High royal jelly production does not impact the gut microbiome of honey bees

Background Honey bees are not only essential for pollination services, but are also economically important as a source of hive products (e.g., honey, royal jelly, pollen, wax, and propolis) that are used as foods, cosmetics, and alternative medicines. Royal jelly is a popular honey bee product with multiple potential medicinal properties. To boost royal jelly production, a long-term genetic selection program of Italian honey bees (ITBs) in China has been performed, resulting in honey bee stocks (here referred to as RJBs) that produce an order of magnitude more royal jelly than ITBs. Although multiple studies have investigated the molecular basis of increased royal jelly yields, one factor that has not been considered is the role of honey bee-associated gut microbes. Results Based on the behavioral, morphological, physiological, and neurological differences between RJBs and ITBs, we predicted that the gut microbiome composition of RJBs bees would differ from ITBs. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the bacterial composition of RJB and ITB workers from an urban location and RJBs from a rural location in China. Based on 16S rRNA gene profiling, we did not find any evidence that RJBs possess a unique bacterial gut community when compared to ITBs. However, we observed differences between honey bees from the urban versus rural sites. Conclusions Our results suggest that the environmental factors rather than stock differences are more important in shaping the bacterial composition in honey bee guts. Further studies are needed to investigate if the observed differences in relative abundance of taxa between the urban and rural bees correspond to distinct functional capabilities that impact honey bee health. Because the lifestyle, diet, and other environmental variables are different in rural and urban areas, controlled studies are needed to determine which of these factors are responsible for the observed differences in gut bacterial composition between urban and rural honeybees.

Contrasting Electroencephalography-Derived Entropy and Neural Oscillations With Highly Skilled Meditators

Meditation is an umbrella term for a number of mental training practices designed to improve the monitoring and regulation of attention and emotion. Some forms of meditation are now being used for clinical intervention. To accompany the increased clinical interest in meditation, research investigating the neural basis of these practices is needed. A central hypothesis of contemplative neuroscience is that meditative states, which are unique on a phenomenological level, differ on a neurophysiological level. To identify the electrophysiological correlates of meditation practice, the electrical brain activity of highly skilled meditators engaging in one of six meditation styles (shamatha, vipassana, zazen, dzogchen, tonglen, and visualization) was recorded. A mind-wandering task served as a control. Lempel–Ziv complexity showed differences in nonlinear brain dynamics (entropy) during meditation compared with mind wandering, suggesting that meditation, regardless of practice, affects neural complexity. In contrast, there were no differences in power spectra at six different frequency bands, likely due to the fact that participants engaged in different meditation practices. Finally, exploratory analyses suggest neurological differences among meditation practices. These findings highlight the importance of studying the electroencephalography (EEG) correlates of different meditative practices.

Examination and Comparison of Theta Band Connectivity in Left- and Right-Hand Dominant Individuals throughout a Motor Skill Acquisition

The majority of the population identifies as right-hand dominant, with a minority 10.6% identifying as left-hand dominant. Social factors may partially skew the distribution, but it remains that left-hand dominant individuals make up approximately 40 million people in the United States alone and yet, remain underrepresented in the motor control literature. Recent research has revealed behavioral and neurological differences between populations, therein overturning assumptions of a simple hemispheric flip in motor-related activations. The present work showed differentially adaptable motor programs between populations and found fundamental differences in methods of skill acquisition highlighting underlying neural strategies unique to each population. Difference maps and descriptive metrics of coherent activation patterns showed differences in how theta oscillations were utilized. The right-hand group relied on occipital parietal lobe connectivity for visual information integration necessary to inform the motor task, while the left-hand group relied on a more frontal lobe localized cognitive based approach. The findings provide insight into potential alternative methods of information integration and emphasize the importance for inclusion of the left-hand dominant population in the growing conceptualization of the brain promoting the generation of a more complete, stable, and accurate understanding of our complex biology.

Autism, Neurodiversity, and Inclusive Education

A brief history of the emergence of the inclusive schools movement demonstrates its reliance on the pathologizing paradigms that are both the foundations and frameworks of traditional special education. Throughout this recent history, the utilization of a positivist approach to research and practice for autistic students, both those who are segregated and those who have access to mainstream classrooms, has maintained a person-fixing ideology. Instead, a neurodiversity framework adopts an integrative approach, drawing on the psychosocial, cultural, and political elements that effectively disrupt the systematic categorization of alternative neurological and cognitive embodiment(s) and expressions as a host of threatening “disorders” that must be dealt with by cure, training, masking, and/or behavioral interventions to be implemented in the classroom. Centering the personal, lived experiences and perspectives of autistic and otherwise neurodivergent activists and scholars affiliated with the U.S. neurodiversity movement offers an emancipatory lens for representing and embodying neurological differences beyond traditional special education’s deficit-based discourses and practices. This emphasis on political advocacy and cultural self-authorship effectively challenges unexamined, universalizing assumptions about whose bodyminds are “educable” and under what auspices “educability” is conceptualized and written into special-education curricula.

