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Brain Sciences May 2024Dreaming, a widely researched aspect of sleep, often mirrors waking-life experiences. Despite the prevalence of sensory perception during wakefulness, sensory...
Dreaming, a widely researched aspect of sleep, often mirrors waking-life experiences. Despite the prevalence of sensory perception during wakefulness, sensory experiences in dreams remain relatively unexplored. Free recall dream reports, where individuals describe their dreams freely, may not fully capture sensory dream experiences. In this study, we developed a dream diary with direct questions about sensory dream experiences. Participants reported sensory experiences in their dreams upon awakening, over multiple days, in a home-based setting (n = 3476 diaries). Our findings show that vision was the most common sensory dream experience, followed by audition and touch. Olfaction and gustation were reported at equally low rates. Multisensory dreams were far more prevalent than unisensory dreams. Additionally, the prevalence of sensory dream experiences varied across emotionally positive and negative dreams. A positive relationship was found between on the one hand sensory richness and, on the other emotional intensity of dreams and clarity of dream recall, for both positive and negative dreams. These results underscore the variety of dream experiences and suggest a link between sensory richness, emotional content and dream recall clarity. Systematic registration of sensory dream experiences offers valuable insights into dream manifestation, aiding the understanding of sleep-related memory consolidation and other aspects of sleep-related information processing.
PubMed: 38928535
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14060533 -
Brain Sciences May 2024Taxonomic studies of dreams that continue to influence the dreamer's thoughts and feelings after awakening have distinguished three types of impactful dreams:... (Review)
Review
Taxonomic studies of dreams that continue to influence the dreamer's thoughts and feelings after awakening have distinguished three types of impactful dreams: nightmares, existential dreams, and transcendent dreams. Of these, existential dreams and transcendent dreams are characterized by recurrent metacognitive appraisal of the epistemic tension between complementary (a) metaphoric (A "is" B) assertions and (b) literal (A "is not" B) assertions. Metacognitive appraisal of such complementary metaphoric and literal assertions is detectable as the felt sense of inexpressible realizations. The poesy of such inexpressible realizations depends upon the juxtaposition of a metaphoric topic and vehicle that are both "semantically dense" but at an abstract level "distant" from each other. The result is "emergence" of attributes of the metaphoric vehicle that are sufficiently abstract to be attributes also of the metaphoric topic. The cumulative effect of successive metaphoric/literal categorical transformations produces a higher-level form of metacognition that is consistent with a neo-Kantian account of sublime feeling. Sublime feeling occurs as either sublime disquietude (existential dreams) or as sublime enthrallment (transcendent dreams). The aftereffects of these two dream types are thematically iterative "living metaphors" that have abstract (but not "totalizing") ontological import.
PubMed: 38928529
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14060528 -
Biomedicines Jun 2024It is generally assumed that all estrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers proliferate in response to estrogen and, therefore, examples of the estrogen-induced... (Review)
Review
It is generally assumed that all estrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers proliferate in response to estrogen and, therefore, examples of the estrogen-induced regression of ER+ cancers are paradoxical. This review re-examines the estrogen regression paradox for the Luminal A subtype of ER+ breast cancers. The proliferative response to estrogen is shown to depend on the level of ER. Mechanistically, a window of opportunity study of pre-operative estradiol suggested that with higher levels of ER, estradiol could activate the DREAM-MMB (Dimerization partner, Retinoblastoma-like proteins, E2F4, and MuvB-MYB-MuvB) pathway to decrease proliferation. The response of breast epithelium and the incidence of breast cancers during hormonal variations that occur during the menstrual cycle and at the menopausal transition, respectively, suggest that a single hormone, either estrogen, progesterone or androgen, could activate the DREAM pathway, leading to reversible cell cycle arrest. Conversely, the presence of two hormones could switch the DREAM-MMB complex to a pro-proliferative pathway. Using publicly available data, we examine the gene expression changes after aromatase inhibitors and ICI 182,780 to provide support for the hypothesis. This review suggests that it might be possible to integrate all current hormonal therapies for Luminal A tumors within a single theoretical schema.
