Active learning-based STEM education for in-person and online learning.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has forced the higher education sector to transition to an uncharted remote-learning format. This offers an opportunity to adopt active learning, which increases students' performance compared to lectures, narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students, and promotes equity and inclusivity, as the basis of STEM education.

'What is the most important lesson you learnt as a neuroscience master's student?' A single-question study in postgraduate neuroscience education.

INTRODUCTION: Neuroscience is a young discipline and an expanding field of study and research. The number of neuroscience postgraduate courses has risen much more rapidly than in any other field of biomedical research. However, from a scholarship perspective, the master's experience has been understudied. This work focuses on the answers given by a group of neuroscience alumni, a rarely examined academic cohort, to a straightforward question: 'What is the most important lesson you learnt as a master's student?'. METHODS: Thematic analysis was performed on 27 entries hosted by a public-facing blog of a STEM-intense university across four academic years. RESULTS: Four themes emerged: Skills, Theoretical knowledge, Attitudes and Community. Beyond replicating previous findings on the importance of skills and theoretical knowledge, an 'imbalance' between them has been reported for the first time. What emerges in our work is the overwhelming importance the alumni place in attitudes, especially resilience, and in the social/community aspects of learning, along with the role played by fellow students, faculty and laboratory colleagues. DISCUSSION: The master's level can be the ideal one for increasing awareness of resilience and learning how to make the most of it. Institutions should consider strategies for strengthening informal learning and supporting the development of professional identities. These findings can be of interest to a wide range of neuroscience educators and provide useful insights for designing effective postgraduate training courses. Future works can investigate the how beyond the what and explore the roles played by attitudes, emotions and feelings across neuroscientists' career stages.

Detecting axonal injury in individual patients after traumatic brain injury.

Poor outcomes after traumatic brain injury (TBI) are common yet remain difficult to predict. Diffuse axonal injury is important for outcomes, but its assessment remains limited in the clinical setting. Currently, axonal injury is diagnosed based on clinical presentation, visible damage to the white matter or via surrogate markers of axonal injury such as microbleeds. These do not accurately quantify axonal injury leading to misdiagnosis in a proportion of patients. Diffusion tensor imaging provides a quantitative measure of axonal injury in vivo, with fractional anisotropy often used as a proxy for white matter damage. Diffusion imaging has been widely used in TBI but is not routinely applied clinically. This is in part because robust analysis methods to diagnose axonal injury at the individual level have not yet been developed. Here, we present a pipeline for diffusion imaging analysis designed to accurately assess the presence of axonal injury in large white matter tracts in individuals. Average fractional anisotropy is calculated from tracts selected on the basis of high test-retest reliability, good anatomical coverage and their association to cognitive and clinical impairments after TBI. We test our pipeline for common methodological issues such as the impact of varying control sample sizes, focal lesions and age-related changes to demonstrate high specificity, sensitivity and test-retest reliability. We assess 92 patients with moderate-severe TBI in the chronic phase (≥6 months post-injury), 25 patients in the subacute phase (10 days to 6 weeks post-injury) with 6-month follow-up and a large control cohort (n = 103). Evidence of axonal injury is identified in 52% of chronic and 28% of subacute patients. Those classified with axonal injury had significantly poorer cognitive and functional outcomes than those without, a difference not seen for focal lesions or microbleeds. Almost a third of patients with unremarkable standard MRIs had evidence of axonal injury, whilst 40% of patients with visible microbleeds had no diffusion evidence of axonal injury. More diffusion abnormality was seen with greater time since injury, across individuals at various chronic injury times and within individuals between subacute and 6-month scans. We provide evidence that this pipeline can be used to diagnose axonal injury in individual patients at subacute and chronic time points, and that diffusion MRI provides a sensitive and complementary measure when compared to susceptibility weighted imaging, which measures diffuse vascular injury. Guidelines for the implementation of this pipeline in a clinical setting are discussed.

Exploring the identity development of the budding neuroscientist at postgraduate level: a mixed-method study with perspectives from alumni and academics.

