Medium-term Memory Research Articles

Sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) oscillations and associated memory processing during childhood and early adolescence.

The architecture of sleep undergoes distinct changes during childhood and early adolescence. Slow wave sleep is involved in memory processing and may support active consolidation of newly encoded representations to support the formation of abstracted "gist" memories. Here, we examined sleep and overnight memory formation in German school children (n = 33) between 7 and 15 years of age, after the encoding phase of a verbal Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) task. Effects of age were analyzed on sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) signatures of memory processing during nonrapid eye movement (NonREM) sleep, and the overnight formation of veridical and gist-based memories. Increasing age decreases time spent in slow wave sleep, and slow wave activity, whereas density and amplitude of fast sleep spindles in NonREM sleep were increased. Moreover, fast spindles were more consistently and more closely coupled to the upstate of the slow oscillation in the older children. Also, veridical and gist-based recall of words after sleep increased with age. Notably, a closer slow oscillation upstate-fast spindle coupling predicted veridical recall of words, and this relationship was found independent of age. Memory performance in the sleeping children did not differ from that of an age-matched control group (n = 32) tested over a daytime wake retention interval, with adolescents even showing superior veridical recall after wake. Our findings suggest that slow oscillation-spindle coupling as a mechanism of sleep-dependent memory formation becomes increasingly relevant during childhood and early adolescence. However, wake-associated mechanisms similarly effective in forming medium-term memory exist in this age as well. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of pituitary hormones deficiency from the specific pituitary lobes on learning, memory and survival behavior in the Wistar rat

The role of the different adenohypophyseal hormones (GH, PRL, ACTH, TSH, LH and FSH) and neurohypophyseal (AVP and OXY) hormones on animal behavior, memory and learning have been stablished, however the role of lobe‐specific hormones on these cerebral functions has been not completely dilucidated. Here we study the specific pituitary hormone deficiencies in hypophysectomized (HYPOX), with anterior lobectomized (AL) and neurointermediate lobectomized (NIL) rats, subject to novel object recognition (NOR), forced swim (FS) and prepulse inhibition (PPI) tests. For comparisons the intact control (IC) and sham operated (SHAM) groups were also included. The NOR test that evaluate different phases of learning and memory in rodents, showed that memory discrimination index (DI) significantly increased in the NIL group, indicating that AVP and OXY deficiency negatively affect the ability of short and medium‐term memory. The FS test assess survival and motivation behavior; results showed that AL, NIL and HYPOX groups induced a loss in motivation and will to survive (increased immobility time); these observations may be partially explained by: 1) the significant deficiency of metabolic hormones (GH, ACTH‐corticosterone, TSH‐thyroid hormones and LH‐FSH‐testosterone hormones) whose decrease also induced significant loss in both mass muscle and body weight in AL and HYPOX groups and, 2) the decreased survival and motivational behavior induced by the AVP and OXY deficiency (NIL‐induced), thus supporting the view of the motivational and survival role of these hormones. The IPP test evaluates the rat ability to respond to potentially harmful acoustic stimuli and long‐term memory; results showed that AL animals did not show any sign of learning (expressed as very low inhibition percentage), whereas, interestingly, the HYPOX group (without any pituitary hormones) the long‐term memory was not significantly affected. In conclusion these results support the important role of the several pituitary hormones mainly neurohypophyseal hormones (AVP and OXY) controlling important brain functions necessary for learning, memory, and survival. These experimental models will allow in the future to study specifically the role of each pituitary hormone on the different aspects of animal behavior such as memory, motivation, generosity, adaptation, among others.

Влияние нарушения синтеза кинуренинов на память у дрозофилы

Such issues as life expectancy and medical care for the elderly are gaining momentum all over the world, including Russia. With an increase in life expectancy, neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) are on the rise in developed countries. One of the reasons for neurodegenerative changes in the brain is a disturbance of the kynurenine tryptophan metabolism pathway (KTMP). Drosophila KTMP mutants are suitable models for the experimental study of neurokynurenines that change brain functions resulting in learning and memory impairments. There are several mutant stocks of D. melanogaster with defects in the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism, including vermilion (v1, a block at the level of the tryptophan oxygenase enzyme that stops the production of kynurenines and leads to the accumulation of tryptophan). The mutant v1 has been shown to maintain normal learning ability, both in medium- and long-term memory formation. No defects in medium-term memory formation were detected. In contrast, the mutant showed the disturbances of long-term memory. The absence of eight-day long-term memory in the KTMP-suppressed mutant v1 may be a consequence of kynurenine imbalance.