PubMed: 38927507
DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12061300 -
Biomolecules Jun 2024This retrospective begins with Galvani's experiments on frogs at the end of the 18th century and his discovery of 'animal electricity'. It goes on to illustrate the... (Review)
Review
This retrospective begins with Galvani's experiments on frogs at the end of the 18th century and his discovery of 'animal electricity'. It goes on to illustrate the numerous contributions to the field of physical chemistry in the second half of the 19th century (Nernst's equilibrium potential, based on the work of Wilhelm Ostwald, Max Planck's ion electrodiffusion, Einstein's studies of Brownian motion) which led Bernstein to propose his membrane theory in the early 1900s as an explanation of Galvani's findings and cell excitability. These processes were fully elucidated by Hodgkin and Huxley in 1952 who detailed the ionic basis of resting and action potentials, but without addressing the question of where these ions passed. The emerging question of the existence of ion channels, widely debated over the next two decades, was finally accepted and, a decade later, many of them began to be cloned. This led to the possibility of modelling the activity of individual neurons in the brain and then that of simple circuits. Taking advantage of the remarkable advances in computer science in the new millennium, together with a much deeper understanding of brain architecture, more ambitious scientific goals were dreamed of to understand the brain and how it works. The retrospective concludes by reviewing the main efforts in this direction, namely the construction of a digital brain, an in silico copy of the brain that would run on supercomputers and behave just like a real brain.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Brain; Ion Channels; History, 20th Century; History, 19th Century; Electricity; History, 18th Century; Models, Neurological
PubMed: 38927086
DOI: 10.3390/biom14060684 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2024Humans and animals can learn new skills after practicing for a few hours, while current reinforcement learning algorithms require a large amount of data to achieve good...
Humans and animals can learn new skills after practicing for a few hours, while current reinforcement learning algorithms require a large amount of data to achieve good performances. Recent model-based approaches show promising results by reducing the number of necessary interactions with the environment to learn a desirable policy. However, these methods require biological implausible ingredients, such as the detailed storage of older experiences, and long periods of offline learning. The optimal way to learn and exploit world-models is still an open question. Taking inspiration from biology, we suggest that dreaming might be an efficient expedient to use an inner model. We propose a two-module (agent and model) spiking neural network in which "dreaming" (living new experiences in a model-based simulated environment) significantly boosts learning. Importantly, our model does not require the detailed storage of experiences, and learns online the world-model and the policy. Moreover, we stress that our network is composed of spiking neurons, further increasing the biological plausibility and implementability in neuromorphic hardware.
Topics: Humans; Models, Neurological; Reinforcement, Psychology; Neural Networks, Computer; Action Potentials; Neurons; Algorithms; Learning; Nerve Net; Animals; Computer Simulation
PubMed: 38918553
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65631-y -
Biopreservation and Biobanking Jun 2024
Topics: Biological Specimen Banks; Humans; Congresses as Topic
PubMed: 38917416
DOI: 10.1089/bio.2024.0073 -
Cell Chemical Biology Jun 2024In an interview with Dr. Ying Li, a scientific editor of Cell Chemical Biology, the authors of the Review titled "Molecular glues for protein-protein interactions:...
In an interview with Dr. Ying Li, a scientific editor of Cell Chemical Biology, the authors of the Review titled "Molecular glues for protein-protein interactions: Progressing toward a new dream" share their perspectives on their field and life as scientists.
Topics: Humans; History, 21st Century; History, 20th Century; Proteins
PubMed: 38906104
DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2024.05.008 -
BMC Palliative Care Jun 2024Explore the feasibility of a mobile health(mHealth) and virtual reality (VR) based nutrition-exercise-psychology integrated rehabilitation model in Chinese cancer...
Feasibility of an exercise-nutrition-psychology integrated rehabilitation model based on mobile health and virtual reality for cancer patients: a single-center, single-arm, prospective phase II study.
OBJECTIVE
Explore the feasibility of a mobile health(mHealth) and virtual reality (VR) based nutrition-exercise-psychology integrated rehabilitation model in Chinese cancer patients.
METHODS
We recruited cancer patients in the Oncology department of the Affiliated Changzhou No. 2 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from October 2022 to April 2023. The rehabilitation program was provided by a team of medical oncologists, dietitians, psychotherapists, and oncology specialist nurses. Participants received standard anti-cancer therapy and integrated intervention including hospitalized group-based exercise classes, at-home physical activity prescription, behavior change education, oral nutrition supplements, and psychological counseling. An effective intervention course includes two consecutive hospitalization and two periods of home-based rehabilitation (8 weeks). Access the feasibility as well as changes in aspects of physical, nutritional, and psychological status.
