Helgeland Museum

Humans effortlessly juggle their internal thoughts, but the neuronal dynamics that support mental manipulation are largely unknown. Leveraging the high spatiotemporal fidelity of intracranial recordings in humans (N = 30), we provide evidence that mental sound manipulation involves the inhibition of sensory cortex and the coordinated engagement of memory and control networks. This modulation manifests in two ways. First, there is a shift in the balance between faster (> 30 Hz) and slower (< 30 Hz) dynamics in primary and secondary auditory areas, suggesting a decrease in local excitability. Second, there is a distributed increase in oscillatory synchrony (6–10 Hz), which predicts imagery vividness and task performance. This evidence points to a key role of local excitability and inter-areal synchrony in the manipulation of thought.

Musicians are often regarded as a positive example of brain plasticity and associated cognitive benefits. This emerges when experienced musicians (e.g., musicians with more than 10 years of music training and practice) are compared with nonmusicians. A frequently observed behavioral finding is a short-term memory advantage of the former over the latter. Although available meta-analysis reported that the effect size of this advantage is medium (Hedges’s g = 0.5), no literature study was adequately powered to estimate reliably an effect of such size. This multilab study has been ideated, realized, and conducted in lab by several groups that have been working on this topic. Our ultimate goal was to provide a community-driven shared and reliable estimate of the musicians’ short-term memory advantage (if any) and set a method and a standard for future studies in neuroscience and psychology comparing musicians and nonmusicians. Thirty-three research units recruited a total of 600 experienced musicians and 600 nonmusicians, a number that is sufficiently large to estimate a small effect size (Hedges’s g = 0.3) with a high statistical power (i.e., 95%). Subsequently, we measured the difference in short-term memory for musical, verbal, and visuospatial stimuli. We also looked at cognitive, personality, and socioeconomic factors that might mediate the difference. Musicians had better short-term memory than nonmusicians for musical, verbal, and visuospatial stimuli with an effect size of, respectively, Hedges’s g s = 1.08 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.94, 1.22]; large), 0.16 (95% CI = [0.02 0.30]; very small), and 0.28 (95% CI = [0.15, 0.41]; small). This work sets the basis for sound research practices in studies comparing musicians and nonmusicians and contributes to the ongoing debate on the possible cognitive benefits of musical training.

The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Committee on Health Systems Strengthening and Respectful Care recognizes the detrimental effects of disrespectful and abusive practices within maternity care on maternal and neonatal health outcomes. In response, the committee advocates for the implementation of strategic, evidence‐based interventions aimed at safeguarding women from substandard and disrespectful treatment during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. This statement presents FIGO's recommendations for adopting respectful maternity care into health systems. The proposed policy interventions and clinical strategies are designed to foster compassionate, person‐centered, and culturally competent care, thereby contributing to improved maternal and perinatal outcomes globally.

Current evidence suggests moderate heritability of music phenotypes, such as music listening and achievement. However, other fundamental traits underlying people's interest in music and its relevance for their lives have been largely neglected, and little is known about the genetic and environmental etiology of what we refer to as musical sensibility-the tendency to be emotionally and aesthetically engaged by music. This study investigated the latent structure, as well as the genetic and environmental factors influencing individual variability in multiple domains of musical sensibility, and the etiological architecture of the relationship between the dimensions. To this end, we used phenotypic confirmatory factor analytic and biometric twin modeling to analyze self-reported ratings on four dimensions of musical sensibility in a sample of Norwegian twins (N = 2600). The results indicate a phenotypic higher-order structure, whereby both the resulting general musical sensibility factor and the conceptually narrower domains were strongly heritable (49-65%). Multivariate analyses of the genetic and environmental covariance further revealed substantial overlap in genetic variance across domains.

Abstract Emerging research supports a role of the insula in human cognition. Here, we used intracranial EEG to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics in the insula during a verbal working memory (vWM) task. We found robust effects for theta, beta, and high frequency activity (HFA) during probe presentation requiring a decision. Theta and beta band activity showed differential involvement across left and right insulae while sequential HFA modulations were observed along the anteroposterior axis. HFA in anterior insula tracked decision making and subsequent HFA was observed in posterior insula after the behavioral response. Our results provide electrophysiological evidence of engagement of different insula subregions in both decision-making and response monitoring during vWM and expand our knowledge of the role of the insula in complex human behavior.