Toward Autonomous Adaptive Intelligence: Building Upon Neural Models of How Brains Make Minds

This article surveys the development of mathematical laws, circuits, and architectures that model how our brains make our minds, and shows how these contributions provide a blueprint for developing general-purpose autonomous adaptive algorithms and robots for intelligent applications in engineering and technology. The mathematical laws for short-term memory, medium-term memory, and long-term memory that provide the contemporary foundation for all subsequent biological neural network models were published in 1968, followed by a steady stream of model discovery and development to the present time. The Cohen-Grossberg model and theorem that was published in this journal in 1983 was one step in this series of developments. It proved global limit theorems for a general class of neural networks using a Lyapunov function as one tool. These theorems provide a guarantee that learning in these networks generates stable memories. This article surveys additional mathematical foundations for neural network design and applications and describes a modeling method for the incremental discovery of models with increasingly powerful and general functional capabilities. This method is illustrated by the adaptive resonance theory, or ART, architectures which explain how our brains autonomously learn to attend, recognize, and predict objects and events in a changing world, along the way explaining how our brains become conscious, as well as the computational constraints on learning that forced evolution to discover conscious states of mind. Multiple types of resonances support different kinds of conscious awareness and enable the explanation and prediction of large psychological and neurobiological databases about perception, cognition, emotion, and action. Because ART can be derived from a thought experiment about a universal problem of error correction in a changing world, its expanding applications to the development of autonomously intelligent systems should transform future technologies.

Sideband Control of a Multimode Quantum Bulk Acoustic System

Multimode bulk acoustic systems show promise for use in superconducting quantum computation. They can serve as a medium term memory storage, with exceptional coherence times demonstrated, and they exhibit a mode density that is physically highly compact. Here we experimentally demonstrate accessing individual acoustic modes without being hindered by the uniform frequency spacing of the modes. We use sideband control where a low-frequency modulation is applied to the transmon qubit energy. The amplitude of the modulation defines the qubit-acoustic mode coupling, and its frequency detunes the acoustic sidebands, therefore enabling selectively switching on or off the interaction, and allows for a full control on the individual modes.

Effects of Weak Static Magnetic Field and Oligopeptides on Cell Proliferation and Cognitive Functions in Different Animal Species

The effects of exposure to two different stress factors—a weak static magnetic field (WSMF) with a magnetic induction of 200 μT and oligopeptide epigenetic regulators—were studied. The results of explant exposure to tissue-specific oligopeptides and to WSMF were comparable. Experiments on cognitive behavior suggested that oligopeptides Ala–Glu–Asp–Pro and Lys–Glu–Asp–Ala had a beneficial effect on medium-term memory formation. It is noted that external WSMFs efficiently affect biological objects due to their high penetrating capacity in biological media.

A 2-year longitudinal study of neuropsychological functioning, psychosocial adjustment and rehospitalisation in schizophrenia and major depression

Neuropsychological functioning turns out to be a rate-limiting factor in psychiatry. However, little is known when comparing neuropsychological and psychosocial functioning in inpatients with schizophrenia or severe depression in their treatment pathways including add-on psychoeducation or the latter combined with cognitive behavioral therapy up to 2-year follow-up. To evaluate this question, we investigated these variables in two randomised controlled trials including 196 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia and 177 patients with major depression. Outcome measures were assessed in the hospital at pre- and posttreatment and following discharge until 2-year follow-up. We focused on neuropsychological and psychosocial functioning regarding its differences and changes over time in data of two pooled trials. There were significant time effects indicating gains in knowledge about the illness, short and medium-term memory (VLMT) and psychosocial functioning (GAF), however, the latter was the only variable showing a time x study/diagnosis interaction effect at 2-year follow-up, showing significant better outcome in depression compared to schizophrenia. Moderator analysis showed no changes in psychosocial and neuropsychological functioning in schizophrenia and in affective disorders due to age, duration of illness or sex. Looking at the rehospitalisation rates there were no significant differences between both disorders. Both groups treated with psychoeducation or a combination of psychoeducation and CBT improved in neuropsychological and psychosocial functioning as well as knowledge about the illness at 2-year follow-up, however, patients with major depression showed greater gains in psychosocial functioning compared to patients with schizophrenia. Possible implications of these findings were discussed.

