This month’s featured researcher is Madalina Fiterau Brostean. Ina, as she is called, is an Assistant Professor in the College of Information and Computer Science. Among the projects that her lab works on is Project 4Thought, which uses deep learning algorithms to identify subjects who will get Alzheimer’s at least 2 years ahead of the standard diagnosis. She was a contributing author on a recent paper that examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the academic community.

Here’s what else is new for ‘ ”University of Massachusetts” AND Amherst AND neuroscience’ in PubMed. These publications appeared on line in January. They are just a fraction of the research that occurs on campus. You can click on the PubMed ID to find the publication.

1: Ragozzino FJ, Arnold RA, Kowalski CW, Savenkova MI, Karatsoreos IN, Peters JH. Corticosterone inhibits vagal afferent glutamate release in the nucleus of the solitary tract via retrograde endocannabinoid signaling. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2020 Dec 1;319(6):C1097-C1106. doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.00190.2020. Epub 2020 Sep 23. PMID: 32966126.

2: Macedo-Lima M, Remage-Healey L. Auditory learning in an operant task with social reinforcement is dependent on neuroestrogen synthesis in the male songbird auditory cortex. Horm Behav. 2020 May;121:104713. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104713. Epub 2020 Feb 19. PMID: 32057821; PMCID: PMC7198363.

3: Andre CJ, Lovallo V, Spencer RMC. The effects of bed sharing on sleep: From partners to pets. Sleep Health. 2021 Jan 9:S2352-7218(20)30305-3. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2020.11.011. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33436343.

4: Gao X, Boryczka J, Zheng P, Kasani S, Yang F, Engler-Chiurazzi EB, Simpkins JW, Wigginton JG, Wu N. A “hot Spot”-Enhanced paper lateral flow assay for ultrasensitive detection of traumatic brain injury biomarker S-100? in blood plasma. Biosens Bioelectron. 2021 Jan 3;177:112967. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2021.112967. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33429202.

5: Tarullo AR, Tuladhar CT, Kao K, Drury EB, Meyer J. Cortisol and socioeconomic status in early childhood: A multidimensional assessment. Dev Psychopathol. 2020 Dec;32(5):1876-1887. doi: 10.1017/S0954579420001315. PMID: 33427182.

6: Morin EL, Howell BR, Feczko E, Earl E, Pincus M, Reding K, Kovacs-Balint ZA, Meyer JS, Styner M, Fair D, Sanchez MM. Developmental outcomes of early adverse care on amygdala functional connectivity in nonhuman primates. Dev Psychopathol. 2020 Dec;32(5):1579-1596. doi: 10.1017/S0954579420001133. PMID: 33427167.

7: Hamlett ED, Ledreux A, Gilmore A, Vazey EM, Aston-Jones G, Boger HA, Paredes D, Granholm AE. Inhibitory designer receptors aggravate memory loss in a mouse model of down syndrome. Neurobiol Dis. 2020 Feb;134:104616. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2019.104616. Epub 2019 Oct 31. PMID: 31678403; PMCID: PMC7722242.

8: Novaleski CK, Doty RL, Nolden AA, Wise PM, Mainland JD, Dalton PH. Examining the Influence of Chemosensation on Laryngeal Health and Disorders. J Voice. 2021 Jan 14:S0892-1997(20)30480-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2020.12.029. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33455853.

9: Tsuda B, Tye KM, Siegelmann HT, Sejnowski TJ. A modeling framework for adaptive lifelong learning with transfer and savings through gating in the prefrontal cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Nov 24;117(47):29872-29882. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2009591117. Epub 2020 Nov 5. PMID: 33154155; PMCID: PMC7703668.

10: Carlozzi NE, Boileau NR, Roché MW, Ready RE, Perlmutter JS, Chou KL, Barton SK, McCormack MK, Stout JC, Cella D, Miner JA, Paulsen JS. Responsiveness to change over time and test-retest reliability of the PROMIS and Neuro-QoL mental health measures in persons with Huntington disease (HD). Qual Life Res. 2020 Dec;29(12):3419-3439. doi: 10.1007/s11136-020-02596-1. Epub 2020 Aug 19. PMID: 32813263; PMCID: PMC7686156.