Recent developments in the research field of artificial intelligence (AI) based on neural networks provide challenging questions regarding the ethical principles that should be applied in this complex domain. Kagan et al.’s published study highlights the fact that their synthetic biological intelligence (SBI) called ”DishBrain”, made of neurons from embryonic mice or human pluripotent stem cells grown on electronic chips connected to a computer, is capable of learning to play the arcade game Pong and shows signs of sentience. Based on this study, we tried to address some ethical questions regarding the bio-cybernetic cerebral organoids in SBI’s. Firstly, we approach the ethical aspects of human-animal chimeras in SBI’s based on the concept of human dignity and if it can or cannot be attributed to those hybrid systems. Secondly, we focus on if we can and what type of moral status should we attribute to SBI’s starting from different conceptualizations of human and animal moral status to different model-based arguments considering the capacity of sentience and the presence of human cells in this type of construct. We highlight how many arguments are in favor of starting an ethical debate on the emergent technology of bio-cybernetic cerebral organoids to obtain a consensus on how these organoids will exist and will be accepted in society.
{"title":"Human dignity and the moral status of bio-cybernetic cerebral organoids in Synthetic Biological Intelligences","authors":"Razvan-Marian Siminiuc, Cosmin Tirdea, Oana-Mihaela Ion, Sorin Hostiuc","doi":"10.12688/molpsychol.17553.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/molpsychol.17553.1","url":null,"abstract":"<ns4:p>Recent developments in the research field of artificial intelligence (AI) based on neural networks provide challenging questions regarding the ethical principles that should be applied in this complex domain. Kagan et al.’s published study highlights the fact that their synthetic biological intelligence (SBI) called ”DishBrain”, made of neurons from embryonic mice or human pluripotent stem cells grown on electronic chips connected to a computer, is capable of learning to play the arcade game Pong and shows signs of sentience. Based on this study, we tried to address some ethical questions regarding the bio-cybernetic cerebral organoids in SBI’s. Firstly, we approach the ethical aspects of human-animal chimeras in SBI’s based on the concept of human dignity and if it can or cannot be attributed to those hybrid systems. Secondly, we focus on if we can and what type of moral status should we attribute to SBI’s starting from different conceptualizations of human and animal moral status to different model-based arguments considering the capacity of sentience and the presence of human cells in this type of construct. We highlight how many arguments are in favor of starting an ethical debate on the emergent technology of bio-cybernetic cerebral organoids to obtain a consensus on how these organoids will exist and will be accepted in society.</ns4:p>","PeriodicalId":74223,"journal":{"name":"Molecular psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136103265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-26DOI: 10.12688/molpsychol.17503.2
Ehud Vinepinsky, Ronen Segev
The ability to navigate the world is a critical cognitive skill that most animals use to find food, shelter, and mates. Understanding the neural basis of navigation requires probing how the brain encodes spatial information through the study of the activity of single neurons and neuronal populations. Classically in vertebrates, studies have centered on the rodent hippocampal formation, which led to the discovery of place, grid, head direction and other cell types. However, since navigation skills are essential to almost all vertebrates, spatial cognition in different species also needs to be explored. In recent years, as a result of advances in technology, new data have emerged on the ways in which space is represented during navigation in the brains of vertebrates other than rodents, including teleost fish, birds, and other mammal species. Here, we review the state of the art on the neural representation of an animal’s position and motion across vertebrates at the level of single neurons. We argue that it is time to pool information across vertebrates to identify the underlying algorithms that lead to successful navigation. Although rodent-based data are important, findings in rodents are unlikely to cover the full spectrum of neural computations supporting navigation strategies in the vertebrate kingdom. Studying other species can shed light on length scales such as in large environments, and different scenarios such as naturalistic environments that are hard to carry out in rodents. In addition, a rodent-centric view may neglect the fact that different species are likely to represent positions in the world in ways that do not exist in mammals. Finally, we provide an outlook for the future which includes prediction about findings in unexplored species, and the opportunities for discoveries and understanding in this field.