Воздействие слабого статического магнитного поля и олигопептидов на клеточную пролиферацию и когнитивные функции организмов различных видов

Stress effects are factors that provoke a wide range of socially significant diseases. We studied the effect of two such factors - weak static magnetic field (WSMF) with induction value of 200 mcT and a number of epigenetic regulators, oligopeptides. One of the main cellular processes - proliferation - is shown to occur when WSMF is acting in tissues of various genesis with different intensity. The greatest effect of WSMF exposure is observed in ectodermal genesis tissue - the cerebral cortex. The results of experiments with tissue-specific oligopeptides were comparable to those of WSMF. Analysis of the results of experiments to study cognitive behavior leads to the conclusion of beneficial effects on medium-term memory formation using oligopeptides Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro and Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala. Similarity in the outcome of WSMF and bioregulatory peptides impact in different species of animals on the proliferative cell activity in nervous tissue culture and cognitive behaviour suggests the existence of a common ancient mechanism for regulating the activity of organisms. It is noted that the efficiency of external WSMF influence on biological objects is caused by its high penetration ability.

Роль кинуренинов в регуляции поведения и процессов памяти у дрозофилы

Metabolites of the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism (KPTM) or kynurenines, have a number of neuroactive properties. Disturbances of KPTM are observed in various neuropathologies, such as Huntington, Parkinson, and Alzheimer’s diseases, senile dementia, schizophrenia, depressions, etc. Kynurenines are known to impact processes in nervous cells through two mechanisms — modulation of activity of cellular receptors and modulation of oxidation-reduction potential. Kynurenic acid (KYNA) is a nonspecific antagonist of the ionotropic glutamate receptors and an inhibitor of excitotoxicity. 3-hydroxykynurenine (3HOK) inhibits peroxide oxidation of lipids, but in high concentration owing to an oxidizing autodimerization causes hydrogen peroxide hyperproduction that leads to death of nervous cells. It is convenient to investigate molecular mechanisms of kynurenine neuroactivity on simple model objects, such as bee and Drosophila, where mutations of KPTM genes affect the level of kynurenines. There are several reasons why Drosophila mutants make a good choice to study kynurenine neurotropic properties: 1) Insects do not synthesize NAD from 3HOK, hence, no influence of KPTM defects on power metabolism; 2) Insects do not have certain KPTM metabolites, such as quinolinic acid, which potentiates neurotoxic properties of 3HOK; 3) High level of 3HOK as a response to the synthesis of xanthommatin pigment; 4) Simple methodology of genetic, physiological, molecular and biological research. In Drosophila cardinal (cd) mutant, the accumulation of 3HOK causes irregularities in a male courtship song and the development of synaptic pathology in late stages of imago development. Besides, in cd the age-dependent disturbance of medium-term memory in a paradigm of the conditioned courtship suppression is observed. The above allows to consider cd a model of senile dementia in humans. On the contrary, in cinnabar (cn) mutant with the accumulation of KYNA this neuroprotector has a positive impact on memory and sound production. In general, KPTM products have an activating effect on central nervous system and behavioral processes.