Comparing Intersubject Correlation (ISC) Between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typically Developed Groups to Better Understand Biological Motion Processing

In this study, we addressed significant neurological differences between autistic and typically developed individuals, specifically when processing biological motion, using Intersubject correlation (ISC) analysis methods. ISC is a tool used to analyze functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired under naturalistic stimuli. Using ISC, it is possible to pinpoint common brain responses within a group of individuals as they react to a specific stimulus. ISC is also used to highlight the different brain responses two different groups might have while experiencing the same stimulus. In this experiment, we used two subject groups, one group of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) individuals and one typically developed (TD) group of individuals. The participants in each group watched a ninety second clip of romantic ballet. A short clip of ballet dance was chosen as the stimulus because it had been used in past studies to specify brain responses associated with biological motion processing. Using a standard subject-wise permutation statistical test in the ISC Toolbox for analysis, we computed ISC difference maps between the ASD and TD groups. The findings suggested that during biological motion processing, lateralization of brain responses between the two groups differed; TD individuals had greater ISC in the right hemisphere while ASD individuals had greater ISC in the left hemisphere. Greater ISC in typically developed individuals was concentrated in the culmen of the cerebellum which is responsible for kinesthesia and coordination of movement and is also a component of the mirror neuron network that allows individuals to anticipate movement. These results were consistent with data from prior research that found that TD groups share more synchronized brain responses in the cerebellum, which characterizes higher prediction and anticipation of biological movement in TD groups than ASD groups. ISC within the autistic group was found in the temporal gyrus, which plays a neurological role in motion processing and has been seen to be activated in past comparative studies.

Neurological Differences and Pharmaceuticals in Persons with Autism

Given the rise of persons diagnosed with autism, this paper is to highlight psychopharmacueticals that are often used in the treatment of autism symptomology. I begin with a brief summary of autism followed by a summation of biological differences. A discussion of pharmaceuticals often used to alleviate the symptoms associated with autism is also discussed. Lastly, a brief conclusory statement is provided.

B-37 Examining Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms: A SPECT Exploratory Analysis

Objective To examine regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) differences between those with self-reported high and low levels of depressive symptoms. Method Participants were selected from a de-identified archival SPECT database. Depressive symptoms were determined by self-reported factors related to depression which included eight questions rated on a six point Likert scale. Groups were separated into highest and lowest 20% of ratings on this scale. Low reported depressive symptoms group (n = 2453,Mage = 42.85,SD = 18.35,male = 64%,Caucasian = 67%); high reported depressive symptoms group consisted (n = 2673,Mage = 38.52,SD = 13.44,male = 58%,Caucasian = 70%). Differences between groups were assessed across 17 brain regions at baseline. Results One-way ANCOVAs were conducted (p < .001) controlling for age and gender across 17 brain regions. Significant differences were found between groups in the left cerebellum (F[1,5122] = 19.396,p < .001),left frontal(F[1,5122] = 17.870,p < .001),right frontal (F[1,5122] = 22.175,p < .001),left motor sensory(F[1,5122] = 28.974,p < .001),and right motor sensory(F[1,5122] = 31.534,p < .001),such that the low depressive symptoms group exhibited higher rCBF in the left and right frontal and left and right motor sensory,whereas, the high depressive symptoms group exhibited higher rCBF in the left cerebellum. Conclusion Results indicate increased self-reported depressive symptomatology may be associated with decreased frontal lobe. The motor sensory region can result in deficits involving encoding or motor output showing slower motor/sensory processing in those with increased self-reported depressive symptoms. Research has shown increased activity in the cerebellum during sadness which may explain the higher rCBF in the depressed group. These findings demonstrate that neurological differences exist between varying degrees of self-reported depressive symptom severity. As a result, SPECT may be a useful objective measure to monitor and assess self-reported depressive severity throughout the course of treatment.

Strategies for Coping with Time-Related and Productivity Challenges of Young People with Learning Disabilities and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are characterized by neurological differences that result in difficulties meeting learning and productivity expectations. Young people with LD and ADHD experience difficulties in self-managing academic, social, daily living, and health/wellness demands. Students with LD/ADHD must work longer and harder than peers, which makes managing time and productivity a critical skill for school success. This study examined the strategies that college students with LD/ADHD used to overcome obstacles related to time and productivity within their everyday life contexts. A qualitative phenomenological design was used to examine the phenomenon of coping and productive-task performance through strategy use among 52 college students with LD/ADHD. Strategies classified as habit and routine use, reframing, and symptom-specific strategies were identified. Strategy use for addressing time-related and productivity challenges are multidimensional and entailed a mix of cognitive, behavioral, psychological, and socio-environmental strategies. Effective strategy use across life’s contexts was critical to self-managing as a young person with a chronic developmental condition within a college context. The findings provide a much-needed understanding of the multi-faceted challenges and solutions within young adult contexts that are important for guiding the development of interventions for young people with LD/ADHD.

Formulating autism systemically: Part 1 – A review of the published literature and case assessments

Autism is a psychiatric disorder of unknown aetiology. In this article, the literature on genetic, neurological, psychological, relational and cultural causes of autism is reviewed, beginning with the 2014 review of Crittenden, Dallos, Landini et al. (pp. 64–70) up to and including recent publications in 2017. Some of the findings were unexpected; others led to new questions. The unexpected findings were the minimal contribution of genes to autism, the extremely evident neurological differences, the interpersonal quality of the psychological findings (that lacked evidence of parents’ behaviour), the relational evidence that mothers’ childhood trauma, perinatal stress and marital stress increased the risk of autism, and the reciprocal relation between funding for treatment of autism and diagnoses of autism. Notably, there was an abundance of genetic studies, numerous neurological studies and only scattered psychological, relational and cultural studies, thus rendering those findings speculative. The new questions included whether mothers used postural/gestural signs to signal their children to maintain distance and whether mothers experienced wariness of males as a result of childhood trauma, with their sons possibly experiencing gender confusion. Following the literature review, a small archival set of video-recorded and transcribed assessments of attachment of cases of autism were examined for evidence to corroborate or refute the psychological and relational findings of the literature review. The findings were striking in their support of mothers’ use of postural/gestural communication regarding distance, children’s close attention to mothers’ bodily signals, without looking at mothers’ face, mothers’ greater comfort when they approached their sons than when their sons approached them, one boy’s lack of verbal self-representation and mothers’ childhood triangulation. These became hypotheses regarding what to look for in Part 2 of this article, a prospective, 12-year case study.