{"title":"Neural mechanisms for spatial cognition across vertebrates","authors":"Ehud Vinepinsky, Ronen Segev","doi":"10.12688/molpsychol.17503.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/molpsychol.17503.2","url":null,"abstract":"<ns4:p>The ability to navigate the world is a critical cognitive skill that most animals use to find food, shelter, and mates. Understanding the neural basis of navigation requires probing how the brain encodes spatial information through the study of the activity of single neurons and neuronal populations. Classically in vertebrates, studies have centered on the rodent hippocampal formation, which led to the discovery of place, grid, head direction and other cell types. However, since navigation skills are essential to almost all vertebrates, spatial cognition in different species also needs to be explored. In recent years, as a result of advances in technology, new data have emerged on the ways in which space is represented during navigation in the brains of vertebrates other than rodents, including teleost fish, birds, and other mammal species. Here, we review the state of the art on the neural representation of an animal’s position and motion across vertebrates at the level of single neurons. We argue that it is time to pool information across vertebrates to identify the underlying algorithms that lead to successful navigation. Although rodent-based data are important, findings in rodents are unlikely to cover the full spectrum of neural computations supporting navigation strategies in the vertebrate kingdom. Studying other species can shed light on length scales such as in large environments, and different scenarios such as naturalistic environments that are hard to carry out in rodents. In addition, a rodent-centric view may neglect the fact that different species are likely to represent positions in the world in ways that do not exist in mammals. Finally, we provide an outlook for the future which includes prediction about findings in unexplored species, and the opportunities for discoveries and understanding in this field.</ns4:p>","PeriodicalId":74223,"journal":{"name":"Molecular psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134909236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-18DOI: 10.12688/molpsychol.17524.1
Jonathan Birch
It would be unwise to dismiss the possibility of human brain organoids developing sentience. However, scepticism about this idea is appropriate when considering current organoids. It is a point of consensus that a brainstem-dead human is not sentient, and current organoids lack a functioning brainstem. There are nonetheless troubling early warning signs, suggesting organoid research may create forms of sentience in the near future. To err on the side of caution, researchers with very different views about the neural basis of sentience should unite behind the “brainstem rule”: if a neural organoid develops or innervates a functioning brainstem that registers and prioritizes its needs, regulates arousal, and leads to sleep-wake cycles, then it is a sentience candidate. If organoid research leads to the creation of sentience candidates, a moratorium or indefinite ban on the creation of the relevant type of organoid may be appropriate. A different way forward, more consistent with existing approaches to animal research, would be to require ethical review and harm-benefit analysis for all research on sentience candidates.
{"title":"When is a brain organoid a sentience candidate?","authors":"Jonathan Birch","doi":"10.12688/molpsychol.17524.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/molpsychol.17524.1","url":null,"abstract":"<ns4:p>It would be unwise to dismiss the possibility of human brain organoids developing sentience. However, scepticism about this idea is appropriate when considering current organoids. It is a point of consensus that a brainstem-dead human is not sentient, and current organoids lack a functioning brainstem. There are nonetheless troubling early warning signs, suggesting organoid research may create forms of sentience in the near future. To err on the side of caution, researchers with very different views about the neural basis of sentience should unite behind the “brainstem rule”: if a neural organoid develops or innervates a functioning brainstem that registers and prioritizes its needs, regulates arousal, and leads to sleep-wake cycles, then it is a sentience candidate. If organoid research leads to the creation of sentience candidates, a moratorium or indefinite ban on the creation of the relevant type of organoid may be appropriate. A different way forward, more consistent with existing approaches to animal research, would be to require ethical review and harm-benefit analysis for all research on sentience candidates.</ns4:p>","PeriodicalId":74223,"journal":{"name":"Molecular psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135885214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-28DOI: 10.12688/molpsychol.17571.1
Kathleen M. Munley, Beau A. Alward
Many animals live in highly social environments, in which individuals must behave in a way that enables them to survive and live harmoniously among conspecifics. Dominance hierarchies are typical among social species and are essential for determining and preserving stability within social groups. Although there is considerable evidence that sex steroid hormones regulate behaviors associated with dominance, such as aggression and mating, fewer studies have examined the role of these hormones in controlling social status, especially in species that exhibit social hierarchies. Furthermore, despite this research, we know remarkably little about the precise neural and molecular mechanisms through which sex steroids modulate traits associated with social rank. Here, we review the neuroendocrine regulation of social status by sex steroids in teleost fishes, the largest and most diverse vertebrate group that shows extensive variation in reproductive systems and social structures between species. First, we describe the function of sex steroids and novel steroid-related genes that teleost fishes possess due to a lineage-specific whole-genome duplication event. Then, we discuss correlational, pharmacological, and molecular genetic studies on the control of social status by sex steroids in teleost fishes, including recent studies that have implemented gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9. Finally, we argue that gene editing approaches in teleost studies, within both integrative and comparative frameworks, will be vital for elucidating the role of sex steroids in controlling social rank and characterizing their neural and molecular mechanisms of action. Collectively, ongoing and future research in these species will provide novel insight into the evolution of the regulation of social status by sex steroids and other neuroendocrine substrates across vertebrates.