INTRODUCTION: Neuroscience represents one of the most exciting frontiers in scientific research. However, given the recency of neuroscience as a discipline, its inter- and multi-disciplinary nature, the lack of educational research on brain science training, the absence of a national or global benchmark and the numerous neuroscience subfields, the development of the academic neuroscientist identity across career stages remains obfuscated. Neuroscience is not predominantly taught at the undergraduate level but presents as a postgraduate specialism, accepting graduates from a wide range of primary disciplines. METHODS: This work represents the first mixed-method study exploring the development of the neuroscientist identity at the postgraduate level at a high-ranking, research-intensive UK University. It combines responses from standardised self-efficacy and professional identity questionnaires and qualitative data from nineteen semi-structured interviews with alumni and academics. RESULTS: Key findings on influences, identity transitions, curricular skills and sense of belonging have been discussed. The results obtained can be mapped against the theoretical framework proposed by Laudel and Gläser in 2008, although some minor changes to the model have been suggested. DISCUSSION: Implementing active learning strategies and experiential assessments, designing mentoring opportunities and creating spaces for interaction can favour the transition from students to neuroscientists and contribute to an inclusive and diverse neuroscientific community.

Strategic Considerations for Applying the Flipped Classroom to Neurology Education.

Nowadays, the "flipped classroom" approach is taking the center stage within medical education. However, very few reports on the implementation of the flipped classroom in neurology have been published to date, and this educational model still represents a challenge for students and educators alike. In this article, neurology educators from the American Academy of Neurology's A. B. Baker Section on Neurological Education analyze reports of flipped classroom in other medical/surgical subspecialties, review the current implementation in neurology, and discuss future strategies to flip the neurology curriculum through contextualization of the benefits and the consequences. ANN NEUROL 2020;87:4-9.

EEG, MEG and neuromodulatory approaches to explore cognition: Current status and future directions.

Neural oscillations and their association with brain states and cognitive functions have been object of extensive investigation over the last decades. Several electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) analysis approaches have been explored and oscillatory properties have been identified, in parallel with the technical and computational advancement. This review provides an up-to-date account of how EEG/MEG oscillations have contributed to the understanding of cognition. Methodological challenges, recent developments and translational potential, along with future research avenues, are discussed.

The status of neurology fellowships in the United States: clinical needs, educational barriers, and future outlooks.

The need for subspecialty-trained neurologists is growing in parallel with increasing disease burden. However, despite the immense burden of neurological diseases, like headache and neurodegenerative disorders, recruitment into these subspecialties remains insufficient in the United States. In this manuscript, a group of educators from the American Academy of Neurology's A.B. Baker Section on Neurological Education sought to review and discuss the current landscape of neurology fellowships in the United States, the factors driving fellowship recruitment and the educational barriers. Moreover, suggestions to potentially improve recruitment for under-selected fellowships, which can contribute towards an alignment between neurological education and neurological needs, and future educational scenarios are discussed.

The role of residents in medical students' neurology education: current status and future perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Neurophobia, a well-described fear of neurology, affects medical students worldwide and may be one of the factors contributing to a shortage of neurologists in the United States. Residents spend a considerable amount of time with medical students; therefore, we sought to understand better the impact neurology residents have on medical students during their neurology clerkship and their subsequent interest in neurology. We aimed to identify and implement strategies to decrease neurophobia and increase the number of students pursuing neurology as a career. METHODS: Third-year medical students (n = 234) of UTHealth's McGovern Medical School rotating through their neurology core clerkship completed two surveys regarding their rotation experiences. Surveys were completed anonymously before and after the clerkship to measure their interest and confidence in neurology and the impact of their interactions with the neurology residents during the clerkship. In parallel, residents participated in a teaching workshop focused on small group teaching to improve their teaching effectiveness. Non-parametrical comparison and ordinal regression analyses were utilized for data analyses. RESULTS: Medical students reported a statistically significant increase in their confidence in managing neurological conditions and interest in pursuing a neurology residency after their clerkship. There was a significant association between the medical students' overall rotation experience and the residents' teaching effectiveness. The overall clerkship experience correlated with the medical students' interest and confidence in neurology. There was a trend towards an increase in residents' teaching effectiveness and students' rotation experience after a resident teaching workshop. Additionally, of note, students who rotated on both and outpatient and inpatient sites during their clerkship reported an increased interest in neurology. CONCLUSION: Our study supports that resident-led teaching efforts are important in improving medical students' neurologic education and their interest in neurology. Our data also supports that the interest in neurology increased for medical students after their neurology clerkship. We examined future strategies to implement "near-peer" teaching activities to enhance the medical students' neurologic educational experience. These strategies could potentially mitigate neurophobia and ultimately lead to a much-needed increase in future neurologists.

