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Sean Nash

Learning in Plants: Lessons from Mimosa pudica - 4 views

www.frontiersin.org/...full

Mimosa learning plants botany research SCI-I science student lab potential research idea biology HSR HSR-2023

shared by Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23 - No Cached
  • there is a lack of observational data on the behavior of plants
  • Observational research allows the researcher to establish baseline activity and response levels of the subject
  • Perhaps the first study of learning in plants was a habituation experiment reported by Pfeffer (1873) using the sensitive plant Mimosa. In this experiment, repeated mechanical stimulation of leaflets led to a decrease in sensitivity
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • the question naturally arises as to whether Mimosa can discriminate between stimuli. This was answered in the affirmative by Holmes and Gruenberg (1965) whose experimental design included a drop of water and finger touch as stimuli
  • the results suggest that Mimosa can discriminate between stimuli
  • Thomas performed an experiment on classical conditioning in Mimosa that took advantage of the finding that, under field conditions, the leaflets of Mimosa slowly drop as dusk approaches and slowly rise at dawn (personal communication). In the experiment, the CS was turning on the light in the growth chamber and the US was touching selected leaflets. Thomas found that leaflets in the paired condition showed conditioning compared to a light only or alternating stimulation condition. This finding should be replicated with controls for pseudoconditioning.
  • Given the importance of the Gagliano et al. (2014) experiment and the failure to replicate some previous experimental results it is critical that the Gagliano et al. (2014) results be repeated by an independent laboratory.
  • In addition to Mimosa, habituation has been found in the carnivorous plant Drosera (sundew
  • Applewhite (1975) cites an experiment by Darwin reportedly showing habituation in the passion flower (Passiflora gracilis). During this experiment, when Darwin mechanically stimulated the passion flower tendrils, the tendrils no longer responded after 54 h of training.
  • Abramson et al. (2002) investigated the use of bioelectrical potentials as a method to explore plant behavior.
  • In an interesting article, Karpinski and Szechynska-Hebda (2010) discuss the intellect of plants from memory to intelligence. By studying recall, the researcher investigates a host of independent variables and that are solidly anchored to a set of dependent variables. This study focused on recall at the cellular level rather than as an externally observable behavior. The discussion of plant learning at various levels, from cellular to organismal and from different scientific fields is exactly what is advocated for in this article
  • There is also interest from behavioral scientists seeking to determine whether the similarities and differences in learning found among invertebrates and vertebrates could also be found in plants (Warden et al., 1940; Applewhite, 1975; Abramson et al., 2002; Guiguet, 2013).
  • The majority of early plant studies used the Sensitive plant (M. pudica). Mimosa has much to recommend it for learning studies. They are easy to maintain, much is known about its natural history, and they have a visible leaf closure response to external stimuli. However, there are drawbacks in the use of Mimosa, for example, it takes about 15 min for a leaf to recover (Holmes and Gruenberg, 1965) and not much is known about its genome in contrast to model species such as Arabidopsis thaliana whose entire genome is known.
  • In the following section we will focus on methods to develop studies utilizing habituation, sensitization, and classical conditioning techniques. Instrumental and operant conditioning will not be covered because at this time there are no Mimosa studies in these areas; although one can envision a situation where the opening and closing of a leaf can be detected electronically. Once detected, the response would produce a consequence such as an airpuff or changes in light intensity.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23
       
      The remainder of this comprehensive article is to outline the main lines of research in this area:
  • Learning in Plants: Lessons from Mimosa pudica
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23
       
      This well-compiled article does a really nice job of outlining the history of study regarding plant behavior. It also suggests model organisms for study. Mimosa is a favorite of mine as their response is VERY rapid and quite visible for a plant! There are all sorts of feasible project ideas that could arise from this area of research.
ryleighnyp

Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep: Current Biology - 3 views

www.cell.com/...S0960-9822(21)00059-2

shared by ryleighnyp on 21 May 23 - No Cached
  • study by Strauss and Dehaene13Strauss M. Dehaene S. Detection of arithmetic violations during sleep.Sleep (Basel). 2019; 42: zsy232PubMed Google Scholar focused on electro- and magnetoencephalographic responses to spoken arithmetic equations (addition, multiplication, or subtraction operations).
  • study by Strauss and Dehaene13Strauss M. Dehaene S. Detection of arithmetic violations during sleep.Sleep (Basel). 2019; 42: zsy232PubMed Google Scholar focused on electro- and magnetoencephalographic responses to spoken arithmetic equations (addition, multiplication, or subtraction operations).
    • ryleighnyp
      ryleighnyp on 23 May 23
       
      Magnetoencephalography is a technique used to measure the magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain. It is a non-invasive method that can provide high temporal and spatial resolution of brain activity. In the context of the research paper, the authors mention a study by Strauss and Dehaene that focused on electro- and magnetoencephalographic responses to spoken arithmetic equations during wakefulness and sleep. (Copilot)
  • katherine-medina on 21 May 23
     
    An interesting Sleep study about how scientist can communicate with people who are sleeping
ryleighnyp

Electrical grounding technique may improve health outcomes of NICU babies -- ScienceDaily - 2 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...170803120627.htm