{"title":"Control of social status by sex steroids: insights from teleost fishes","authors":"Kathleen M. Munley, Beau A. Alward","doi":"10.12688/molpsychol.17571.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/molpsychol.17571.1","url":null,"abstract":"<ns3:p>Many animals live in highly social environments, in which individuals must behave in a way that enables them to survive and live harmoniously among conspecifics. Dominance hierarchies are typical among social species and are essential for determining and preserving stability within social groups. Although there is considerable evidence that sex steroid hormones regulate behaviors associated with dominance, such as aggression and mating, fewer studies have examined the role of these hormones in controlling social status, especially in species that exhibit social hierarchies. Furthermore, despite this research, we know remarkably little about the precise neural and molecular mechanisms through which sex steroids modulate traits associated with social rank. Here, we review the neuroendocrine regulation of social status by sex steroids in teleost fishes, the largest and most diverse vertebrate group that shows extensive variation in reproductive systems and social structures between species. First, we describe the function of sex steroids and novel steroid-related genes that teleost fishes possess due to a lineage-specific whole-genome duplication event. Then, we discuss correlational, pharmacological, and molecular genetic studies on the control of social status by sex steroids in teleost fishes, including recent studies that have implemented gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9. Finally, we argue that gene editing approaches in teleost studies, within both integrative and comparative frameworks, will be vital for elucidating the role of sex steroids in controlling social rank and characterizing their neural and molecular mechanisms of action. Collectively, ongoing and future research in these species will provide novel insight into the evolution of the regulation of social status by sex steroids and other neuroendocrine substrates across vertebrates.</ns3:p>","PeriodicalId":74223,"journal":{"name":"Molecular psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135385807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-26DOI: 10.12688/molpsychol.17482.2
Nicholas J. Collins, Taylor S. Campbell, Katelyn M. Donoghue, Urmi Ghosh, Jessica N. Smith, Maeve C. O'Shea, Christina M. Nelson, Olivia K. Bigham, Tania L. Roth
Early life stress (ELS) in the form of trauma or caregiver abuse and neglect is often associated with psychopathology. However, not everyone exposed to ELS develops a pathology; others display resilience, or the ability to adapt and persevere despite ongoing adversity. Several molecular moderator variables between ELS and behavioral phenotypes have been proposed, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and epigenetic markers. Specifically, several SNPs and aberrant methylation or expression of genes associated with neurotransmitter systems and brain-derived neurotrophic factor have been associated with anxiety, depression or schizophrenia. The present review seeks to explore the relationship between SNPs, epigenomics and disease, and offer data to suggest several SNPs may also predict specific treatment efficacy and psychological resilience. Due to these different mental health outcomes as a function of ELS, it is critical that environmental moderators be equally considered in determining the ontology of resilient or pathological phenotypes; this includes the infant-caregiver relationship, and the degree of control, magnitude, and type of the stressor experienced. Finally, we will offer evidence to suggest that several intervention strategies, including drug treatment, environmental enrichment, or exercise can ameliorate many of the psychological, biological, and molecular consequences of ELS exposure, and help shift one toward a resilient phenotype.