Probing cortical and sub-cortical contributions to instruction-based learning: Regional specialisation and global network dynamics.

Diverse cortical networks and striatal brain regions are implicated in instruction-based learning (IBL); however, their distinct contributions remain unclear. We use a modified fMRI paradigm to test two hypotheses regarding the brain mechanisms that underlie IBL. One hypothesis proposes that anterior caudate and frontoparietal regions transiently co-activate when new rules are being bound in working memory. The other proposes that they mediate the application of the rules at different stages of the consolidation process. In accordance with the former hypothesis, we report strong activation peaks within and increased connectivity between anterior caudate and frontoparietal regions when rule-instruction slides are presented. However, similar effects occur throughout a broader set of cortical and sub-cortical regions, indicating a metabolically costly reconfiguration of the global brain state. The distinct functional roles of cingulo-opercular, frontoparietal and default-mode networks are apparent from their activation throughout, early and late in the practice phase respectively. Furthermore, there is tentative evidence of a peak in anterior caudate activity mid-way through the practice stage. These results demonstrate how performance of the same simple task involves a steadily shifting balance of brain systems as learning progresses. They also highlight the importance of distinguishing between regional specialisation and global dynamics when studying the network mechanisms that underlie cognition and learning.

Neural Stem Cell Transplantation Induces Stroke Recovery by Upregulating Glutamate Transporter GLT-1 in Astrocytes.

Ischemic stroke is the leading cause of disability, but effective therapies are currently widely lacking. Recovery from stroke is very much dependent on the possibility to develop treatments able to both halt the neurodegenerative process as well as to foster adaptive tissue plasticity. Here we show that ischemic mice treated with neural precursor cell (NPC) transplantation had on neurophysiological analysis, early after treatment, reduced presynaptic release of glutamate within the ipsilesional corticospinal tract (CST), and an enhanced NMDA-mediated excitatory transmission in the contralesional CST. Concurrently, NPC-treated mice displayed a reduced CST degeneration, increased axonal rewiring, and augmented dendritic arborization, resulting in long-term functional amelioration persisting up to 60 d after ischemia. The enhanced functional and structural plasticity relied on the capacity of transplanted NPCs to localize in the peri-ischemic and ischemic area, to promote the upregulation of the glial glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1) on astrocytes and to reduce peri-ischemic extracellular glutamate. The upregulation of GLT-1 induced by transplanted NPCs was found to rely on the secretion of VEGF by NPCs. Blocking VEGF during the first week after stroke reduced GLT-1 upregulation as well as long-term behavioral recovery in NPC-treated mice. Our results show that NPC transplantation, by modulating the excitatory-inhibitory balance and stroke microenvironment, is a promising therapy to ameliorate disability, to promote tissue recovery and plasticity processes after stroke. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Tissue damage and loss of function occurring after stroke can be constrained by fostering plasticity processes of the brain. Over the past years, stem cell transplantation for repair of the CNS has received increasing interest, although underlying mechanism remain elusive. We here show that neural stem/precursor cell transplantation after ischemic stroke is able to foster axonal rewiring and dendritic plasticity and to induce long-term functional recovery. The observed therapeutic effect of neural precursor cells seems to underlie their capacity to upregulate the glial glutamate transporter on astrocytes through the vascular endothelial growth factor inducing favorable changes in the electrical and molecular stroke microenvironment. Cell-based approaches able to influence plasticity seem particularly suited to favor poststroke recovery.

