurring when sensory input is altered during critical developmental stages. We then outline the signaling cascades resulting in the synthesis of new plasticity-related proteins, which ultimately enable sustained changes in synaptic strength. Going beyond the traditional understanding of synaptic plasticity conceptualized by long-term potentiation and long-term depression, we discuss system-wide modifications and recently unveiled homeostatic mechanisms, such as synaptic scaling. Finally, we describe the neural circuits and synaptic plasticity mechanisms driving associative memory and motor learning. Evidence summarized in this review provides a current view of synaptic plasticity in its various forms, offers new insights into the underlying mechanisms and behavioral relevance, and provides directions for future research in the field of synaptic plasticity. Read the Editorial Highlight for this article on doi: 10.1111/jnc.14102.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory
Fulltext Working memory load influence on control of attention among Malaysian undergraduates

Khairun Emylyana, Amin, Fitri Suraya, Mohamad

Journal of Cognitive Sciences & Human Development, 2021;7(1):0-0.
MyJurnal

The study investigates how working memory affects students' control of attention. A quasi-experimental research is conducted individually on 52 undergraduates of a public university in Malaysia, enrolled in various full-time undergraduate programmes, using Sternberg memory task and Task-switching tests. The reaction time is taken in milliseconds (ms) to differentiate the results for both tasks. The analysis revealed that when memory load was increased, reaction time also escalated. In the task-switching test, when one task was given at any one time, the reaction time was swift; however, when two or more tasks were integrated into one task, the reaction time would subsequently decelerated. Although the study also revealed that there is no significant difference between genders in terms of handling memory load and taskswitching. However, a significant relationship was observed in performances between memory load and task-switching. It is also evidenced in the study that when memory load increases, it compoundsthe reaction time for task-switching. Results from the study inform course instructors to be aware of cognitive load when chunking information and assigning tasks to students, as their decisions on content quantity bore an effect on what would be remembered when students learn.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory, Short-Term
Fulltext The effects of dietary edible bird nest supplementation on learning and memory functions of multigenerational mice

Mahaq O, P Rameli MA, Jaoi Edward M, Mohd Hanafi N, Abdul Aziz S, Abu Hassim H, et al.

Brain Behav, 2020 11;10(11):e01817.
PMID: 32886435 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1817

INTRODUCTION: Edible bird nest (EBN) is a natural food product produced from edible nest swiftlet's saliva which consists of glycoproteins as one of its main components; these glycoproteins contain an abundant of sialic acid. The dietary EBN supplementation has been reported to enhance brain functions in mammals and that the bioactivities and nutritional value of EBN are important during periods of rapid brain growth particularly for preterm infant. However, the effects of EBN in maternal on multigeneration learning and memory function still remain unclear. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the effects of maternal EBN supplementation on learning and memory function of their first (F1)- and second (F2)-generation mice.
METHODS: CJ57BL/6 breeder F0 mice were fed with EBN (10 mg/kg) from different sources. After 6 weeks of diet supplementations, the F0 animals were bred to produce F1 and F2 animals. At 6 weeks of age, the F1 and F2 animals were tested for spatial recognition memory using a Y-maze test. The sialic acid content from EBN and brain gene expression were analyzed using HPLC and PCR, respectively.
RESULTS: All EBN samples contained glycoprotein with high level of sialic acid. Dietary EBN supplementation also showed an upregulation of GNE, ST8SiaIV, SLC17A5, and BDNF mRNA associated with an improvement in Y-maze cognitive performance in both generations of animal. Qualitatively, the densities of synaptic vesicles in the presynaptic terminal were higher in the F1 and F2 animals which might derive from maternal EBN supplementation.
CONCLUSION: This study provided a solid foundation toward the growing research on nutritional intervention from dietary EBN supplementation on cognitive and neurological development in the generation of mammals.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory
Neurobehavioral performances among lead exposed workers in Malaysia: an early detection of lead toxicity

Mazrura Sahani, Noor Hassim Ismail

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2005;2(1):1-9.
MyJurnal

The objectives of this study is to evaluate subjective symptoms and neurobehavioral performances among workers exposed to lead and its relation with blood lead levels. The methodology of this study was restricted to 141 Malaysian battery manufacturing factories male workers with mean (SD) age of 35.2 (9.6) years, years of employment 9.1 (7.1), current blood lead concentration 40.5 (16.8) μg/dl were given WHO neurobehavioral core test battery. Results showed that highly exposed group blood lead level (high ≥ 40 μg/dl) performed less well in 4 of 13 responses reported higher subjective symptoms of weakness of lower limbs and anorexia. Significant correlation was found between blood lead and Digit Symbol, Digit Forward, Digit Backward, Aiming Pursuit Test and Trail B. Regression analysis showed reduction in cognitive, memory and concentration functions at ≤ 30 μg/dl blood lead levels with maximum lead effect at Digit symbol’s score at 40 μg/dl. In conclusion, this study is consistent with the larger body of neurobehavioral tests in lead exposure and has proven the ability of these tests in detecting low level of lead toxicity.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory
The Efficiency of a Multicomponent Training for Prospective Memory Among Healthy Older Adults: A Single-Blind, Randomized Controlled Within-Participants Cross-Over Trial