The effect of eight -week aerobic exercise and consumption of curcumin on TNF-α and medium-term memory in 60-65 years old women with syndrome metabolic

Background: The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of eight-week aerobic exercise with moderate intensity and consumption of curcumin on TNF-α and Medium-term memory in 60-65 years old women with syndrome metabolic. Methods: 44 women with metabolic syndrome (MetS) voluntarily took part in the present study. Participants were randomly divided in 4 groups of MetS exercise+ Curcumin (MECU), MetS exercise (ME), MetS Curcumin (MCU), MetS control (MC). During the first week MECU group and ME participated in three sets of ten-minute aerobic exercise training with treadmill (AT) also they have 5 minute rest part between the sets. One minute was added to the duration of exercise sets weekly basis. Blood samples and memory test were conducted before and after eight -week. TNF-α level was measured by ELISA method and memory test were conduct with Picture recall test. To analyze the data, researcher made use of One-Way ANOVA, paired-sample t-test with the significance level of (P≤0.05). Results: After eight -week interventions TNF-α significantly decreased (P≤0.05). Also Medium-term memory significantly increased (P≤0.05). Conclusion: These findings indicate eight –week interventions induce to increase Medium-term memory and maybe this increasing relative to decreasing in TNF-α level and ameliorate in metabolic syndromes factors.

Social effects on fruit fly courtship song.

Courtship behavior in Drosophila has often been described as a classic innate behavioral repertoire, but more recently extensive plasticity has been described. In particular, prior exposure to acoustic signals of con‐ or heterspecific males can change courtship traits in both sexes that are liable to be important in reproductive isolation. However, it is unknown whether male courtship song itself is socially plastic. We examined courtship song plasticity of two species in the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup. Sexual isolation between the species is influenced by two male song traits, the interpulse interval (IPI) and sinesong frequency (SSF). Neither of these showed plasticity when males had prior experience of con‐ and heterospecific social partners. However, males of both species produced longer bursts of song during courtship when they were exposed to social partners (either con‐ or heterospecific) than when they were reared in isolation. D. melanogaster carrying mutations affecting short‐ or medium‐term memory showed a similar response to the social environment, not supporting a role for learning. Our results demonstrate that the amount of song a male produces during courtship is plastic depending on the social environment, which might reflect the advantage of being able to respond to variation in intrasexual competition, but that song structure itself is relatively inflexible, perhaps due to strong selection against hybridization.

Assessment of the Central Effects of Natural Uranium via Behavioural Performances and the Cerebrospinal Fluid Metabolome.

Natural uranium (NU), a component of the earth's crust, is not only a heavy metal but also an alpha particle emitter, with chemical and radiological toxicity. Populations may therefore be chronically exposed to NU through drinking water and food. Since the central nervous system is known to be sensitive to pollutants during its development, we assessed the effects on the behaviour and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) metabolome of rats exposed for 9 months from birth to NU via lactation and drinking water (1.5, 10, or 40 mg·L−1 for male rats and 40 mg·L−1 for female rats). Medium-term memory decreased in comparison to controls in male rats exposed to 1.5, 10, or 40 mg·L−1 NU. In male rats, spatial working memory and anxiety- and depressive-like behaviour were only altered by exposure to 40 mg·L−1 NU and any significant effect was observed on locomotor activity. In female rats exposed to NU, only locomotor activity was significantly increased in comparison with controls. LC-MS metabolomics of CSF discriminated the fingerprints of the male and/or female NU-exposed and control groups. This study suggests that exposure to environmental doses of NU from development to adulthood can have an impact on rat brain function.

The acute and medium-term effects of treatment with electroconvulsive therapy on memory in patients with major depressive disorder

Current literature provides insufficient information on the degree of cognitive impairment during and after electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), mostly due to the fact that applied tests lacked sensitivity and flexibility. Our goal was to evaluate cognitive functioning in adult depressed patients treated with bi-temporal ECT, using tests sensitive for detection of possible acute and medium-term memory changes. Thirty adult patients with major depressive disorder, treated with a course of bi-temporal ECT, underwent clinical and cognitive measurements three times: at baseline, immediately after a course of ECT, and 1 month later. For cognition assessment, we used learning and visual, spatial and figural memory tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Bi-temporal ECT has proven to be an effective treatment. The linear mixed model, used to analyze changes in depression severity and patients' cognitive performances over time and to assess dynamic correlations between aforementioned features, did not show any significant memory impairment as a potential acute or medium-term ECT effect. However, it yielded significant improvement on visual memory and learning at the follow-up, which positively correlated with the improvement of depression. Good progress is being made in the search for ECT-related acute and medium-term cognitive side-effects by using the tests sensitive to detect memory dysfunction with parallel forms of the tasks (to counter practice effects on repeat testing). Our results on learning and memory in relation to ECT during treatment of depression did not bring forth any prolonged and significant bi-temporal ECT-related memory deficit.

