This Week in Science Policy and Advocacy
Policy and Advocacy News
USDA May Warn Some Facilities When Animal Welfare Inspectors are Coming
May 17, 2018 | Washington Post
Entities regulated by the Animal Welfare Act were notified by the USDA that they plan to launch a pilot project which involves letting some facilities know that inspectors are coming There are no plans to stop unannounced inspections. Animal rights groups claim that this could result in fewer violations being detected.
Join the Advocacy Network to stay informed about issues related to neuroscience research at SfN.org
NIH's Plum Award for Young Scientists Skews Male, Agency's Data Shows
May 15, 2018 | Science
According to recent data, since its launch in 2015, men have won the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, in numbers exceeding their representation in the applicant pool. Applicants are nominated by their institutions and while more men tend to be nominated, they are also disproportionately selected as winners.
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Opinion
A Fading Interest in Science
May 13, 2018 | The New York Times
In this letter to the editor, a professor from the University of Pittsburgh responds to an article which discussed the possibility of restricting Chinese citizens from performing sensitive research at American universities. The author argues that foreign students are ready and willing to fill openings and that barring these individuals will not restore American interest in the fields of science and technology.
Learn about neuroscience across the world at BrainFacts.org
Articles of Interest
Some Hard Numbers on Science's Leadership Problems
May 16, 2018 | Nature
Nature conducted a survey of more than 3,200 scientists from across Europe and the United States to explore the state of lab health, pressures on individual groups, and how best to tackle them. Results found that, in general, moral is reasonably high and that lack of training and personnel management are some of the strongest contributors to an unhealthy lab culture.
Learn about SfN's global advocacy efforts at SfN.org
Memory Transferred Between Snails, Challenging Standard Theory of How the Brain Remembers
May 14, 2018 | STAT
New research questions the long-held idea that memory is stored through changes in synaptic strength. Researchers transferred RNA from one snail to another and demonstrated a change in behavior consistent with a memory transfer.
Watch neuroscientific leaders discuss the future of memory research at BrainFacts.org
AI Recreates Activity Patterns That Brain Cells Use in Navigation
May 11, 2018 | Nature
Deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence mimicking brain communication, trained a computer-simulated rodent to navigate an environment, generating hexagonal-shaped coding patterns similar to biological spatial navigation. Mammalian brains use grid cells, neurons active in a hexagonal pattern of locations, as a coordinate system for spatial navigation.
Learn more about spatial navigation in the brain at BrainFacts.org
A New Theory Linking Sleep and Creativity
May 15, 2018 | The Atlantic
New research provides insight into the coordination between slow wave and REM sleep and demonstrates how medial temporal lobe structures work concurrently to determine common themes between past experiences and generate creative new memories.
Read more about sleep and the brain at BrainFacts.org