Farzin A, Ibrahim R, Madon Z, Basri H

Am J Phys Med Rehabil, 2018 09;97(9):628-635.
PMID: 29595585 DOI: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000000931

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of the present trial was to evaluate the efficiency of a preventative multicomponent prospective memory training among healthy older adults.
DESIGN: This study was a two-arm within-participants trial with 4- and 12-wk follow-ups. Allocation ratio was 1:1, and pretraining and posttraining measurements were included. A total number of 25 healthy older adults were enrolled (mean = 63.32, SD = 4.44). Participants were randomly allocated into two conditions: (a) prospective memory training: participants underwent a multicomponent prospective memory training, and (b) control: participants were not contacted during the training phase. After the training phase was finished, participants crossed over to undergo the condition they did not experience before. The differences between pretraining and posttraining measures of prospective memory, activities of daily living, negative mood (depression), and anxiety were assessed. All changes in the measurements were analyzed using general linear method. This trial is registered at https://www.isrctn.com (#ISRCTN57600070).
RESULTS: Multicomponent prospective memory training program was significantly effective on both subjective and objective prospective memory performances among healthy older adults. Moreover, the training had significant positive effects on activities of daily living (independence) among participants. In addition, negative mood and anxiety levels were reduced after the training was finished.
CONCLUSIONS: This multicomponent prospective memory training improved prospective memory performance and activities of daily living and reduce negative mood (depression) and anxiety levels among healthy older adults.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory, Episodic
Automated detection of atrial fibrillation using long short-term memory network with RR interval signals

Faust O, Shenfield A, Kareem M, San TR, Fujita H, Acharya UR

Comput Biol Med, 2018 11 01;102:327-335.
PMID: 30031535 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2018.07.001

Atrial Fibrillation (AF), either permanent or intermittent (paroxysnal AF), increases the risk of cardioembolic stroke. Accurate diagnosis of AF is obligatory for initiation of effective treatment to prevent stroke. Long term cardiac monitoring improves the likelihood of diagnosing paroxysmal AF. We used a deep learning system to detect AF beats in Heart Rate (HR) signals. The data was partitioned with a sliding window of 100 beats. The resulting signal blocks were directly fed into a deep Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) with Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). The system was validated and tested with data from the MIT-BIH Atrial Fibrillation Database. It achieved 98.51% accuracy with 10-fold cross-validation (20 subjects) and 99.77% with blindfold validation (3 subjects). The proposed system structure is straight forward, because there is no need for information reduction through feature extraction. All the complexity resides in the deep learning system, which gets the entire information from a signal block. This setup leads to the robust performance for unknown data, as measured with the blind fold validation. The proposed Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) system can be used for long-term monitoring of the human heart. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed system is the first to incorporate deep learning for AF beat detection.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory, Short-Term
Automated diagnosis of arrhythmia using combination of CNN and LSTM techniques with variable length heart beats

Oh SL, Ng EYK, Tan RS, Acharya UR

Comput Biol Med, 2018 11 01;102:278-287.
PMID: 29903630 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2018.06.002

Arrhythmia is a cardiac conduction disorder characterized by irregular heartbeats. Abnormalities in the conduction system can manifest in the electrocardiographic (ECG) signal. However, it can be challenging and time-consuming to visually assess the ECG signals due to the very low amplitudes. Implementing an automated system in the clinical setting can potentially help expedite diagnosis of arrhythmia, and improve the accuracies. In this paper, we propose an automated system using a combination of convolutional neural network (CNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) for diagnosis of normal sinus rhythm, left bundle branch block (LBBB), right bundle branch block (RBBB), atrial premature beats (APB) and premature ventricular contraction (PVC) on ECG signals. The novelty of this work is that we used ECG segments of variable length from the MIT-BIT arrhythmia physio bank database. The proposed system demonstrated high classification performance in the handling of variable-length data, achieving an accuracy of 98.10%, sensitivity of 97.50% and specificity of 98.70% using ten-fold cross validation strategy. Our proposed model can aid clinicians to detect common arrhythmias accurately on routine screening ECG.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory, Short-Term
Greater Cognitive Effort for Better Learning: Tailoring an Instructional Design for Learners with Different Levels of Knowledge and Motivation