RESULTS
At the cutoff date of April 2023, the recruitment rate was 75% (123/165). 11.4%patients were lost to follow-up, and 3.25% withdrew halfway. Respectively, the completion rate of nutrition, exercise, and psychology were 85%,55%, and 63%. Nutrition interventions show the highest compliance. The parameters in nutrition, psychology, muscle mass, and quality of life after the rehabilitation showed significant improvements (Pā<ā.05). There was no significant statistical difference (Pā>ā.05) in handgrip strength and 6-minute walking speed.
CONCLUSION
It is feasible to conduct mHealth and VR-based nutrition-exercise-psychology integrated rehabilitation model in Chinese cancer patients. A larger multi-center trial is warranted in the future.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
ChiCTR2200065748 Registered 14 November 2022.
Topics: Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Female; Neoplasms; Prospective Studies; Virtual Reality; Feasibility Studies; Adult; Telemedicine; Aged; Exercise; Exercise Therapy; China
PubMed: 38902684
DOI: 10.1186/s12904-024-01487-3 -
Endocrine Practice : Official Journal... Jun 2024Limited recent evidence exists regarding weight-reduction preferences among people with obesity in the United States (US). We assessed preferred magnitudes of weight...
OBJECTIVE
Limited recent evidence exists regarding weight-reduction preferences among people with obesity in the United States (US). We assessed preferred magnitudes of weight reduction among adults with obesity and how these preferences differ by participant characteristics.
METHODS
OBSERVE was a cross-sectional study assessing perceptions of obesity and anti-obesity medication (AOMs) among people with obesity, healthcare providers, and employers in the US. Adults with obesity and overweight with obesity-related complications self-reported current weight and weight they associated with 5 preferences ("dream," "goal," "happy," "acceptable," and "disappointed"). Preferred percent weight reductions for each preference were calculated. Multivariable regression analyses were performed identifying associations between weight-reduction preferences and participant characteristics.
RESULTS
The study included 1007 participants (women: 63.6%; White: 41.0%; Black or African American: 28.9%; Asian: 6.5%; Hispanic: 15.3%; median body mass index [BMI]: 34.2 kg/m2). Median preferred percent weight reductions were: dream=23.5%; goal=16.7%; happy=14.6%; acceptable=10.3%; disappointed=4.8%. Women reported higher preferred weight reductions than men. Preferred weight reductions among Black/African American participants were lower than White participants. Regression analyses indicated significant associations, with higher preferred magnitudes of weight reduction within females, higher weight self-stigma, and BMI class in Hispanic participants compared to White.
CONCLUSION
In this large, real-world study, preferred magnitudes of weight reduction exceeded outcomes typically achieved with established nonsurgical obesity treatments but may be attained with bariatric procedures and newer and emerging AOMs. Respecting patients' preferences for treatment goals with obesity management could help support shared decision-making. Evaluating for an individual's contributors to weight preferences, such as weight self-stigma, can further benefit holistic obesity care.
PubMed: 38901731
DOI: 10.1016/j.eprac.2024.06.009 -
Journal of Family Psychology : JFP :... Jun 2024Parental support is crucial in the well-being of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth. Research shows that parents of TGD youth often experience stigma and...
Parental support is crucial in the well-being of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth. Research shows that parents of TGD youth often experience stigma and negative mental health outcomes as a result of being exposed to cissexist settings as they advocate and seek services for their child. Yet, there is a lack of research on the experiences of parents of TGD youth in the United States. This study explores the reported hopes of 990 parents ( = 48.6 years; = 6.7; 88.1% White; 67.3% heterosexual; 89.4% cisgender women) of TGD youth for their children (youth ages 3-18 years) in the United States. Radical hope framework is applied to unpack narratives of hopes by parents of TGD youth as a critical component of resistance and motivation toward healing from oppression. For this study, the following open-ended question was analyzed using thematic analysis: ? Four main themes and 11 subthemes of parental hopes emerged: (1) living authentically (freely expressing themselves, developing self-love, living a happy and normal life), (2) interpersonal connections (finding community, building social networks and friendships, developing romantic relationships, building their own family, and loved by others), (3) meeting life milestones (career and employment, achieving goals and dreams, and becoming an advocate), and (4) acceptance by society. We provide clinical recommendations grounded on the tenets of radical hope such as collective ways in which parents of TGD youth can engage in both resisting systemic oppression and building strong loving relationships with their child. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
PubMed: 38900543
DOI: 10.1037/fam0001239