Path-relinking Tabu search for the multi-objective flexible job shop scheduling problem

The multi-objective flexible job shop scheduling problem is solved using a novel path-relinking algorithm based on the state-of-the-art Tabu search algorithm with back-jump tracking. A routing solution is identified by problem-specific neighborhood search, and is then further refined by the Tabu search algorithm with back-jump tracking for a sequencing decision. The resultant solution is used to maintain the medium-term memory where the best solutions are stored. A path-relinking heuristics is designed to generate diverse solutions in the most promising areas. An improved version of the algorithm is then developed by incorporating an effective dimension-oriented intensification search to find solutions that are located near extreme solutions. The proposed algorithms are tested on benchmark instances and its experimental performance is compared with that of algorithms in the literature. Comparison results show that the proposed algorithms are competitive in terms of its computation performance and solution quality.

Introduction to the special issue on intelligent metaheuristics for logistic planning

Intelligent approaches for solving the real-world problems that arise in logistic planning generally include the use of Metaheuristics, which are among the most efficient and robust methods to find high-quality solutions to a large number of optimization problems. The intelligent qualificative is assigned tometaheuristics because of the fact that they might incorporate machine learning tools, use short, medium and long term memory, include self-adaptation of their parameters, incorporate expert knowledge to improve their performance, etc. These and other features of metaheuristics make them increasingly important for designing decision support systems in the planning of logistics activity at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. Furthermore, the realworld problems which are tackled by the managers of logistics activities have special characteristics that recommend the use of metaheuristics as well as the research on the best way to implement them. Since the notion ofmetaheuristicswas introducedbyFredGlover in 1986, numerous applications have appeared in the literature. This conceptual framework includes a number of methodologies for tacking difficult optimization problems that originated before and after the term metaheuristic was coined, for instance, genetic algorithms and simulated annealing. Currently, the field of metaheuristics is one of the research areas of the artificial intelligence with the greatest impact in terms of applications to real situations of business interest. The development and application of metaheuristics, unlike heuristics specifically designed for a problem, seek efficacy, efficiency and robustness across problem classes. These characteristics, under the guidance of expert systems, have enabled the

Resting EEG sources correlate with attentional span in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

Previous evidence has shown that resting delta and alpha electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythms are abnormal in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its potential preclinical stage (mild cognitive impairment, MCI). Here, we tested the hypothesis that these EEG rhythms are correlated with memory and attention in the continuum across MCI and AD. Resting eyes-closed EEG data were recorded in 34 MCI and 53 AD subjects. EEG rhythms of interest were delta (2-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha 1 (8-10.5 Hz), alpha 2 (10.5-13 Hz), beta 1 (13-20 Hz), and beta 2 (20-30 Hz). EEG cortical sources were estimated by low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA). These sources were correlated with neuropsychological measures such as Rey list immediate recall (word short-term memory), Rey list delayed recall (word medium-term memory), Digit span forward (immediate memory for digits probing focused attention), and Corsi span forward (visuo-spatial immediate memory probing focused attention). A statistically significant negative correlation (Bonferroni corrected, P < 0.05) was observed between Corsi span forward score and amplitude of occipital or temporal delta sources across MCI and AD subjects. Furthermore, a positive correlation was shown between Digit span forward score and occipital alpha 1 sources (Bonferroni corrected, P < 0.05). These results suggest that cortical sources of resting delta and alpha rhythms correlate with neuropsychological measures of immediate memory based on focused attention in the continuum of MCI and AD subjects.