To determine the perceived 5-year outcome of Goal Management Training (GMT) for individuals with chronic acquired brain injury and executive dysfunction, when compared to a nonspecific psychoeducational intervention (Brain Health Workshop, BHW). Of the 67 subjects in the initial randomized controlled trial [Tornås et al. (2016). Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 1-17], 50 (GMT, n = 21; BHW, n = 29) subjects returned written consent and questionnaires (54% male, age 45.8 ± 10.9 years). The 5-year follow-up consisted of two questionnaires, including the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function for daily life executive function (EF) and Quality of Life after Brain Injury to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Changes related to daily life EF and HRQoL were assessed pre-treatment, post-treatment, 6-month follow-up, and 5-year follow-up. Data were analyzed using a 2 × 4 mixed-design ANOVA. The findings indicate that GMT is efficacious in improving EF and HRQoL 6-month post-treatment. However, these changes failed to remain significant at 5-year follow-up. Data from 50 participants receiving either GMT or BHW suggested that the significant GMT-related improvements on perceived EF and HRQoL observed at 6-month follow-up were no longer present at 5-year follow-up. These findings indicate a need to promote maintenance of interventions post-treatment.

Records of the ocean sunfish Mola mola along the Norwegian coast were compiled from all possible sources: literature, media, databases and museums. A total of 216 records were found between 1801 and 2015. They were distributed along the whole coast, except for the most north-eastern part. Nearly all years with more than five records were after 2000, with 1985 as the only exception and with a maximum of 23 records in 2014. Most, 92·4%, were from July to December. Records from before 1979 were more incidental and random and no sunfish were recorded in 54 separate years between 1879 and 2015. The northernmost record was from 70° 44' N in December 1881. No relationship between year and latitude was found. Forty-four per cent of the records were of sunfish caught in fishing gear, 27% were found stranded and 30% were observed alive at sea. A trend of a decrease in numbers of observations of living individuals and an increase in numbers of strandings as dead individuals as autumn progressed was found. Geographical differences in the three categories of observation were also found. Among the specimens whose size was recorded, most were small, <30 kg and 70 cm in total length. Only 10 were heavier than 100 kg, all these were from before 1960. Annual numbers correlated weakly with sea temperatures. This was supported by a weak negative correlation with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, because the majority of years since 2000 had a negative NAO.

ABSTRACTModerators, mediators and nonspecific predictors of treatment after cognitive rehabilitation of executive functions in a randomised controlled trialObjective: To explore moderators, mediators and nonspecific predictors of executive functioning after cognitive rehabilitation in a randomised controlled trial, comparing Goal Management Training (GMT) with an active psycho-educative control-intervention, in patients with chronic acquired brain injury.Methods: Seventy patients with executive dysfunction were randomly allocated to GMT (n = 33) or control (n = 37). Outcome measures were established by factor-analysis and included cognitive executive complaints, emotional dysregulation and psychological distress.Results: Higher age and IQ emerged as nonspecific predictors. Verbal memory and planning ability at baseline moderated cognitive executive complaints, while planning ability at six-month follow-up mediated all three outcome measures. Inhibitory cognitive control emerged as a unique GMT specific mediator. A general pattern regardless of intervention was identified; higher levels of self-reported cognitive—and executive–symptoms of emotional dysregulation and psychological distress at six-month follow-up mediated less improvement across outcome factors.Conclusions: The majority of treatment effects were nonspecific to intervention, probably underscoring the variables’ general contribution to outcome of cognitive rehabilitation interventions. Interventions targeting specific cognitive domains, such as attention or working memory, need to take into account the patients’ overall cognitive and emotional self-perceived functioning. Future studies should investigate the identified predictors further, and also consider other predictor candidates.

Chronic gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) is used therapeutically to block activity within the reproductive axis through down-regulation of GnRH receptors within the pituitary gland. GnRH receptors are also expressed in non-reproductive tissues, including areas of the brain such as the hippocampus and amygdala. The impact of long-term GnRHa-treatment on hippocampus-dependent cognitive functions, such as spatial orientation, learning and memory, is not well studied, particularly when treatment encompasses a critical window of development such as puberty. The current study used an ovine model to assess spatial maze performance and memory of rams that were untreated (Controls), had both GnRH and testosterone signaling blocked (GnRHa-treated), or specifically had GnRH signaling blocked (GnRHa-treated with testosterone replacement) during the peripubertal period (8, 27 and 41 weeks of age). The results demonstrate that emotional reactivity during spatial tasks was compromised by the blockade of gonadal steroid signaling, as seen by the restorative effects of testosterone replacement, while traverse times remained unchanged during assessment of spatial orientation and learning. The blockade of GnRH signaling alone was associated with impaired retention of long-term spatial memory and this effect was not restored with the replacement of testosterone signaling. These results indicate that GnRH signaling is involved in the retention and recollection of spatial information, potentially via alterations to spatial reference memory, and that therapeutic medical treatments using chronic GnRHa may have effects on this aspect of cognitive function.