HSR HSR-2023 potential research idea

shared by ryleighnyp on 07 Jun 23 - No Cached
Sean Nash liked it
  • "What we can conclude is that a baby's autonomic nervous system is able to sense the electrical environment and it seems as though a baby is more relaxed when grounded,"
  • redesigning incubators to ground babies and cancel out the electrical field
  • ryleighnyp on 07 Jun 23
     
    I think a possible research idea could be redesigning NICU incubators to allow for less electromagnet interference with the babies with the use of grounding.
  • Sean Nash on 07 Jun 23
     
    Interesting, for sure. Two things... the actual measurements they made on children (skin tests, etc.) are a no-go for us. I'm not sure what our model system could be for checking the electrical outputs of whatever design changes were made. We would need to know a lot more about the current setup in NICUs. There is no doubt a lot of design in how things are currently set up. Essentially: why things are set up the way they are right now? You would have to know every variable currently considered, and then look for spots where simple changes can be made. Second thing: go back to the ISEF categories in Engineering and check out how those projects look at the national level. Just go get a feel. Engineering is a bit different from typical "hypothesis testing" seen in most natural sciences. Very cool, but different. Give it a look.
katherine-medina

The Efficacy of Dandelion Root Extract in Inducing Apoptosis in Drug-Resistant Human Me... - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC3018636

Dandelions Cancer-fighting botany HSR-2023 potential research idea Melanoma

shared by katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23 - No Cached
Sean Nash liked it
  • 2. Materials and Methods
  • 2. Materials and Methods
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23
       
      If I plan on doing some sort of experiment with Dandelion root, I will likely need to come back and look at how this study did it.
  • After a long exposure of 96 hours, NHFs did not exhibit any reduction in cell viability
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23
       
      Wow, so even after 3 days the Dandelion Root did nothing to the NHF aka. normal human cells.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • With DRE having proven its efficacy in successfully killing this aggressive, chemoresistant form of skin cancer, DRE toxicity on normal cells had to be evaluated
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23
       
      Always remember to hav e a control.
  • DRE was found to reduce cell viability in a dose-dependent fashion, over time, in A375 melanoma cells as was measured by WST-1 assay. Based on metabolic activity of A375s, it was confirmed that treatment at 2.5 mg/mL DRE resulted in ~50% reduction in cell viability against control within 24 hours (Figure 1(a))
  • Higher doses were then used and a response was observed at a concentration of 10 mg/mL (
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23
       
      For different types of melanoma a different amount of DRE is needed.
  • Typical apoptotic morphology was observed in G361 cells treated with DRE starting at 5 mg/mL concentrations for 72 hours
  • . However, there has been little scientific advancement made in this field with regard to the effect of dandelion root extract on cancer, and even more so on chemoresistant, human malignant melanoma skin cancer.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23
       
      I do so love it when the author identifies the fact that there is so few research papers about DRE.
  • ) is more than a worthy chemopreventative, it is fast-acting, nontoxic, and therefore specific in its targeting of human melanoma cancer cells, making it a valuable chemotherapeutic. We have investigated the induction of apoptosis in human malignant melanoma cells and observed its long-term effects in human melanoma cancer.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23
       
      alrighty then.
  • We are yet to determine the effect of each of the individual components (such as the family of triterpene alcohols and phenolic acids—found in the roots—and cinnamic acids, flavinoids and coumarins—that are found in the leaves
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23
       
      Maybe I could look into the specific component that kills the cancer, so that in future years after I had figured this out I could put it into practice.
  • Given that DRE has traditionally been used naturopathically for a variety of ailments, we assume that it would be relatively nontoxic to healthy cells. Our results show that the Normal Human Fibroblasts (NHFs) (which were treated at a low population doubling where NHFs have the best proliferation rate) and Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells remained unaffected and healthy after a 96-hour and 48- hour exposure to DRE, respectively (Figures 2(a)–2(d)).
  • Lupeol,
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23
       
      What is Lupeol. (I should probably look into that.)
  • taraxasterol
  • More importantly, an increase in ROS production indicates prooxidant behaviour of DRE on cancer cell mitochondria, which is contrary to the antioxidant convictions of traditional medicine and previous studies on Taraxacum extracts citing reductions in NO, ROS, RNS, and COX-2 [10, 11] in mouse macrophages.
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23
       
      That is very important and interesting.
  • There are two main points that must be stated here: firstly, that noncancerous cells are unaffected by DRE treatment, and secondly, melanoma cells retain the signals to commit suicide long after DRE has been removed from the system
    • katherine-medina
      katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23
       
      Good to restate.
  • Metformin acts as a metabolism interfering compound that debilitates cancer cells, and the case of G361-resistant melanoma cells, combining DRE with metformin reduces cell viability at even lower doses (Figures 9(a) and 9(b)).
  • By 48 hours, human melanoma A375 cells uncharacteristically showed susceptibility to apoptosis induction by DRE
  • We believe that this nontoxic extract can undergo precipitous translation from bench top to bedside, with dandelion products that are already commercially available in the form of tea and supplements.
  • katherine-medina on 07 Jun 23
     
    Essentially it is an article that figured out that DRE can induce apoptosis in melanoma cells, and it also proved that DRE is non-toxic to normal human cells.
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