An investigation of Hebbian phase sequences as assembly graphs

Hebb proposed that synapses between neurons that fire synchronously are strengthened, forming cell assemblies and phase sequences. The former, on a shorter scale, are ensembles of synchronized cells that function transiently as a closed processing system; the latter, on a larger scale, correspond to the sequential activation of cell assemblies able to represent percepts and behaviors. Nowadays, the recording of large neuronal populations allows for the detection of multiple cell assemblies. Within Hebb's theory, the next logical step is the analysis of phase sequences. Here we detected phase sequences as consecutive assembly activation patterns, and then analyzed their graph attributes in relation to behavior. We investigated action potentials recorded from the adult rat hippocampus and neocortex before, during and after novel object exploration (experimental periods). Within assembly graphs, each assembly corresponded to a node, and each edge corresponded to the temporal sequence of consecutive node activations. The sum of all assembly activations was proportional to firing rates, but the activity of individual assemblies was not. Assembly repertoire was stable across experimental periods, suggesting that novel experience does not create new assemblies in the adult rat. Assembly graph attributes, on the other hand, varied significantly across behavioral states and experimental periods, and were separable enough to correctly classify experimental periods (Naïve Bayes classifier; maximum AUROCs ranging from 0.55 to 0.99) and behavioral states (waking, slow wave sleep, and rapid eye movement sleep; maximum AUROCs ranging from 0.64 to 0.98). Our findings agree with Hebb's view that assemblies correspond to primitive building blocks of representation, nearly unchanged in the adult, while phase sequences are labile across behavioral states and change after novel experience. The results are compatible with a role for phase sequences in behavior and cognition.

Graph analysis of dream reports is especially informative about psychosis

Early psychiatry investigated dreams to understand psychopathologies. Contemporary psychiatry, which neglects dreams, has been criticized for lack of objectivity. In search of quantitative insight into the structure of psychotic speech, we investigated speech graph attributes (SGA) in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder type I, and non-psychotic controls as they reported waking and dream contents. Schizophrenic subjects spoke with reduced connectivity, in tight correlation with negative and cognitive symptoms measured by standard psychometric scales. Bipolar and control subjects were undistinguishable by waking reports, but in dream reports bipolar subjects showed significantly less connectivity. Dream-related SGA outperformed psychometric scores or waking-related data for group sorting. Altogether, the results indicate that online and offline processing, the two most fundamental modes of brain operation, produce nearly opposite effects on recollections: While dreaming exposes differences in the mnemonic records across individuals, waking dampens distinctions. The results also demonstrate the feasibility of the differential diagnosis of psychosis based on the analysis of dream graphs, pointing to a fast, low-cost and language-invariant tool for psychiatric diagnosis and the objective search for biomarkers. The Freudian notion that ‘‘dreams are the royal road to the unconscious’’ is clinically useful, after all.

Funding was obtained from a Capes Fellowship to NM, grants CNPq Universal 481351/ 2011-6, CNPq PQ 306604/2012-4, FAPERN/CNPq Pronem 003/2011, Capes SticAmSud, and FAPESP/CEPID/Neuromat to S.R. CNPq Universal 473554/2011-9 and 480053/ 2013-8, CNPq PQ 308558/2011-1, FACEPE/CNPq-PRONEX APQ- 0203-1.05/08, FACEPE/CNPq-PRONEM APQ-1415-1.05/10, and CNAIPS to M.C

Funding was obtained from a Capes Fellowship to NM, grants CNPq Universal 481351/ 2011-6, CNPq PQ 306604/2012-4, FAPERN/CNPq Pronem 003/2011, Capes SticAmSud, and FAPESP/CEPID/Neuromat to S.R. CNPq Universal 473554/2011-9 and 480053/ 2013-8, CNPq PQ 308558/2011-1, FACEPE/CNPq-PRONEX APQ- 0203-1.05/08, FACEPE/CNPq-PRONEM APQ-1415-1.05/10, and CNAIPS to M.C