Kuldas S, Satyen L, Ismail HN, Hashim S

Psychol Belg, 2014 Aug 08;54(4):350-373.
PMID: 30479408 DOI: 10.5334/pb.aw

The capacity limitation of working memory is a widely recognised determinant of human learning. A cognitive load exceeding the capacity hampers learning. Cognitive load can be controlled by tailoring an instructional design to levels of learner prior knowledge. However, such as design does not necessarily motivate to use the available capacity for better learning. The present review examines literatures on the effects of instructional design, motivation, emotional state, and expertise level on cognitive load and cognitive effort, which ultimately affect working memory performance and learning. This examination suggests further studies on the effects of motivation and negative emotional states on the use of working memory. Prospective findings would help better explain and predict individual differences in the use of working memory for cognitive learning and task performance.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory, Short-Term
Fulltext Development and evaluation of acceptance of a web based education module for reducing risk of mild cognitive impairment among older adults

Suzana Shahar, Divya Vanoh, Intan Hafizah Mohd Ishak, Zahara Abdul Manaf, Rosdinom Razali, Nazlena Mohd Ali, et al.

Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia, 2018;16(101):233-234.
MyJurnal

Relatively less comprehensive web based programme has been developed for detecting risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and further impart preventive strategies and lifestyle education. Thus, this study has developed a comprehensive web based programme for early screening of risk of MCI together with education package for preventing MCI known as WESIHAT 2.0. WESIHAT 2.0 is a senior friendly website which has appropriate design interface facilitating access of older people especially with the use of touch-screen technology. WESIHAT 2.0 has incorporated four major components namely TUA WELLNESS screening tool, which is a comprehensive, online based, 10-item screening tool for detecting risk of MCI, 10-guides for preventing MCI, health diary and healthy food. Evaluation of acceptance of WESIHAT 2.0 was done among 71 people which comprised of 30 older people and 30 caregivers, chosen equally based on ethnic composition and 11 health care professionals who has experience working in the field of geriatric and 2 freelance website developer. All older people and caregivers stated that the content of website was very useful for preventing MCI, however, about 36.4% of health professionals stated several improvements needed to be done before releasing the end-product to the users. Comments given were smaller font size (27.3), addition of more pictures (27.3%), using simpler terms (36.4%) and changing certain design for better view of older people (18.2%). Amendments were made based on each comment given and the finalized website were used for a 6-month intervention programme for neuroprotection among older people who failed to achieve successful aging. It is timely for an online based approach for prevention of MCI. WESIHAT 2.0 is the first website in Malaysia which has been accepted by all older people and caregiver and more than half of healthcare professionals to prevent memory decline.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory
Executive function of the brain and its influences on understanding of physics concept

Abdullah MNS, Karpudewan M, Tanimale BM

Trends Neurosci Educ, 2021 09;24:100159.
PMID: 34412861 DOI: 10.1016/j.tine.2021.100159

Advances in neuroscience studies have brought new insights into the development of Executive Functions (EFs) of the brain and its influence on understanding science concepts. This study was conducted to examine the relationships between three main components of EF: working memory, inhibition, set-shifting and understanding of Force concepts among adolescents. This study also investigated how gender mediates the relationships between the components of EF and understanding. Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery was used to assess students' level of working memory, inhibition, and set-shifting. The Force Concept Test measured students understanding. Smart-PLS analysis was employed to examine the relationships between the three components of EF and understanding; and how gender mediates the relationships. The result reveals that working memory significantly relates to students' understanding of Force concepts in a positive direction. On the contrary, both set-shifting and inhibition exhibit non-significant relationships. The findings also demonstrate that gender does not significantly mediate the relationships. The findings are useful for Physics teachers to guide them through designing the curriculum and opting for an appropriate pedagogical strategy considering the role of the components of EF for teaching the lessons on Force.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory, Short-Term
Pharmacological Evaluation of the Recuperative Effect of Morusin Against Aluminium Trichloride (AlCl3)-Induced Memory Impairment in Rats

Gupta G, Chellappan DK, Agarwal M, Ashwathanarayana M, Nammi S, Pabreja K, et al.