Involvement of α-bungarotoxin-sensitive nicotinic receptors in long-term memory formation in the honeybee ( Apis mellifera)

In the honeybee Apis mellifera, multiple-trial olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension response specifically leads to long-term memory (LTM) which can be retrieved more than 24 h after learning. We studied the involvement of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the establishment of LTM by injecting the nicotinic antagonists mecamylamine (1 mM), α-bungarotoxin (α-BGT, 0.1 mM) or methyllycaconitine (MLA, 0.1 mM) into the brain through the median ocellus 20 min before or 20 min after multiple-trial learning. The retention tests were performed 1, 3, and 24 h after learning. Pre-training injections of mecamylamine induced a lower performance during conditioning but had no effect on LTM formation. Post-training injections of mecamylamine did not affect honeybees’ performances. Pre-training injections of MLA or post-training injection of α-BGT specifically induced LTM impairment whereas acquisition as well as memory retrieval tested 1 or 3 h after learning was normal. This indicates that brain injections of α-BGT and MLA did not interfere with learning or medium-term memory. Rather, these blockers affect the LTM. To explain these results, we advance the hypothesis that honeybee α-BGT-sensitive acetylcholine receptors are also sensitive to MLA. These receptors could be essential for triggering intracellular mechanisms involved in LTM. By contrast, medium-term memory is not dependent upon these receptors but is affected by mecamylamine.

Induction of cAMP Response Element-Binding Protein-Dependent Medium-Term Memory by Appetitive Gustatory Reinforcement inDrosophilaLarvae

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has been successfully used as a model animal for the study of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of learning and memory. Although most of the Drosophila learning studies have used the adult fly, the relative complexity of its neural network hinders cellular and molecular studies at high resolution. In contrast, the Drosophila larva has a simple brain with uniquely identifiable neural networks, providing an opportunity of an attractive alternative system for elucidation of underlying mechanisms involved in learning and memory. In this paper, we describe a novel paradigm of larval associative learning with a single odor and a positive gustatory reinforcer, sucrose. Mutant analyses have suggested importance of cAMP signaling and potassium channel activities in larval learning as has been demonstrated with the adult fly. Intriguingly, larval memory produced by the appetitive conditioning lasts medium term and depends on both amnesiac and cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB). A significant part of memory was disrupted at very early phase by CREB blockade without affecting immediate learning performance. Moreover, we also show that synaptic output of larval mushroom body neurons is required for retrieval but not for acquisition and retention of the larval memory, including the CREB-dependent component.

Antennal tactile learning in the honeybee: Effect of nicotinic antagonists on memory dynamics

Restrained worker honeybees ( Apis mellifera L.) are able to learn to associate antennal-scanning of a metal plate with a sucrose reinforcement delivered to the mouthparts. Learning occurs reliably in a single association of the two sensory stimuli. The involvement of nicotinic pathways in memory formation and retrieval processes was tested by injecting, into the whole brain through the median ocellus, either mecamylamine (0.6 μg per bee) or α-bungarotoxin (2.4 ng per bee). Saline served as a control. Mecamylamine injected 10 min before the retrieval test impairs the retention level tested 3 h and 24 h after single- or multi-trial learning. Retrieval tests performed at various times after the injection show that the blocking effect of mecamylamine lasts about 1 h. The drug has no effect on the reconsolidation or extinction processes. Mecamylamine injected 10 min before conditioning impairs single-trial learning but has no effect on five-trial learning and on the consolidation process. By contrast, α-bungarotoxin only impairs the formation of long-term memory (24 h) induced by the five-trial learning and has no effect on medium-term memory (3 h), on single-trial learning or on the retrieval process. Hence, owing to previous data, at least two kinds of nicotinic receptors seem to be involved in honeybee memory, an α-bungarotoxin-sensitive and an α-bungarotoxin-insensitive receptor. Our results extend to antennal mechanosensory conditioning the role of the cholinergic system that we had previously described for olfactory conditioning in the honeybee. Moreover, we describe here in this insect a pharmacological dissociation between α-bungarotoxin sensitive long-term memory and α-bungarotoxin insensitive medium-term memory, the last one being affected by mecamylamine.

Persistence of visual memory for scenes.

A medium-term memory may help us to keep track of objects during visual tasks.