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Morally judicious behavior forms the fabric of human sociality. Here, we sought to investigate neural activity associated with different facets of moral thought. Previous research suggests that the cognitive and emotional sources of moral decisions might be closely related to theory of mind, an abstract-cognitive skill, and empathy, a rapid-emotional skill. That is, moral decisions are thought to crucially refer to other persons’ representation of intentions and behavioral outcomes as well as (vicariously experienced) emotional states. We thus hypothesized that moral decisions might be implemented in brain areas engaged in ‘theory of mind’ and empathy. This assumption was tested by conducting a large-scale activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies, which assessed 2,607 peak coordinates from 247 experiments in 1,790 participants. The brain areas that were consistently involved in moral decisions showed more convergence with the ALE analysis targeting theory of mind versus empathy. More specifically, the neurotopographical overlap between morality and empathy disfavors a role of affective sharing during moral decisions. Ultimately, our results provide evidence that the neural network underlying moral decisions is probably domain-global and might be dissociable into cognitive and affective sub-systems.

Since the start of the mandatory nationwide bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) eradication program in Germany in 2011, the number of persistently infected (PI) animals has decreased considerably, resulting in a continuous decrease in seroprevalence. The increasingly BVD-naive cattle population could facilitate spillover infections with non-BVDV ruminant pestiviruses. Here, we report two cases in which novel pestiviruses were isolated from cattle; in both cases, the whole genome sequence showed the highest level of identity to strain “Pestivirus reindeer-1”. Both novel viruses gave positive results in BVDV diagnostic test systems, confirming that cross-reactivity is an important issue in pestivirus diagnostics. In the first case, the pestivirus was probably transmitted from sheep kept with the affected cattle, suggesting that the co-housing of small ruminants and cattle is a risk factor. The source of infection could not be determined in the second case. The occurrence of these two cases in independent cattle holdings within a relatively short time frame suggests that it would be useful to determine the presence of pestiviruses in small ruminants or even wild ruminants to better assess risk factors, especially for BVDV-free populations.

In our study, we tried to clarify whether patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reveal different moral decision patterns as compared to healthy subjects and whether common social interaction difficulties in ASD are reflected in altered brain activation during different aspects of moral reasoning. 28 patients with high-functioning ASD and 28 healthy subjects matched for gender, age and education took part in an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Participants were confronted with textual dilemma situations followed by proposed solutions to which they could agree or disagree. On a neural level, moral decision making was associated with activation in anterior medial prefrontal regions, the temporo-parietal junction and the precuneus for both groups. However, while patients and healthy controls did not exhibit significant behavioral differences, ASD patients showed decreased activation in limbic regions, particularly the amygdala, as well as increased activation in the anterior and the posterior cingulate gyrus during moral reasoning. Alterations of brain activation in patients might thus indicate specific impairments in empathy. However, activation increases in brain regions associated with the ‘default mode network’ and self-referential cognition also provide evidence for an altered way of patients’ cerebral processing with regard to decision making based on social information.

I HAD the pleasure of living in Penang from 1990-1992. Because I was quite young at this time (13-15 years old) my experience in Penang had a profound impact on my life. After my parents \"forced\" me to leave Penang and return to our Ohio, USA, home, I made it my life's goal to return to Malaysia. I recently returned to Penang to spend a few weeks meeting some professors at USM and talking with some local organisations. Penang was just as charming and fascinating as I remembered. My only disappointment was with the taxi service.