{"title":"Early life stress and the role of environmental and molecular moderators in the ontology of pathological and resilient behavioral phenotypes","authors":"Nicholas J. Collins, Taylor S. Campbell, Katelyn M. Donoghue, Urmi Ghosh, Jessica N. Smith, Maeve C. O'Shea, Christina M. Nelson, Olivia K. Bigham, Tania L. Roth","doi":"10.12688/molpsychol.17482.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/molpsychol.17482.2","url":null,"abstract":"<ns7:p>Early life stress (ELS) in the form of trauma or caregiver abuse and neglect is often associated with psychopathology. However, not everyone exposed to ELS develops a pathology; others display resilience, or the ability to adapt and persevere despite ongoing adversity. Several molecular moderator variables between ELS and behavioral phenotypes have been proposed, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and epigenetic markers. Specifically, several SNPs and aberrant methylation or expression of genes associated with neurotransmitter systems and brain-derived neurotrophic factor have been associated with anxiety, depression or schizophrenia. The present review seeks to explore the relationship between SNPs, epigenomics and disease, and offer data to suggest several SNPs may also predict specific treatment efficacy and psychological resilience. Due to these different mental health outcomes as a function of ELS, it is critical that environmental moderators be equally considered in determining the ontology of resilient or pathological phenotypes; this includes the infant-caregiver relationship, and the degree of control, magnitude, and type of the stressor experienced. Finally, we will offer evidence to suggest that several intervention strategies, including drug treatment, environmental enrichment, or exercise can ameliorate many of the psychological, biological, and molecular consequences of ELS exposure, and help shift one toward a resilient phenotype.</ns7:p>","PeriodicalId":74223,"journal":{"name":"Molecular psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134886749","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-17DOI: 10.12688/molpsychol.17511.1
S. K. Hamidu, Ahmad Umar, R. Abdulazeez, Zaid Muhammad, A. I. Alkhamis, M. Umar, Ahmad Aliyu Ladan, F. Nasr, Aisha Ahmad, S. Musa, J. Ya’u, W. Hamman, M. Isah, Sanusi Muhammad Bello, T. Yoshimatsu, Sabi Raouf Issa, Mahmoud Bukar Maina
Background: Simple animal model systems such as Drosophila, Caenorhabditis Elegans and Zebrafish have enabled numerous breakthroughs in understanding human health and disease. Owing to their cheap maintenance cost, adopting these model systems will improve research in Africa. However, the extent to which these models are used across Africa is unknown. This study aimed to identify how often these models are used in Africa. Methods: We downloaded all the PUBMED-indexed publications from the year 2000 to 2021 that have an African affiliation and have mentioned Drosophila, C. elegans or Zebrafish. We manually curated the information on the experimental use of these model systems, author affiliations and details of funding from research publications. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the major hotspots for the use of the model systems and funders, and the pattern of local and international collaborations. Results: Of the 1851 publications in which at least one of the models was mentioned, only 168 used at least one for the actual investigation. With an average of 21 articles per country, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia contributed 75% of these studies. The remaining 25% were contributed by seven other countries. Analysis of funding information revealed that 24.4% of the studies were exclusively locally funded, 28.57% exclusively internationally funded, 15.5% received both local and international funding, and the rest (31.5%) were unfunded, revealing that there is satisfactory access to funds for simple animal model studies, especially from external funders. By analysing the pattern of collaborations, we show that collaborations with researchers from other continents predominate over intra-Africa collbaorations. Conclusions: Our work provides data on the current state of research using simple model systems in African laboratories and argues that incorporating these models will advance biomedical science research in Africa.
{"title":"Simple models for neuroscience research discoveries: how often are these models used in Africa?","authors":"S. K. Hamidu, Ahmad Umar, R. Abdulazeez, Zaid Muhammad, A. I. Alkhamis, M. Umar, Ahmad Aliyu Ladan, F. Nasr, Aisha Ahmad, S. Musa, J. Ya’u, W. Hamman, M. Isah, Sanusi Muhammad Bello, T. Yoshimatsu, Sabi Raouf Issa, Mahmoud Bukar Maina","doi":"10.12688/molpsychol.17511.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/molpsychol.17511.1","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Simple animal model systems such as Drosophila, Caenorhabditis Elegans and Zebrafish have enabled numerous breakthroughs in understanding human health and disease. Owing to their cheap maintenance cost, adopting these model systems will improve research in Africa. However, the extent to which these models are used across Africa is unknown. This study aimed to identify how often these models are used in Africa. Methods: We downloaded all the PUBMED-indexed publications from the year 2000 to 2021 that have an African affiliation and have mentioned Drosophila, C. elegans or Zebrafish. We manually curated the information on the experimental use of these model systems, author affiliations and details of funding from research publications. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the major hotspots for the use of the model systems and funders, and the pattern of local and international collaborations. Results: Of the 1851 publications in which at least one of the models was mentioned, only 168 used at least one for the actual investigation. With an average of 21 articles per country, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia contributed 75% of these studies. The remaining 25% were contributed by seven other countries. Analysis of funding information revealed that 24.4% of the studies were exclusively locally funded, 28.57% exclusively internationally funded, 15.5% received both local and international funding, and the rest (31.5%) were unfunded, revealing that there is satisfactory access to funds for simple animal model studies, especially from external funders. By analysing the pattern of collaborations, we show that collaborations with researchers from other continents predominate over intra-Africa collbaorations. Conclusions: Our work provides data on the current state of research using simple model systems in African laboratories and argues that incorporating these models will advance biomedical science research in Africa.","PeriodicalId":74223,"journal":{"name":"Molecular psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47335406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-07DOI: 10.12688/molpsychol.17488.3
Melville Wohlgemuth, Angeles Salles, Cynthia Moss
Little is known about neural dynamics that accompany rapid shifts in spatial attention in freely behaving animals, primarily because reliable, fine scale indicators of attention are lacking in standard model organisms engaged in natural tasks. The echolocating bat can serve to bridge this gap, as it exhibits robust dynamic behavioral indicators of spatial attention while it explores its environment. In particular, the bat actively shifts the aim of its sonar beam to inspect objects in different directions, akin to eye movements and foveation in humans and other visually dominant animals. Further, the bat adjusts the temporal features of sonar calls to attend to objects at different distances, yielding a direct metric of acoustic gaze along the range axis. Thus, an echolocating bat’s call features not only convey the information it uses to probe its surroundings, but also reveal its auditory attention to objects in 3D space. These explicit metrics of spatial attention provide a powerful and robust system for analyzing changes in attention at a behavioral level, as well as the underlying neural mechanisms.