Os jogos com regras na perspectiva do desenho universal: contribuições à educação matemática inclusiva

To think about a school that is for everyone has been a challenge for many people connected to education worldwide demanding from researchers of each level of knowledge an association to such effort. The study presented on this paper unites itself to the voices, movements and researches of these scholars, seeking to contribute on building possibilities on which mathematics can be thought and worked on schools in order for every student to learn, whether they have some sort of deficiency, disorders, syndromes or not. This essay has the goal to investigate the possibilities of inclusive pedagogical practices mediated by math games with rules, developed and used throughout the Universal Design perspective; a qualitative research took place with a collaborative methodology that involved managers, teachers and students from a public school situated on the city of Natal/Brazil. On the investigation math games with rules were developed and made according to the Universal Design concept, starting from initial studies which articulated theoretical groundings to the reality of school and the teacher s conceptions. After that, classes using these tools were planned collectively which oriented inclusive pedagogical practices of classes from the 1st to the 4th year of elementary school. Throughout the process many instruments such as: tape recording, video footages, notes from the researcher; the teachers and the students were used for constant work evaluation and also to record the research data. In the end, the data indicated effective contributions of the mediated pedagogical practices by games with rules under the perspective of Universal Design for Inclusive Mathematics Education

Entre a fé, a obra social e a publicidade: uma análise crítica do discurso da responsabilidade social da Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus

Situated on Applied Linguistics (PENNYCOOK, 1998; MOITA LOPES, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009), this thesis, which is inscribed in a qualitative-interpretative approach of a critical analysis perspective , lies on the speech of social responsibility and the way like that is employed in seeking for legitimacy and prestige within the neopentecostal brazilian religious field, more specifically of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. The general goal of this research is t reflect upon the speech on social responsibility and the rethoric of selfpromotion of the Universal Church through the role of social actors in the making of his her identities, materialized in the newspaper Folha Universal. In order to achieve that, we have conjugated, in this research, social and discursive analysis. On the linguistic-discursive approach, the research is based on the Critical Analysis of Discourse (ACD), specially in Fairclough (2001, 2003, 2006), a proposal that provides theoretical-methodological tools to investigate the language beyond the linguistic structures , that is, the discourse, social practices in which it occurs and more ample structures. Theoretical assumptions were also used of Sistemico-Functional Linguistics(LSF), matching with categories of the Transitivity System of Halliday (1994, 2004), of the forms of representation of social actors in the socioeconomic perspective by Van Leeuwen (1997, 2008) and of the Appraisal system by Martin and White (2005). As we develop the argumentation on thesobre social role of religion in this thesis, we make use of the authors such as Freston (1994), Oro (1997, 2003), Campos (1996, 1999), Mariano (1999), Meneses (2008), among several ones. We have also used a series of concepts and categories coming from the field of communication and marketing on the business social responsability and social marketing . In this area, we take as references the contributions of Bueno (2003), Fossá and Sartoretto (2003) and Zenone (2006). The corpus of the work is framed by news taken at the newspaper Folha Universal, in which are given the social responsibility actions of the church . The timeframe used was on the editions of 2010 thru 2012. Results found at he analysis of the News lead to semantic features of Assessment of Affection, Judgment and Appreciation, many times followed by Gradation, and the Attribution, one of the subsystems of the Attachment, are evidence of positive assessments for the Universal Church and its agents and make up rethorical elements which provide structure for the discourse of the Universal Church at the newspaper Folha Universal consisted of its image (style) of social responsibility . Results show that the most frequente social actors of the discourse are, on one hand, the Universal Church itself and its volunteers, famous (actors, actresses, presenters), politicians and authorities, on the other hand, the population which was helped by the Church social projects . The first group seems to be Always activated, however the second one, most of the time rather passive. These are also represented by assimilation in most of the occurrences, however the other ones by individualization and nomination entitled by honorification, except for the volunteers that are represented either as an individual, or as a group