Frontal networks in adults with autism spectrum disorder.

It has been postulated that autism spectrum disorder is underpinned by an 'atypical connectivity' involving higher-order association brain regions. To test this hypothesis in a large cohort of adults with autism spectrum disorder we compared the white matter networks of 61 adult males with autism spectrum disorder and 61 neurotypical controls, using two complementary approaches to diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging. First, we applied tract-based spatial statistics, a 'whole brain' non-hypothesis driven method, to identify differences in white matter networks in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Following this we used a tract-specific analysis, based on tractography, to carry out a more detailed analysis of individual tracts identified by tract-based spatial statistics. Finally, within the autism spectrum disorder group, we studied the relationship between diffusion measures and autistic symptom severity. Tract-based spatial statistics revealed that autism spectrum disorder was associated with significantly reduced fractional anisotropy in regions that included frontal lobe pathways. Tractography analysis of these specific pathways showed increased mean and perpendicular diffusivity, and reduced number of streamlines in the anterior and long segments of the arcuate fasciculus, cingulum and uncinate--predominantly in the left hemisphere. Abnormalities were also evident in the anterior portions of the corpus callosum connecting left and right frontal lobes. The degree of microstructural alteration of the arcuate and uncinate fasciculi was associated with severity of symptoms in language and social reciprocity in childhood. Our results indicated that autism spectrum disorder is a developmental condition associated with abnormal connectivity of the frontal lobes. Furthermore our findings showed that male adults with autism spectrum disorder have regional differences in brain anatomy, which correlate with specific aspects of autistic symptoms. Overall these results suggest that autism spectrum disorder is a condition linked to aberrant developmental trajectories of the frontal networks that persist in adult life.

Weighing brain activity with the balance: Angelo Mosso's original manuscripts come to light.

Neuroimaging techniques, such as positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging are essential tools for the analysis of organized neural systems in working and resting states, both in physiological and pathological conditions. They provide evidence of coupled metabolic and cerebral local blood flow changes that strictly depend upon cellular activity. In 1890, Charles Smart Roy and Charles Scott Sherrington suggested a link between brain circulation and metabolism. In the same year William James, in his introduction of the concept of brain blood flow variations during mental activities, briefly reported the studies of the Italian physiologist Angelo Mosso, a multifaceted researcher interested in the human circulatory system. James focused on Mosso's recordings of brain pulsations in patients with skull breaches, and in the process only briefly referred to another invention of Mosso's, the 'human circulation balance', which could non-invasively measure the redistribution of blood during emotional and intellectual activity. However, the details and precise workings of this instrument and the experiments Mosso performed with it have remained largely unknown. Having found Mosso's original manuscripts in the archives, we remind the scientific community of his experiments with the 'human circulation balance' and of his establishment of the conceptual basis of non-invasive functional neuroimaging techniques. Mosso unearthed and investigated several critical variables that are still relevant in modern neuroimaging such as the 'signal-to-noise ratio', the appropriate choice of the experimental paradigm and the need for the simultaneous recording of differing physiological parameters.

Decoupling motor plans from perceptual decisions to investigate whether and when decisions are embodied.

Decision making is a crucial part of our life: we sense information from the environment and perform our motor response. However, "whether" and "when" decisions are embodied still needs to be fully elucidated. Neuroimaging data obtained by the disentanglement of perceptual decision from motor preparation revealed an increase in connectivity between inferior frontal cortex and sensory regions, and the important role played by intraparietal sulcus in motor decisions. The results obtained as well as the new research questions prompted by this work are carefully discussed herein.