{"title":"Sonar-guided attention in natural tasks","authors":"Melville Wohlgemuth, Angeles Salles, Cynthia Moss","doi":"10.12688/molpsychol.17488.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/molpsychol.17488.3","url":null,"abstract":"<ns3:p>Little is known about neural dynamics that accompany rapid shifts in spatial attention in freely behaving animals, primarily because reliable, fine scale indicators of attention are lacking in standard model organisms engaged in natural tasks. The echolocating bat can serve to bridge this gap, as it exhibits robust dynamic behavioral indicators of spatial attention while it explores its environment. In particular, the bat actively shifts the aim of its sonar beam to inspect objects in different directions, akin to eye movements and foveation in humans and other visually dominant animals. Further, the bat adjusts the temporal features of sonar calls to attend to objects at different distances, yielding a direct metric of acoustic gaze along the range axis. Thus, an echolocating bat’s call features not only convey the information it uses to probe its surroundings, but also reveal its auditory attention to objects in 3D space. These explicit metrics of spatial attention provide a powerful and robust system for analyzing changes in attention at a behavioral level, as well as the underlying neural mechanisms.</ns3:p>","PeriodicalId":74223,"journal":{"name":"Molecular psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135903952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-01DOI: 10.12688/molpsychol.17564.1
Valentin Gillet, Janka Kluge, Rickesh N. Patel
The central complex (CX), a remarkable brain region at the core of insect behaviors, has been the subject of extensive research for decades. In this review, we offer a comprehensive historical perspective on the anatomy, development, and function of the CX. The CX consists of discrete and highly structured neuropils found at the center of the brain, and conserved across insects and arthropods. The developmental processes that shape it are themselves conserved across all panarthropods. In early research, the CX had been shown to receive visual information and control motor function. Using increasingly advanced methods throughout the years, it has become clear that the CX is involved in high-level behavioral control, including multimodal sensory cue integration as well as learning and memory. Its numerical simplicity presents a rare opportunity to study structure-function relationships in small brains, gain insights into evolutionary neurobiology, and develop novel neuromorphic technologies inspired by insect brains. Since the CX is a highly conserved brain region that controls a multitude of complex behaviors, it is uniquely suited to gain a detailed understanding of the computations required for these processes at the level of neural circuits.