Cent Nerv Syst Agents Med Chem, 2017;17(3):196-200.
PMID: 27834136 DOI: 10.2174/1871524917666161111095335

BACKGROUND: Elevation in brain levels of aluminium can be neurotoxic and can cause learning and memory deficiencies. In Chinese medicine, Morus alba is used as a neuroprotective herb. The current study was intended to discover the recuperative effect of morusin against aluminium trichloride (AlCl3)-induced memory impairment in rats along with biochemical mechanism of its protective action.
METHODS: Memory deficiency was produced by AlCl3 (100 mg/kg; p.o.) in experimental animals. Learning and memory activity was measured using Morris water maze (MWM) test model. Central cholinergic activity was evaluated through the measurement of brain acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. In addition to the above, oxidative stress was determined through assessment of brain thiobarbituric acid-reactive species (TBARS) and glutathione (GSH) levels.
RESULTS: AlCl3 administration prompted significant deficiency of learning and memory in rats, as specified by a noticeable reduction in MWM presentation. AlCl3 administration also produced a significant deterioration in brain AChE action and brain oxidative stress (increase in TBARS and decrease in GSH) levels. Treatment with morusin (5.0 and 10.0 mg/kg, dose orally) significantly overturned AlCl3- induced learning and memory shortages along with diminution of AlCl3-induced rise in brain AChE activity and brain oxidative stress levels.
CONCLUSION: It may be concluded that morusin exerts a memory-preservative outcome in mental discrepancies of rats feasibly through its various activities.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory Disorders/blood; Memory Disorders/chemically induced*; Memory Disorders/drug therapy*
Fulltext Associations between social connections and cognition: a global collaborative individual participant data meta-analysis

Samtani S, Mahalingam G, Lam BCP, Lipnicki DM, Lima-Costa MF, Blay SL, et al.

Lancet Healthy Longev, 2022 Nov;3(11):e740-e753.
PMID: 36273484 DOI: 10.1016/S2666-7568(22)00199-4

BACKGROUND: Poor social connections (eg, small networks, infrequent interactions, and loneliness) are modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline. Existing meta-analyses are limited by reporting aggregate responses, a focus on global cognition, and combining social measures into single constructs. We aimed to investigate the association between social connection markers and the rate of annual change in cognition (ie, global and domain-specific), as well as sex differences, using an individual participant data meta-analysis.
METHODS: We harmonised data from 13 longitudinal cohort studies of ageing in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they had baseline data for social connection markers and at least two waves of cognitive scores. Follow-up periods ranged from 0 years to 15 years across cohorts. We included participants with cognitive data for at least two waves and social connection data for at least one wave. We then identified and excluded people with dementia at baseline. Primary outcomes were annual rates of change in global cognition and cognitive domain scores over time until final follow-up within each cohort study analysed by use of an individual participant data meta-analysis. Linear mixed models within cohorts used baseline social connection markers as predictors of the primary outcomes. Effects were pooled in two stages using random-effects meta-analyses. We assessed the primary outcomes in the main (partially adjusted) and fully adjusted models. Partially adjusted models controlled for age, sex, and education; fully adjusted models additionally controlled for diabetes, hypertension, smoking, cardiovascular risk, and depression.
FINDINGS: Of the 40 006 participants in the 13 cohort studies, we excluded 1392 people with dementia at baseline. 38 614 individual participants were included in our analyses. For the main models, being in a relationship or married predicted slower global cognitive decline (b=0·010, 95% CI 0·000-0·019) than did being single or never married; living with others predicted slower global cognitive (b=0·007, 0·002-0·012), memory (b=0·017, 0·006-0·028), and language (b=0·008, 0·000-0·015) decline than did living alone; and weekly interactions with family and friends (b=0·016, 0·006-0·026) and weekly community group engagement (b=0·030, 0·007-0·052) predicted slower memory decline than did no interactions and no engagement. Never feeling lonely predicted slower global cognitive (b=0·047, 95% CI 0·018-0·075) and executive function (b=0·047, 0·017-0·077) decline than did often feeling lonely. Degree of social support, having a confidante, and relationship satisfaction did not predict cognitive decline across global cognition or cognitive domains. Heterogeneity was low (I2=0·00-15·11%) for all but two of the significant findings (association between slower memory decline and living with others [I2=58·33%] and community group engagement, I2=37·54-72·19%), suggesting robust results across studies.
INTERPRETATION: Good social connections (ie, living with others, weekly community group engagement, interacting weekly with family and friends, and never feeling lonely) are associated with slower cognitive decline.
FUNDING: EU Joint Programme-Neurodegenerative Disease Research grant, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council Australia, and the US National Institute on Aging of the US National Institutes of Health.

Matched MeSH terms: Memory Disorders

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