Thync (United States)

Predictors of academic success in anatomy have been studied, but not in Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students. The objectives of this study were to (1) explore predictors of academic success in a DPT anatomy course, (2) evaluate sex-based differences in the predictors of academic success and their influence on anatomy course grade, and (3) investigate the influence of the DPT anatomy course on visual-spatial ability. Forty-nine DPT students completed a demographic questionnaire, Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI), and Mental Rotations Test (MRT) before the ten-week anatomy course (MRT-1) and repeated the MRT at the end of the course (MRT-2). Anatomy course grade was determined based on quizzes and written and practical examinations. Multiple regression analysis showed significant associations between the predictor variables age (p=0.010) and the LASSI anxiety subscale (p=0.017), which measures anxiety coping, with the anatomy course grade. On the MRT-1, male DPT students attempted and correctly answered more questions than females (both, p < 0.0001). Female students had higher LASSI self-regulation and use of academic resources subscale scores (both, p < 0.05). In the 44 DPT students that completed the MRT-2, the number of correct and attempted responses increased following the anatomy course (p < 0.0001). Age and anxiety coping, but not sex, are predictors of anatomy course grades in DPT students. Mental rotations test scores improved following the anatomy course. The LASSI should be used in other cohorts to identify students with low anxiety subscale scores in order to provide targeted support.

Achieving optimal human performance that involves cognitive or physical work requires quality sleep and a positive mental attitude. The ascending reticular activating system (RAS) represents a powerful set of endogenous neuromodulatory circuits that gate and tune global brain responses to internal and external cues, thereby regulating consciousness, alertness, and attention. The activity of two major RAS nuclei, the locus coeruleus (LC) and pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN), can be altered by trigeminal nerve modulation. Monosynaptic afferent inputs from the sensory components of trigeminal nerve branches project to the trigeminal sensory nuclear complex (TSNC), which has direct and polysynaptic connections to the LC and PPN. We previously found high-frequency (7 - 11 kHz) transdermal electrical neuromodulation (TEN) of the trigeminal nerve rapidly induces physiological relaxation, dampens sympathetic nervous system responses to acute stress, and suppresses levels of noradrenergic biomarkers. Given the established roles of LC and PPN neuronal activity in sleep regulation, psychophysiological arousal, and stress, we conducted three studies designed to test hypotheses that modulation of the TSNC can improve sleep quality and mood in healthy individuals (n = 99). Across a total of 1,386 days monitored, we observed TEN modulation of trigeminal and cervical nerves prior to sleep onset produced significant improvements in sleep quality and affective states, quantified using clinically validated surveys, overnight actigraph and heart rate recordings, and biochemical analyses compared to baseline or sham controls. Moreover, we observed some frequency dependence in that TEN delivered at lower frequencies (TENLF; 0.50 - 0.75 kHz) was significantly more effective at improving sleep quality and reducing anxiety than higher frequency TEN waveforms. Collectively our results indicate that transdermal electrical neuromodulation of trigeminal and cervical nerve branches can influence TSNC activity in a manner that significantly improves sleep quality and significantly reduces stress. We conclude that biasing RAS network activity to optimize sleep efficiency and enhance mood by electrically modulating TSNC activity through its afferent inputs holds tremendous potential for optimizing mental health and human performance.

We engineered a transdermal neuromodulation approach that targets peripheral (cranial and spinal) nerves and utilizes their afferent pathways as signaling conduits to influence brain function. We investigated the effects of this transdermal electrical neurosignaling (TEN) method on sympathetic physiology in human volunteers under different experimental conditions. In all cases, the TEN involved delivering high-frequency pulsed electrical currents to ophthalmic and maxillary divisions of the right trigeminal nerve (V1/V2) and cervical spinal nerve afferents (C2/C3). Under resting conditions when subjects were not challenged or presented with environmental stimuli, TEN significantly suppressed basal sympathetic tone compared to sham as indicated by functional infrared thermography of facial temperatures. In a different experiment conducted under similar resting conditions, subjects treated with TEN reported significantly lower levels of tension and anxiety on the Profile of Mood States scale compared to sham. In a third experiment when subjects were experimentally stressed by a classical fear conditioning paradigm and a series of time-constrained cognitive tasks, TEN produced a significant suppression of heart rate variability, galvanic skin conductance, and salivary α-amylase levels compared to sham. Collectively these observations demonstrate TEN can dampen basal sympathetic tone and attenuate sympathetic activity in response to acute stress induction. Our physiological and biochemical observations are consistent with the hypothesis that TEN modulates noradrenergic signaling to suppress sympathetic activity. We conclude that dampening sympathetic activity in such a manner represents a promising approach to managing daily stress.

The current study provides a comprehensive analysis and integration of the literature on the social network correlates of individual innovation. Reviewing the extant literature, we cluster existing network measures into five general properties—size, strength, brokerage, closure, and diversity. Using meta-analysis, we estimate the population effect sizes between these network properties and innovation. Results showed that brokerage had the strongest positive relation to innovation, followed by size, diversity, and strength. Closure, by contrast, had a weak, negative association with innovation. In addition, we offer a path-analytic integration of the literature proposing and testing the direct and indirect effects of the five properties on innovation. We suggest that network size and strength impact innovation through a web of relations with the more proximal features of brokerage, closure, and diversity. Our path-analytic integration considers the two dominant perspectives on the effects of social networks—brokerage versus closure—simultaneously allowing us to establish their relative efficacy in predicting innovation. In addition, our model highlights that network strength can have both negative and positive effects (via different direct and indirect pathways) and thus inherently involves a tradeoff. We discuss the implications of these results for future research and practice.