Safety and efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation in acute experimental ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Transcranial direct current stimulation is emerging as a promising tool for the treatment of several neurological conditions, including cerebral ischemia. The therapeutic role of this noninvasive treatment is, however, limited to chronic phases of stroke. We thus ought to investigate whether different stimulation protocols could also be beneficial in the acute phase of experimental brain ischemia. METHODS: The influence of both cathodal and anodal transcranial direct current stimulation in modifying brain metabolism of healthy mice was first tested by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Then, mice undergoing transient proximal middle cerebral artery occlusion were randomized and treated acutely with anodal, cathodal, or sham transcranial direct current stimulation. Brain metabolism, functional outcomes, and ischemic lesion volume, as well as the inflammatory reaction and blood brain barrier functionality, were analyzed. RESULTS: Cathodal stimulation was able, if applied in the acute phase of stroke, to preserve cortical neurons from the ischemic damage, to reduce inflammation, and to promote a better clinical recovery compared with sham and anodal treatments. This finding was attributable to the significant decrease of cortical glutamate, as indicated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Conversely, anodal stimulation induced an increase in the postischemic lesion volume and augmented blood brain barrier derangement. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that transcranial direct current stimulation exerts a measurable neuroprotective effect in the acute phase of stroke. However, its timing and polarity should be carefully identified on the base of the pathophysiological context to avoid potential harmful side effects.

Mapping myelin in white matter with T1-weighted/T2-weighted maps: discrepancy with histology and other myelin MRI measures.

The ratio of T1-weighted/T2-weighted magnetic resonance images (T1w/T2w MRI) has been successfully applied at the cortical level since 2011 and is now one of the most used myelin mapping methods. However, no reports have explored the histological validity of T1w/T2w myelin mapping in white matter. Here we compare T1w/T2w with ex vivo postmortem histology and in vivo MRI methods, namely quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and multi-echo T2 myelin water fraction (MWF) mapping techniques. We report a discrepancy between T1w/T2w myelin maps of the human corpus callosum and the histology and analyse the putative causes behind such discrepancy. T1w/T2w does not positively correlate with Luxol Fast Blue (LFB)-Optical Density but shows a weak to moderate, yet significant, negative correlation. On the contrary, MWF is strongly and positively correlated with LFB, whereas T1w/T2w and MWF maps are weakly negatively correlated. The discrepancy between T1w/T2w MRI maps, MWF and histological myelin maps suggests caution in using T1w/T2w as a white matter mapping method at the callosal level. While T1w/T2w imaging may correlate with myelin content at the cortical level, it is not a specific method to map myelin density in white matter.

Future of Neurology & Technology: Virtual and Augmented Reality in Neurology and Neuroscience Education: Applications and Curricular Strategies.

Virtual reality and augmented reality have become increasingly prevalent in our lives. They are changing the way we see and interact with the world and have started percolating medical education. In this article, we reviewed key applications of virtual and augmented realities in neurology and neuroscience education, and discussed barriers and opportunities for implementation in the curriculum. Although long-term benefits of these approaches over more traditional learning methods and the optimal curricular balance remain mostly unexplored, virtual and augmented reality can change how we teach neurology and neuroscience.

The Effects of Working Memory Training on Brain Activity.

This study aimed to investigate if two weeks of working memory (WM) training on a progressive N-back task can generate changes in the activity of the underlying WM neural network. Forty-six healthy volunteers (23 training and 23 controls) were asked to perform the N-back task during three fMRI scanning sessions: (1) before training, (2) after the half of training sessions, and (3) at the end. Between the scanning sessions, the experimental group underwent a 10-session training of working memory with the use of an adaptive version of the N-back task, while the control group did not train anything. The N-back task in the scanning sessions was relatively easy (n = 2) in order to ensure high accuracy and a lack of between-group differences at the behavioral level. Such training-induced differences in neural efficiency were expected. Behavioral analyses revealed improved performance of both groups on the N-back task. However, these improvements resulted from the test-retest effect, not the training outside scanner. Performance on the non-trained stop-signal task did not demonstrate any transfer effect. Imaging analysis showed changes in activation in several significant clusters, with overlapping regions of interest in the frontal and parietal lobes. However, patterns of between-session changes of activation did not show any effect of training. The only finding that can be linked with training consists in strengthening the correlation between task performance accuracy and activation of the parietal regions of the neural network subserving working memory (left superior parietal lobule and right supramarginal gyrus posterior). These results suggest that the effects of WM training consist in learning that, in order to ensure high accuracy in the criterion task, activation of the parietal regions implicated in working memory updating must rise.