{"title":"A historical perspective on the insect central complex: Anatomy, development, and function","authors":"Valentin Gillet, Janka Kluge, Rickesh N. Patel","doi":"10.12688/molpsychol.17564.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/molpsychol.17564.1","url":null,"abstract":"The central complex (CX), a remarkable brain region at the core of insect behaviors, has been the subject of extensive research for decades. In this review, we offer a comprehensive historical perspective on the anatomy, development, and function of the CX. The CX consists of discrete and highly structured neuropils found at the center of the brain, and conserved across insects and arthropods. The developmental processes that shape it are themselves conserved across all panarthropods. In early research, the CX had been shown to receive visual information and control motor function. Using increasingly advanced methods throughout the years, it has become clear that the CX is involved in high-level behavioral control, including multimodal sensory cue integration as well as learning and memory. Its numerical simplicity presents a rare opportunity to study structure-function relationships in small brains, gain insights into evolutionary neurobiology, and develop novel neuromorphic technologies inspired by insect brains. Since the CX is a highly conserved brain region that controls a multitude of complex behaviors, it is uniquely suited to gain a detailed understanding of the computations required for these processes at the level of neural circuits.","PeriodicalId":74223,"journal":{"name":"Molecular psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47476989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-18DOI: 10.12688/molpsychol.17550.1
M. Kataoka, K. Ota, J. Savulescu, Tsutomu Sawai
In recent years, there has been much ethical debate about human brain organoid research. However, the possibility that human brain organoids might be human individuals has not been examined. This is an important issue because if human brain organoids are human individuals, then the creation of human brain organoids could be a form of human reproductive cloning. We examine the implications of two mainstream bioethical views on the nature of human individuals for human brain organoids: (1) Functional Integration Theory, the view that the capacity to integrate vital functions is the criterion for human individuality, and (2) Mental State Theory, the view that some mental capacity is the criterion for human individuality. We find that under either theory of human individuality, human brain organoids could be human individuals in the future. According to a version of Functional Integration Theory that locates the integrative function in the human brainstem (Brainstem Theory), a well-developed human brainstem organoid can be a human individual. Further, on Mental State Theory, a conscious human brain organoid can be a human individual. Our results, combined with the ban on human reproductive cloning, may provide some reasons to be more cautious in human brain organoid research. Alternatively, in light of the progress in human brain organoid research, it may be necessary to reconsider the ethics and laws surrounding human reproductive cloning. This research paves the way for the first time to examine the question of great ethical importance whether human brain organoids can be human individuals, and encourages further consideration.
{"title":"Are human brain organoids cloned human individuals? An ethical analysis","authors":"M. Kataoka, K. Ota, J. Savulescu, Tsutomu Sawai","doi":"10.12688/molpsychol.17550.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12688/molpsychol.17550.1","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, there has been much ethical debate about human brain organoid research. However, the possibility that human brain organoids might be human individuals has not been examined. This is an important issue because if human brain organoids are human individuals, then the creation of human brain organoids could be a form of human reproductive cloning. We examine the implications of two mainstream bioethical views on the nature of human individuals for human brain organoids: (1) Functional Integration Theory, the view that the capacity to integrate vital functions is the criterion for human individuality, and (2) Mental State Theory, the view that some mental capacity is the criterion for human individuality. We find that under either theory of human individuality, human brain organoids could be human individuals in the future. According to a version of Functional Integration Theory that locates the integrative function in the human brainstem (Brainstem Theory), a well-developed human brainstem organoid can be a human individual. Further, on Mental State Theory, a conscious human brain organoid can be a human individual. Our results, combined with the ban on human reproductive cloning, may provide some reasons to be more cautious in human brain organoid research. Alternatively, in light of the progress in human brain organoid research, it may be necessary to reconsider the ethics and laws surrounding human reproductive cloning. This research paves the way for the first time to examine the question of great ethical importance whether human brain organoids can be human individuals, and encourages further consideration.","PeriodicalId":74223,"journal":{"name":"Molecular psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43072829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-13DOI: 10.12688/molpsychol.17558.1
J. Boyd
Transplantation of human brain organoids into nonhuman animals has the potential to advance our molecular understanding of human cognition. Yet hybridized nervous systems raise novel scientific and ethical questions that appear to be oriented toward opposing ends – as models become more sophisticated, ethical concerns become more salient. I posit that scientific and ethical challenges arising from interspecies human brain engraftment may be akin to ‘birds of a feather’ that are more entangled, rather than in tension. The scientific value of engrafted organoids depends on the extent to which they provide insights into human neurobiology, while ethical concerns tend to focus on the wellbeing of engrafted animals. Based on a synthesis of empirical and theoretical evidence from neuroscience and philosophical bioethics, respectively, I argue that scientific and ethical challenges converge on a shared interest in achieving the fullest possible maturation of the host animal. The conditions which are favorable to the wellbeing of animals are also consistent with factors that contribute to the elaboration of neuronal features during development and later behavioral traits. Treating engrafted animals as if they already possess higher moral status may, in fact, be necessary for them to develop the neuronal, cognitive, and behavioral traits that are most relevant to our understanding of the human brain. Studies have shown that enriched environments provide the conditions for neurons to mature, more fully, into neural circuits that contribute to complex behaviors, while supporting the wellbeing and individuation of animals. I conceptualize an ‘enriched’ approach toward research using interspecies brain engraftment and offer a case study examining how enriched environments can be used to study the neurobiology of human speech circuits in grafted animals. The uncertainties posed by interspecies brain engraftment illustrates how joint consideration of scientific and ethical perspectives can reveal convergent pathways for advancing human brain research.
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