Antisense oligonucleotides against ATXN2 improved motor neuron function and restored firing frequency in cerebellar Purkinje cells in mouse models of spinocerebellar ataxia type 2. Neurodegeneration therapy Ataxin-2 polyglutamine expansions increase the risk for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and cause spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2), two neurodegenerative diseases without a cure. A pair of papers this week report therapeutic approaches towards reducing ataxin 2. Daniel Scoles et al . test antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) against ataxin-2 in mice models of SCA2 that recreate progressive adult-onset dysfunction and degeneration of the neuronal network. The most promising therapeutic lead is ASO7, which downregulates ATXN2 mRNA and protein and delays the onset of SCA2 phenotypes. Moreover, treatment of symptomatic mice normalizes firing of cerebellar Purkinje cells and improves motor functioning. Nearly all ALS patients have toxic aggregates of the protein TDP-43 in the brain and spinal cord. Lowering ataxin-2 has been shown to suppress TDP-43 toxicity in yeast and flies, and, elsewhere in this issue, Lindsay Becker et al . show that lowering ataxin-2 in mice, genetically or with antisense oligonucleotides, reduces TDP-43 aggregation and toxicity, improves motor function and increases lifespan. Both papers suggest that antisense oligonucleotide-based therapeutic approaches could be used to tackle neurodegeneration. There are no disease-modifying treatments for adult human neurodegenerative diseases. Here we test RNA-targeted therapies 1 in two mouse models of spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2), an autosomal dominant polyglutamine disease 2 . Both models recreate the progressive adult-onset dysfunction and degeneration of a neuronal network that are seen in patients, including decreased firing frequency of cerebellar Purkinje cells and a decline in motor function 3 , 4 . We developed a potential therapy directed at the ATXN2 gene by screening 152 antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs). The most promising oligonucleotide, ASO7, downregulated ATXN2 mRNA and protein, which resulted in delayed onset of the SCA2 phenotype. After delivery by intracerebroventricular injection to ATXN2-Q127 mice, ASO7 localized to Purkinje cells, reduced cerebellar ATXN2 expression below 75% for more than 10 weeks without microglial activation, and reduced the levels of cerebellar ATXN2. Treatment of symptomatic mice with ASO7 improved motor function compared to saline-treated mice. ASO7 had a similar effect in the BAC-Q72 SCA2 mouse model, and in both mouse models it normalized protein levels of several SCA2-related proteins expressed in Purkinje cells, including Rgs8, Pcp2, Pcp4, Homer3, Cep76 and Fam107b. Notably, the firing frequency of Purkinje cells returned to normal even when treatment was initiated more than 12 weeks after the onset of the motor phenotype in BAC-Q72 mice. These findings support ASOs as a promising approach for treating some human neurodegenerative diseases.

Bonita Williams remains depressed over the loss of 25-day-old Enestae Gammile Kessee Jr., said Joyce Dorsey of the Fulton Atlanta Community Action Authority, the group that is caring for the couple. Bonita Williams' mother, Alisa Williams, said she tried to stop Kessee from taking the child that night, but he wrenched the baby out of her arms. Photo After learning of her infant grandson's death, Alisa Williams is consoled Tuesday at a family apartment in Atlanta by B.J. Hill, a cousin of Bonita Williams, the boy's mother, who sought help for him in vain. / CURTIS COMPTON / Staff Graphic DONATIONS > A fund for Enestae Gammile Kessee Jr. has been set up at Citizens Trust Bank to help pay for a funeral. Whatever is left will be given to his parents. Donations can be sent to Fulton Atlanta Community Action Authority, but people are encouraged to call first to see what the couple needs. Web site: www.facaa.org E-mail: facaa@aol.com Phone: 404-320-0166 FAMILY SHELTERS > These shelters accept parents with infants: Genesis Shelter: 404-892-6131 Nicholas House: 404-633-8386 Atlanta City Mission: 404-658-6300 My Sister's House: 404-588-4009 ON AJC.COM > Background articles on this story.

Poor sleep health is associated with increased all-cause mortality and incidence of many chronic conditions. Previous studies have relied on cross-sectional and self-reported survey data or polysomnograms, which have limitations with respect to data granularity, sample size and longitudinal information. Here, using objectively measured, longitudinal sleep data from commercial wearable devices linked to electronic health record data from the All of Us Research Program, we show that sleep patterns, including sleep stages, duration and regularity, are associated with chronic disease incidence. Of the 6,785 participants included in this study, 71% were female, 84% self-identified as white and 71% had a college degree; the median age was 50.2 years (interquartile range = 35.7, 61.5) and the median sleep monitoring period was 4.5 years (2.5, 6.5). We found that rapid eye movement sleep and deep sleep were inversely associated with the odds of incident atrial fibrillation and that increased sleep irregularity was associated with increased odds of incident obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. Moreover, J-shaped associations were observed between average daily sleep duration and hypertension, major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. These findings show that sleep stages, duration and regularity are all important factors associated with chronic disease development and may inform evidence-based recommendations on healthy sleeping habits. In a cohort of 6,785 participants from the All of Us Research Program whose sleep was monitored by a Fitbit over a median of 4.5 years, sleep duration, stages and irregularity were associated with the incidence of obesity and a number of cardiovascular and psychological disorders.